Opened in 2021, Saipan Select was the very first cannabis retailer and indoor farm to start in the CNMI.
“We wanted to bring high–quality cannabis and cannabis–related products,” its business shareholder Clyde Norita told Variety in an interview.
“We favor hand–trimmed, hang-dried, quality flower. Our products maintain the highest of standards for shelf stability, so our consumers get the best buds,” Norita said.
The company is able to cultivate marijuana within up to 5,000 square feet and also provides wholesale.
Saipan Select’s market includes wholesale to other retailers and other lounges that are licensed by the Cannabis Commission and walk-in consumers who personally walk into their shop to buy for themselves, friends or family.
“It is an integral part of our business to help other businesses thrive,” he said.
From research to shelf
Norita said before the indoor farm opened, his team and his farmer Daniel Miller conducted a series of research to produce and farm quality cannabis.
Since the soil and environment in the mainland is different from that of the Marianas, they had to do a series of trial and errors before finally being able to grow it here and in an indoor farm.
“The environment and soil in the Marianas are totally different. We made sure that we will be able to produce the best quality,” Miller said.
The cannabis plants come from seeds or a process called cutting propagation wherein a root, stem or leaf is removed from a plant and placed in optimum conditions to allow that plant part to regenerate and grow.
“This form of propagation allows us to make an identical copy of a plant, called a clone,” Miller said.
Miller said most of their cannabis is a clone of a mother cannabis plant which has undergone a tedious farming process to ensure it is high–quality cannabis.
Flavors and strains
Unlike the misconception that cannabis flavors are put on the product after harvests, the fact is the flavors of the cannabis are genetically implanted even before its cultivation.
It means the flavor of the marijuana is already instilled in it when it is still a seed.
“Marijuana researchers and farmers crossbreed strains to come up with unique flavors,” Miller said.
The strains currently available on Saipan Select’s menu are Wedding Cake or “Fina’mames,” Girl Scout Cookies or “Rota Buds,” Purple Punch or “Taga Stoned,” Bruce Banner or “Taima’nao,” Lemon Sour Diesel or “Forte,” OG Kush or “Marianas Trench,” White Widow or “Chagi Nori,” Lemon Haze or “Ma SUFA” and Blue Dream or “Dudus Girl.”
Miller said among their best sellers are the Lemon Sour Diesel and Blue Dream.
Miller said they are currently cultivating more of their best sellers but they also plan to expand their strain collection in the future.
“As we further our business, we plan to produce more various strains. A menu is available for anyone who walks in,” he said.
Miller said they are also very particular in the drying and curing part of the cannabis since most of their buyers know what they want and know the products by heart.
“After harvest, we handle the plant with utmost care and make sure that we give them the highest grade and the best shelf life,” Miller said.
Saipan Select is open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information, call (670) 488-BUDS.
