Who Actually Makes Your Weed? The Companies Behind New Jersey’s Biggest Brands

After I wrote about TerrAscend buying Aunt Mary's, the question I kept getting was simple: okay, so who owns the rest of it? Most of the brands on a New Jersey menu belong to a handful of multi-state companies, and the jar almost never tells you which one. So I went through the companies' own announcements and filings and put it in one place.

None of this makes a brand good or bad. It just tells you whose money is behind the jar, so let's get into it.

Three ways a brand ends up on the shelf

• Owned. The company created or bought the brand and makes it itself. RYTHM belongs to Green Thumb, full stop.
• Licensed. A famous brand from another state lends its name, and a local company grows and packages the product here. Cookies in New Jersey is made by TerrAscend, not by Cookies.
• Partnership or stake. A company makes a brand's products under a deal, or owns part of the business that does. Old Pal in New Jersey is made by The Cannabist Company. Grown Rogue owns part of the NJ grow that makes its flower.

That second and third bucket matter, because the logo you trust from California or Oregon isn't always the grow you're actually smoking.

The companies and their NJ brands

A few things jump out.

• Ascend is headquartered in New Jersey. Rochelle Park. It's the only company on this list headquartered here.
• Ayr isn't really Ayr anymore. Its NJ stores were handed to Arboretum, a company set up by Ayr's lenders, on June 2, 2026. The signs still say AYR.
• Cannabist is in bankruptcy. It filed for creditor protection in March, is closing both of its Vineland grow sites on Oct. 11 and cutting 86 jobs, and plans to sell its three NJ stores to Vireo Growth. The Vineland growers are UFCW Local 152 members, the same union I wrote about in the Smiling Bud report.
• Good Green is a Green Thumb brand. It funds grants for communities hurt by the war on drugs, which is real and worth saying, but it's still a Green Thumb product.

Where this shows up in my own reviews

Four brands I've reviewed are tied to these companies:

• Good Green, Lemon Drip (7.6): a Green Thumb brand.
• Old Pal, Sour Tangie (3.93): made in NJ by The Cannabist Company. With Cannabist's NJ production closing Oct. 11, it's not clear yet who makes Old Pal here after that.
• Edie Parker, Ky Jealousy (2.7): launched in NJ through Ascend, now also made under a Cannabist partnership.
• Grown Rogue, Blue Runtz (8.13): grown at ABCO Garden State, part-owned by Grown Rogue.

None of those scores move because of who owns the brand. That's the point of knowing. I want you to have the full picture, not a different number.

Why it matters

When one company owns the grow, the brands and the store, it decides what you see first at the counter. That's how a jar ends up on the top shelf because of who made it, not because of what's in it. I wrote about this in MSOs Are Squeezing Craft Off the Shelf, and it's why who owns your dispensary matters too.

It also matters for licensed brands. A famous name from another state is only as good as the local company growing it, and the jar won't tell you whose grow it was.

What you can do at the counter

1. Ask the budtender who makes the product, not just whose name is on it.
2. Check the label. NJ rules require it to show the name, address and license number of the grower and the manufacturer that made it.
3. If the shop's own parent company owns half the menu, that's a clue about why those jars are front and center.
4. When you find a small brand you love, ask for it by name, so the store knows people want it.

I'll keep this list updated as deals close, and if I've got something wrong, send me the receipt and I'll print the correction.

Sources

• Green Thumb: company and brand overview
• Green Thumb: RISE Paterson and Bloomfield at NJ adult-use launch
• Good Green grants (Green Thumb)
• TerrAscend debuts Cookies and Gage in New Jersey
• TerrAscend acquires Aunt Mary's (Cannabis Business Times)
• Curaleaf introduces brands in NJ (NJBIZ)
• Curaleaf opens Bordentown dispensary (NJBIZ)
• Verano: Raw Garden exclusive NJ partnership
• Ascend Wellness Holdings: brands
• Ascend's NJ dispensaries carry Flower by Edie Parker (NJBIZ)
• The Cannabist Company: Old Pal launches in New Jersey
• The Cannabist Company: Flower by Edie Parker partnership
• The Cannabist Company opens Mays Landing
• Ayr Wellness brings its brands to New Jersey (Cannabis Business Times)
• Ayr transfers NJ, Florida and Nevada operations to Arboretum (Cannabis Business Times)
• Cannabist closing 2 NJ cultivation sites, laying off 86 (Cannabis Business Times)
• Cannabist closing Vineland grow sites (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• NJ labeling rule, N.J.A.C. 17:30-16.3
• Grown Rogue: New Jersey business update
• Grown Rogue commences operations in New Jersey (ROI-NJ)