Inside Greentank’s Playbook for Consumer-First Vape Hardware

*Key takeaways*

- Greentank uses a consumer-first playbook, starting with the moment of
use and working backward to hardware design.
- The team blends macro tech, regulatory and retail trends with the
physics of cannabis oil to guide its product roadmap.
- Quantum Chip™ is one outcome of this process: a ceramic-free heating
platform engineered for flavor fidelity and consistency.
- The approach aims to reduce clogging, improve reliability, and
preserve terpene character from the first puff to the last.
- As Greentank rolls Quantum Chip into select devices and scales in
2026, it’s pushing the industry beyond “good enough” vape hardware.

In cannabis, innovation rarely moves in a straight line. Instead, it moves
in loops shaped by culture, constrained by regulation, accelerated by
technology, and ultimately judged by consumers in a moment that lasts only
a few seconds. That moment matters more than anything else, and for Greentank
Technologies, innovation begins precisely in that space.

The company is quietly redefining what it means to build hardware for
cannabis businesses while putting consumers right at the center of the
process. The approach may sound unconventional in a category defined by
brand partners, white labels, and wholesale economics, but it is shaping
the next era of vape technology.

“Our job is to read the landscape of consumer technology trends,
macroconsumer trends, and parallel trends in science and regulation so we
can forecast what will be important in the near future,” said Chief Product
and Innovation Officer Chris Gemmell. “From there, we translate all of
those findings into products.”
Consumer-centric innovation in a B2B world
[image: Greentank GT Fuse disposable vape with translucent body and glowing
vapor trails, illustrating the Quantum Chip heating platform.]The GT Fuse
disposable showcases Greentank’s Quantum Chip platform, designed for
consistent performance and high-fidelity flavor. (Image: Greentank)

Greentank’s development framework begins with an unusual premise for a
business-to-business organization: the consumer as the core stakeholder.

“We always start by thinking about a number of key drivers for consumers,
including simple value and effortless confidence,” Gemmell said. “For
example, when I pick up a device, I want it to be hassle-free and
intuitive. No clogs, no leaks or burnt hits. I want it to deliver
everything I need.”

Understanding consumer needs and desires starts with a simple truth:
Cannabis is not the center of a consumer’s life. The plant is but a small
moment within a larger whole.

“That’s why we look at the outside world,” Gemmell explained. “What’s going
on in wearable tech and [artificial intelligence]? All of these things are
really interesting, because they’re setting our expectations on how we
interact with products and services within our lives. That’s the macro we
are trying to understand — a sort of outside-in view toward the category.”

Greentank’s outside-in lens is paired with an inside-out view of the
cannabis category. The company tracks regulatory shifts, retail dynamics,
and adjacent markets like nicotine vaping, then unpacks not just what
trends are happening, but also why.

“What’s happening in terms of regulations that will impact the industry or
consumer? What’s happening in adjacent product categories like nicotine
vaping? What’s happening in mainstream retail today?” Gemmell asked. “We
look at all of that data and then get under the skin of it. What are the
things that will make consumers stop and think about their purchase? And
how can we intuitively answer the questions before they have to ask?”
What’s driving the next generation of vapes?

When Greentank distills its research, several core consumer drivers emerge.
One of them is personalization. Increasingly, consumers want real-time
control over their experience. They want the right effect, right now,
personally tailored to their situation. As devices become more
technologically sophisticated, expectations continue to rise.

“Greentank’s GT Fuse is a direct response to this shift,” Gemmell said.
“Its dual-chamber architecture reflects a growing comfort with advanced
functionality, which gives users the ability to switch experiences without
sacrificing simplicity or performance.”

The team also identified entertainment and “play” as key drivers.

“Vapes are adult-focused, but they can’t be too serious or clinical,”
Gemmell said. “Our job is to bring surprising, engaging technology to
market while maintaining reliability.”
Understanding trade-offs, not just formats
[image: Lineup of brightly colored Greentank disposable vape devices
arranged on a light background, showing different finishes and styles.]A
flexible design system lets brands express personality while keeping the
underlying hardware consistent and reliable. (Photo: Greentank)

One of the clearest examples of Greentank’s consumer-first thinking can be
seen in how the company evaluates product formats, particularly the rise of
disposables and all-in-one devices.

From a surface view, reason for the category’s growth are obvious. Closed
systems offer convenience, strong performance, approachable price points,
and a ready-to-use experience that appeals to both light and occasional
partakers.

But Greentank looks deeper.

“There’s a trade-off consumers start to feel,” Gemmell said. “There’s guilt
when you throw away a piece of plastic and a battery. There’s also the cost
equation when people realize how much oil they’re actually getting.”

The same logic applies to daily coffee purchases: individually inexpensive,
but those small costs add up to a significant amount over time.

