Big Grower January 2023 - 10

CATOCTIN HEMP
COVER STORY
Catoctin Hemp does extraction on-site as well
to help ensure a high-quality product.
In 2019, the Van Wingerden family decided
to expand their growing expertise into a new
category. Catoctin Hemp was born, and although
it's a separate business entity, it still operates in the
same facilities as Catoctin Mountain Growers and
is owned and operated by the Van Wingerdens.
" We're learning a lot. It's growing; it's slowly
growing. It's not the gold mine everybody expected
it to be three or four years ago when everyone
was diving into it like crazy, " Tyler says. " A lot of
people have left and aren't in it anymore, but we've
become believers in it, so that's why we've stayed. "
Tyler Van Wingerden, second generation
leadership and vice president, shared
a case study of how CBD has helped his
dad, owner Bob Van Wingerden.
" He has arthritis and was on prescription
medication. And since we've been doing the hemp
business and he's taking the pills that we make
here, he's off all prescriptions, " Tyler says. " We
have stories like that from customers who buy
our products, so that type of stuff keeps us going.
We totally believe in the plant and the product. "
Tyler's brother Blake runs the day-to-day
operations of Catoctin Hemp. In addition to
the growing facilities, the business has an
80,000-square-foot climate-controlled drying
facility and an extraction lab. They are a true seedto-shelf
company, making all its CBD products
on-site and selling them both retail and wholesale.
" It's such a different world than gardening, so
we're getting a lot of exposure to huge players
and then super niche players, " Tyler says. " We
would be a really small, niche player in it,
and then you have these Charlotte's Web and
massive national brands. It's been interesting
to interact with all those different levels. "
10
JANUARY 2023
Tyler Van Wingerden says the team at Catoctin
Mountain Growers is always willing to try new
things, both of their own initiative and when
working with customers.
goes up, cost of plants only goes up. All
those things are always increasing and
becoming more difficult, so we try to build
in as much efficiency in the capital side
when we're building a project, " Tyler says.
" It also makes working in it much more
enjoyable. Our employees are not working
in windy, ripped, open houses. It's all
tight glass and metal structures that are
very easy to keep clean, very easy to stay
organized within. It allows us to have longterm
sustainability as a company. "
Catoctin has greenhouses that are 30 years
old and just as viable as some of the new
greenhouses. The booms are still working,
there aren't windows ripped out, the concrete
is still in great shape, etc.
" I've been here for my whole life, and I have
children now who are very young, and I don't
know if they'll be in the greenhouse or not, "
Tyler says. " But I want these buildings to be
here and in good shape for them if they may
take over at some point. "
Catoctin Mountain Growers is currently
working on a building project that has been
in the pipeline for a while. Five new acres
Big Grower January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Grower January 2023
