Why Jiko+ is the Perfect Solution for High-End Cannabis Brands
High-end cannabis brands face a critical barrier to growth: scaling the production of premium hash holes and donut joints. While demand for solventless products like live rosin is increasing, manual production remains slow, expensive, and inconsistent. Standard automation often lacks the capability to handle these high-viscosity concentrates effectively, leading to clogged machines and degraded product.
Jiko+ solves this manufacturing bottleneck. Designed by ex-NASA engineers, it enables the precise injection of high-viscosity concentrates, such as fresh press rosin, at a rate of over 1,000 units per hour.
By bridging the gap between artisan quality and industrial throughput, Jiko+ allows brands to dominate the top-shelf market without sacrificing margins to labor costs. This shift toward automation is more critical than ever; according to a 2024 MJBizDaily report, infused pre-rolls reached a 44.4% market share in the first half of the year, with sales generating over $1.75 billion across tracked markets.
This article explores how Jiko+ redefines the economics of the premium pre-roll market, from eliminating production bottlenecks to delivering rapid ROI.
The Premium Pre-Roll Revolution and What It Means for Your Brand
The data is clear: the pre-roll category is not just growing; it is evolving. In mature markets like California, infused pre-rolls now account for over 66% of all pre-roll sales. However, looking closer at that number reveals a more important trend. The growth is not coming from bottom-barrel, distillate-sprayed joints. It is coming from the premium sector.
Consumers are becoming educated. They understand the difference between a distillate infusion and a solventless live rosin infusion. They demand:
Superior Smoking Experience: A heavy, flavorful hit that burns slowly.
Consistency: A product that never runs or clogs.
Quality Ingredients: Top-tier flower paired with solventless extracts.
This "premiumization" of the market means that hash holes and donut joints are arguably the ultimate expression of craft cannabis today. They represent the convergence of top-tier flower and top-tier extract. For a brand, having a high-quality donut SKU is a statement of intent. It signals that you compete at the highest level.
However, relying on the novelty of the format is no longer enough. Brands must deliver a product that burns perfectly every single time and produce enough of it to keep dispensaries stocked. Brands that fail to modernize their production methods risk losing market share to competitors who are already capitalizing on future trends in cannabis automation to deliver consistent premium products at scale.
Why are consumers willing to pay significantly more for solventless donut joints?
Unlike distillate, which focuses primarily on THC percentage, solventless concentrates like live rosin preserve the full spectrum of terpenes and cannabinoids. Consumers are increasingly paying for this "entourage effect" and the superior, true-to-flower flavor profile that only a precision-made hash hole can provide.
Why Manual Production Holds Premium Brands Back
If you walk into the production facility of many high-end brands today, you might see a surprising sight: rows of workers hunched over tables, manually rolling snakes of rosin and carefully inserting them into cones. This reliance on manual labor is the single biggest throttle on growth for the premium segment.
The "Canoe" Effect: A Silent Brand Killer
Manual production of hash holes is inherently inconsistent, and this inconsistency manifests in the burn's physics. Even the most skilled technician has "off" days. A slight tremor in the hand or a lapse in concentration can cause the concentrate to be placed off-center.
This density disparity is critical: when the consumer lights that joint, the flower burns at a different rate than the off-center concentrate. This causes the dreaded "canoe" effect, where one side of the joint burns rapidly while the other remains untouched. In the premium market, where customers pay for a superior experience, this mechanical failure is fatal to brand loyalty.
Beyond quality control, the economics of manual infusion are punishing:
High Labor Costs: Skilled labor is expensive, hard to find, and has a high turnover rate.
Material Waste: Rosin is sticky and temperature-sensitive. Handling it by hand leads to slowdowns and residue loss on gloves and tools.
Scalability Ceiling: To double production, you must double headcount, which doubles management overhead and liability.
Manual processes simply cannot keep pace with the demand curve for infused products. To capitalize on the market, you need a system that decouples production volume from headcount.
