In the bustling Outer Mission District of San Francisco sits a bright green building that stands out as a dispensary. With their bright LED signs and high energy staff, Mission Organic provides an incredibly welcoming environment to any adult who decides to enter. Since 2012 when they first opened their doors, Mission Organic has provided some of the highest grade medical and eventually recreational cannabis to the city where cannabis culture has culminated to what it has become today.
Cannabis has been a mainstay of the culture in San Francisco going all the way back to the counterculture movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Long before there were licensed, regulated and taxed shops on every corner there was a growing need for people to be able to find the cannabis that they had grown to love. There was a growing demand for safe and potent cannabis which eventually would culminate in the passing of Proposition 215 in 1996 which permitted the possession and sale of medical grade cannabis to those who possessed a medical patient card. This would result in some of the largest names in cannabis opening their doors and establishing themselves as titans of industry in the California cannabis industry.
Mike Mekk (co-founder and CEO) founded Mission Organic in 2010 and opened doors in 2012 with the intent to bring fair priced, quality cannabis to the neighborhood he called home. During the days of deli style pick-and-choose medical cannabis Mission Organic was able to establish themselves as a rock in the ever competitive San Francisco cannabis market. The reputation Mission Organic cemented for themselves during the Prop 215 market from 2012-2018 made for a seamless transition to the recreational market with the passing of Prop 64.
Starting in 2018, Mission Organic began cultivating a menu that catered to the headiest of stoners and soccer moms alike. Boasting a menu of 1000+ products at most times there is something that every consumer can appreciate however much they may consume on a daily basis. This can be seen by their large numbers of CBD and wellness products that most shops skip over to focus on things like CBD / THC flower, concentrates, topicals, tinctures and capsules.
Shortly following Prop 64 Mission Organic not only opened their doors for any locals who may be looking for cannabis products but began delivering to everywhere in the city, as far south as Palo Alto and as far north as San Rafeal. This expanded area of service means that the majority of the North Bay and Peninsula population has access to quality products despite their city not allowing dispensaries. With an experienced staff that stands out with their excellent customer service, Mission Organic Delivery achieves a high level of customer satisfaction which would ultimately culminate into a Best of Weedmaps 2021 award that highlights the mentality of Mike Mekk and Mission Organic as a whole that you never compromise on quality.
While they carry a multitude of wellness products, their flower, concentrates, vapes and edibles selection is one of the largest in the state at any given time. Their well curated menu is the result of years of experience and observations of industry trends that results in only the hottest and freshest products on their shelves. This excellence in curation is embodied most in their in-house brand flower.
Most dispensaries who develop an in-house flower line choose quantity over quality when deciding what to put in their bags / jars, but with an extensive reputation to uphold, Mission Organic Farms chose the path of quality and consistency. Offering budget friendly eighths for as low as $8 dollars and top shelf eighths for $37 it is clear that this is a shop for the people. This can also be seen by Mission Organic Farms prerolls which offers a .5g 2-pack that allows customers to have more choice in how they consume. As Mission Organic continued to provide quality service to locals, the demand for their products grew beyond the Outer Mission and eventually beyond San Francisco.
After years of curating an extensive menu, it is no surprise that some of the hottest strains find themselves in Mission Organic Farms flower line. With strains like Carls Fog, Chem Cookies, Pineapple Express, Gelato Kush and NorCal OG there is something for everybody regardless of what your favorite terps are. Mission Organic Farms has something for everybody!
Mission Organics menu being so large provides an opportunity to bring in new and niche products that other shops glance over. This is exemplified when you first walk into Mission Organic as after you are met with warm greetings and smiles from their veteran team of budtenders, your attention most likely snaps to their massive industrial grade fridge stocked to the brim with a massive selection of cannabis drinks. From infused horchata to iced tea to soda, no dispensary in San Francisco offers as extensive of an infused drink selection as Mission Organic. This is particularly nice with the hot summer months growing ever hotter in the Bay Area.
Having been around for so long, Mission Organic has been able to establish themselves as a brand’s best friends. Relationships between brand and retail shop are quintessential for getting the best price for their customers. There are no dispensaries that practice this better than Mission Organic consistently posting products for a few dollars less than their competition which ultimately saves their customers dollars. This can also be seen in their regular product demos where brands compete for retail floor space to be able to share their brand with the customers of Mission Organic. This is in addition to their regular deals that turn over every other day to ensure that your favorite products and brands come up on deals regularly.
Whether you work in the industry or are a customer of it, it is easy to see how these brand relationships are incredibly important. A better relationship with a brand ultimately means a better price for the end customer. Mission Organic displays their strong relationships with brands most through their multitude of billboards around the peninsula. It is hard to go anywhere in the city without seeing a Mission Organic billboard that highlights some of the biggest and best brands in the state.
Customer loyalty is incredibly important to a shop and there are a multitude of reasons that Mission Organic consistently sees the same customers over the years. At the top of this is their state of the art customer loyalty system that lets customers accrue points that can be used as cash in store. This cash back system allows customers to stack points with no limit that can then be used in store with no limits on what can be purchased with the points. Does your favorite dispensary offer cash back?
Mission Organic is consistently finding creative ways to ensure that customers enjoy their shopping experience while providing them with quality products at an affordable price. Store Manager Brandon James has done an excellent job making sure that the shelves are always stocked with the leading cannabis brands as well as providing ample space for local partners. As the cannabis industry becomes drastically more competitive, Mission Organic’s marketing team led by Jason Favreau and Mike Malenkov have worked hard to maintain the company’s presence within the space and is persistently using new strategies to gain a fresh following along with retaining satisfied customers who have chosen Mission Organic as their source for cannabis for years.
With cannabis culture being cultivated in San Francisco and surrounding Bay Area, competition is heightened with an incredibly high turnover rate of dispensaries. Mission Organic is the manifestation of what it means to be for the culture. Providing lower prices and better selection on high quality products, it is no wonder Mission Organic has seen the success that they have. They continue to strive to be the premier cannabis dispensary in San Francisco and Bay Area while still having the homey feel of a neighborhood dispensary. Visit www.mission-organic.com for more info on the most expertly curated menu in the Bay Area or stop by their storefront at 5258 Mission St for a quality shopping experience!
Written by: Zane Groat
Photos by: Jason Favreau
Do yourselves a favor shop Connected Sf a couple doors down.