Riverside Farm bucks’ industry trends to provide cheaper medical cannabis to Utah patients
Photography by Edward Galvez
In Utah’s tightly regulated medical cannabis market, prices remain a top concern for patients—and one local farm is taking a different approach to address it.
Riverside Farm, based in Garland, Utah, has built a growing reputation for delivering some of the most affordable medical cannabis in the state. While much of the industry has gravitated toward premium, small-batch products with price tags to match, Riverside is taking the opposite route—prioritizing large-scale production, streamlined operations, and a relentless focus on keeping costs low for patients.
“What we’ve seen over the last two years, is yes, the market is growing—we’ve grown to 100,000 patients—the number one complaint is price, whether it’s the price to get the card, or whether it’s the price in the pharmacy once they get it,” said Matthew Page, Riverside Farm’s Chief Operating Officer and Chair of the Utah Medical Cannabis Advisory Board. “So at the end of the day, it’s the price for the patient. And it’s not affordable.”
Riverside operates 50,000 square feet of indoor grow space and 2.4 acres outdoors, making full use of its state-allocated footprint. What sets the farm apart is its large-scale cultivation of autoflowering cannabis—an unconventional approach in a market dominated by photoperiod strains.
Most cannabis plants are photoperiod, meaning their flowering cycle is triggered by changes in light—typically when daylight hours shorten. Autoflowers, on the other hand, begin flowering automatically based on age, not light exposure. They grow faster, cost less to produce, and can be harvested multiple times a season. While autoflowers tend to yield smaller plants and aren’t always the first choice for craft growers, they’re a perfect fit for Riverside’s goal of keeping medicine affordable for patients.
“Due to the number of plants we’re growing, all those savings we can pass on to patients,” Page said. “And we’d like to go at a more aggressive price point.”
Autoflowers thrive in Utah’s short growing season and mountainous conditions. On a recent visit, Riverside had just planted 30,000 seedlings outdoors—one of the largest outdoor cannabis grows in the state. These fast-growing plants will be harvested by the end of summer, with the biomass processed and stored for use in product lines throughout the following year. Unlike photoperiod plants, which take four to five months from seed to harvest, autoflowers can be ready in just 10 to 12 weeks.
“We just planted a run of Blueberry Swirl,” said Greg Lang, a longtime team member who’s worked in nearly every corner of the farm. “It’s part of our outdoor grow, something we look forward to and repeat each year.”
Keeping prices low isn’t just smart business—it’s a matter of survival in a market squeezed between the black market and nearby legal states. In Utah, patients can only purchase medical cannabis from state-licensed pharmacies. For those without a card, it’s an easy—and illegal—drive to West Wendover, Mesquite, or Dinosaur for recreational prices and zero paperwork. Spend a few minutes scrolling online forums or social media threads, and one complaint dominates the conversation: prices are just too high.
“What we’ve found is that we’re losing a lot of patients because they can’t maintain the cost; they’ve realized opioids or prescription medications are more affordable—probably because insurance covers it when they come to a place that’s not subsidized,” Page said. “But they find that it’s very effective for them.”
Riverside produces a full lineup of medical cannabis products, including gummies, vape cartridges, tinctures, RSO, topical balms, and vapable flower. Their brands include Riverside Farm, Hygge, Hoodoo, and Adios—a line featuring CBD, CBG, and CBN products. They were the first in Utah to launch infused gummies—Hygge—after the state shifted from a central fill system to pharmacy-based distribution. Patients and Reddit users often call Riverside’s cartridges the best value in the state, often priced at about half of what competitors charge.
“Our focus has always been to reduce costs but not sacrifice on quality in order to pass those savings onto the patient,” Page said. “In February 2021 Riverside started their first line of vape cartridges and introduced pricing at a 40% reduction at current market prices.”
One of Riverside’s biggest hurdles is distribution. In Utah, most cultivators own a pharmacy, giving them a built-in outlet to move product and keep shelves stocked. Riverside doesn’t have that luxury. Without its own retail front, the farm relies entirely on forging and maintaining relationships with pharmacies across the state.
That could change. Utah is preparing to award two new rural pharmacy licenses later this year—meant to improve access in underserved areas. Because the licenses are restricted to companies without existing pharmacy ownership, Riverside is eligible to apply.
Page, who represents cultivators and processors on the state’s medical cannabis advisory board, sees the opportunity not just as a business expansion—but a way to help patients.
“My position is to ensure that the state through their regulations does not create more of a burden on the cultivator and processor, and help improve access and protections to medical patients,” he said.
In an industry chasing top-shelf margins, Riverside is sticking to its roots—literally and figuratively. Their goal is simple: grow more, spend less, and give patients a chance to stay in the legal market without going broke.