Is it possible to scale manual hash hole production without sacrificing quality?
It is statistically improbable. As you add more manual rollers to increase volume, the variability between units increases. The "human factor" ensures that maintaining a 100% perfect center-alignment across thousands of units daily is virtually impossible without mechanical assistance.
How Jiko+ Solves the Premium Production Challenge
We built Jiko+ specifically to address the unique physics and economics of the hash hole market. Unlike standard infusion machines that rely on spraying or simple injection, Jiko+ utilizes a sophisticated architecture designed to handle the rheology of complex, non-Newtonian fluids like live rosin and badder.
Built for High Viscosity Concentrates Like Rosin
The primary challenge in automating donut joints is viscosity. High-quality rosin is thick. If you try to force it through a standard needle, the pressure required can separate the terpenes or simply jam the system.
Jiko+ introduces a proprietary mechanism called the Donut Maker Poker. This is not a simple injector. Before infusion, the system uses the poker (specialized needle) to create a precise, perfectly centered void within the pre-roll. This prepares the bed of flowers to accept the concentrate.
By mechanically creating this space, Jiko+ allows the injection of high-viscosity materials without requiring excessive pressure that could degrade the product. The machine handles a wide spectrum of concentrate types, including:
Live Rosin & Live Resin
Liquid Diamonds
Budder, Sauce, & Badder (including wet badder)
HTE (High Terpene Extract)
Distillate
It can even process non-decarbed materials, a major advantage for brands seeking the "fresh press" label.
Temperature control is equally vital. Jiko+ features adjustable temperature control to help optimize flow for different concentrates during infusion. This allows operators to dial in the exact thermal window where their specific concentrate flows best without burning off volatile terpenes.
Precision Dosing for Consistent Customer Experience
In the manual world, "dosing" is often an estimate based on the size of the rosin snake. In the world of Jiko+, dosing is a precise, touchscreen-controlled metric.
Dosing Range: 50mg to 1,000mg per pre-roll.
Customization: Control the exact location and length of the infusion within the joint.
This repeatability is the foundation of a brand. When a customer buys your pack of infused joints, they need to know that the first one will hit just as hard as the last. Jiko+ ensures that the ratio of flower to extract is mathematically consistent across every single unit in the batch.
Scalable Throughput Without Sacrificing Quality
The Jiko+ is an industrial-grade platform built to run all day, every day. With a throughput of over 1,000 pre-rolls per hour, a single Jiko+ unit can outproduce a room full of manual rollers.
Key throughput features include:
6 Infusion Wheels: Parallel processing drives high speed.
20 Infusion Needles: Ensures continuous operation.
11 Concentrate Reservoirs: Allows for extended production runs without constant refilling.
Despite this speed, the footprint is compact (48" W x 24" D x 66" H), fitting easily into existing manufacturing workflows. It requires a standard 110VAC connection (1200W) and an air compressor, making integration straightforward. By empowering a single operator to produce over 1,000 finished units per hour, you effectively turn your production floor into a high-efficiency manufacturing plant while maintaining the "craft" quality of the output.
The Jiko+ Performance Advantage
See how the transition from manual labor to precision automation transforms your daily output and quality control.
| Feature | Manual Production | Jiko+ Automation |
|---|---|---|
| Throughput | ~20–30 units/hour per person | >1,000 units/hour (Single Operator) |
| Dosing Accuracy | Inconsistent (Visual estimation) | Precise (± mg control via touchscreen) |
| Product Consistency | High risk of "Canoeing." | Perfect Alignment (Donut Maker Poker) |
| Labor Requirement | Large team of skilled rollers | 1 Operator |
| Concentrate Waste | High (Sticky gloves/tools) | Minimal (Precision metering) |
How does the active temperature control protect the terpenes in fresh-pressed rosin?
By maintaining the concentrate reservoir between 65 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, Jiko+ lowers the viscosity of the rosin just enough to allow flow without reaching decarboxylation temperatures. This ensures the chemical profile and flavor of your extract remain intact upon injection.
