White labelling, by definition is “.. when the manufacturer of an item uses the branding requested by the purchaser, or marketer, instead of its own. The end product appears as though it has been produced by the purchaser.”
Unfortunately the seed market is rife with this type of business. So how does one identify a suspected ‘White Labeller’?
Here are some tips to avoid white labellers:
- One of the biggest tells of a white label producer/seller is their collection. These types of sellers tend to offer the most sought-after and well known varieties often cheap and widely available. This can include heirloom varieties, landrace varieties, popular strains with mysterious or less than known lineages/breeders (i.e. Blue Dream, Gorilla Glue, Green Crack, Chemdog, Sour Diesel, Durban Poison, Girl Scout Cookies, Runtz, Gelato, etc.)
- No mention of breeder. Often, while providing the tastiest, most juiciest options for buyers, these companies don’t mention who actually bred or produced these seeds. Furthermore, for folks who have ordered from these scrupulous dealers will find none of it comes in original breeder packaging.
- Popular breed as an auto variety. YES its entirely possible, in fact there are some great breeders who have worked to accomplish exactly this, but on average if your favorite strain didn’t start as an auto, chances of it being available as an auto are very slim.
- Get to know your breeder. Both small and large, your support is huge to breeders (and sellers). Get to know these people’s work and operations, the cuts they hold (where they got them), who they support, and how they run their business. If your seller or breeder cant answer these types of questions, they might not be the best one for you.