The ROI Case for High-End Cannabis Brands
When evaluating capital equipment, the conversation ultimately turns to Return on Investment (ROI). For high-end brands, the ROI calculation for Jiko+ is multifaceted and compelling:
Labor Savings: Replacing a team of hand-infusers with a single operator dramatically lowers your cost per unit (CPU). You eliminate the costs of downtime, breaks, and manual inefficiencies.
Material Waste Reduction: Rosin is expensive. Jiko+ uses precision metering to ensure every milligram of concentrate ends up in the joint, not on the table or on the gloves.
Speed to Market: Fulfilling large orders immediately prevents stock-outs and keeps your shelf placement secure.
The combination of these factors leads to rapid payback periods. Clients like Choice Labs have reported that the machine paid for itself in under a month of operation. You are producing a high-margin product at a low-margin production cost.
Powering the Brands That Define the Market
Sorting Robotics is not a new entrant testing beta hardware on paying customers. We are a Y Combinator-backed company with machines deployed across North America's sophisticated cannabis markets. Our technology is designed by engineers with backgrounds at NASA, ensuring a level of reliability and rigorous tolerance that is rare in the cannabis space.
Industry heavyweights trust Jiko+ to power their premium lines, including:
Choice Labs
Aeriz
GoodTimes New York
Motif
Flow
Sunmed Labs
Honey King
Our technology has been featured in Forbes, Rolling Stone, Reuters, Cannabis and Tech Today, and mg Magazine, recognized not just for innovation, but for reliability.
Ready to Own the Top Shelf?
The window of opportunity to establish your brand as a leader in the premium infused market is open, but it will not stay open forever. As consumer tastes refine, the brands that succeed will be those that can deliver a consistent, high-quality hash hole experience at scale. Jiko+ is the perfect solution because it respects the craft of the product while solving the realities of the business, bridging the gap between artisan quality and industrial throughput.
Transitioning to this level of automation is straightforward, with units currently in stock and a support system that goes beyond just delivery. We provide a complete ecosystem of care, including a dedicated Slack channel for real-time service, remote monitoring for diagnostics, and a comprehensive maintenance kit.
By integrating Jiko+, you allow your brand to work with the best materials like live rosin without the headaches of manual production, positioning you to lead the market rather than follow it. If you are ready to stop leaving margin on the table, schedule a demo with the team at Sorting Robotics to see how Jiko+ transforms your production capabilities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What concentrates work with Jiko+?
Jiko+ is designed for versatility and handles a wide range of concentrate viscosities. It is compatible with Live Rosin, Live Resin, Liquid Diamonds, Budder, Sauce, Badder, HTE, Distillate, and even wet badder. Its temperature controls and Donut Maker Poker make it particularly effective for thick, non-decarbed materials.
How many pre-rolls can Jiko+ produce per hour?
A single Jiko+ unit can infuse over 1,000 pre-rolls per hour. This high throughput is achieved via 6 infusion wheels and 20 infusion needles working in parallel, managed by a single operator.
What pre-roll sizes does Jiko+ accommodate?
Jiko+ is flexible regarding form factors. It can accommodate standard cones, straight tubes, and blunts. If you are looking to automate the coating of these pre-rolls after infusion, you might also consider the Stardust Kief Coating Machine.
What support does Sorting Robotics provide?
We provide comprehensive support for all partners. This includes a dedicated Slack channel for direct access to our technicians, a complete customer kit with maintenance tools, and remote diagnostics capabilities via the machine's internet connection.
How does Jiko+ compare to manual hash hole production?
Manual production is labor-intensive, inconsistent, and difficult to scale. Jiko+ automates the process to ensure the concentrate is perfectly centered every time, eliminating "canoeing" and burn issues. It allows you to produce in 1 hour what a manual team might take all day, with significantly higher precision.