By examining both benefits and friction points, Greentank projects where
consumer behavior may trend next as consumers balance cost, sustainability,
and performance. The company has followed the data as technology evolves —
from fully-open 510 systems to disposables and now moving in the direction
of pod-based platforms.
Where authenticity meets convenience

At the heart of Gemmell’s philosophy is a tension he sees affecting the
cannabis consumer: authenticity versus convenience.

On one end of the scale are consumers deeply connected to the plant, loyal
to flower, and invested in ritual. On the other end are those prioritizing
convenience through gummies, beverages, or discreet formats. Most consumers
live somewhere in between.

“That middle ground is where we play,” Gemmell said. “A consumer can’t
articulate, ‘Hey, what I want is a heater with no metals that’s not going
to do this or that.’ But what I know is, they are looking for high-fidelity
flavor and a consistent experience from start to finish. That was actually
the fundamental driver behind the development of the Quantum ChipTM:
something that really offers a response to consumer need.”

*Want to see how Greentank’s consumer-first playbook translates into
hardware? This short video introduces three of the company’s newest device
designs.*
Inside Greentank’s Quantum Chip

Quantum Chip is the company’s next-generation heating engine, already
proven in nicotine applications and now adapted for cannabis. Unlike
traditional ceramic heating elements, which dominate the cannabis market
with a nearly 99-percent share, the Quantum Chip is built on a
high-precision engineered substrate using biocompatible metals and no
ceramic particles.

“Ceramic behaves like a sponge,” Gemmell said. “It absorbs liquid,
undergoes extreme thermal cycling with each puff, and gradually
deteriorates. Over time, that leads to clogging, inconsistent oil feeding,
and degraded flavor.”

The Quantum Chip was designed to eliminate those issues. It minimizes
thermal cycling, maintains stable temperature control, and preserves the
integrity of the oil throughout the session. The result is consistent
vaporization, authentic terpene expression, and a last hit that matches the
first.

“It’s easy to refine what users can see,” Gemmell said. “But we’re refining
what they can’t see, and that’s often what matters most.”

Live head-to-head testing between ceramic platforms and Quantum Chip
technology has reinforced that belief. Across expert users and industry
professionals, the response has been immediate and emphatic, Gemmell said:
improved flavor, smoother delivery, and a noticeably elevated experience.
The next era of cannabis vaping
[image: Close-up of a small Greentank Quantum Chip next to the tip of a
pencil, showing the miniature scale of the heating platform.]The Quantum
Chip platform is engineered on a miniature scale to precisely manage heat
and protect oil integrity. (Photo: Greentank)

Greentank is deliberate about how and where it deploys Quantum Chip
technology. Ceramic platforms have served the industry well, and the
Greentank team is the first to acknowledge ceramic’s role in bringing
cannabis vaping to scale.

But Gemmell sees innovation as a responsibility, not a milestone.

“Ceramic technology is technically good and safe and fine, but can we rest
with ‘good?’” he asked. “Is ‘good’ always good enough? Can we rest with
‘safe’? Is ‘safe’ enough? As innovators, our job is to never relax.”

As Greentank integrates the Quantum Chip across select products and
prepares for broader commercialization in 2026, the message to operators is
clear: The next era of cannabis vaping will be defined by those who
understand innovation is not about chasing trends. Instead, it depends on
decoding what consumers cannot yet articulate and delivering experiences
they didn’t know how to request.

“As the old Henry Ford quote goes, ‘If I asked people what they wanted,
they would have told me they wanted a faster horse,’” Gemmell said. “It’s
up to us to decode what the consumer is looking for.”
[image: Greentank Logo]
Greentank Technologies greentanktech.com
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Greentank’s consumer-first hardware playbook: key questions answered

1. What does “consumer-first” actually mean in Greentank’s hardware
playbook?

Greentank’s consumer-first hardware playbook starts at the moment of use
— when someone actually picks up a device and takes a puff. The team looks
at how the device feels in the hand, how intuitive it is to operate,
whether it clogs or leaks, and how consistent the flavor is over time. From
there, they work backward to formats, materials, and engineering decisions
that deliver a better experience again and again, not just on the first hit.
2. How does Greentank use trends and data to design new vape devices?

Greentank looks at more than just cannabis hardware trends. The team
tracks adjacent categories like nicotine vaping and consumer electronics,
follows regulatory and retail shifts, and studies how people buy and use
devices in the real world. Those signals inform everything from airflow and
power curves to form factor, helping the company design hardware that feels
current today and relevant to where the market is going next.
3. How does Greentank decide between formats like disposables, pods, and
510 cartridges?

Rather than picking a “winner,” Greentank evaluates the trade-offs
behind each format: cost over time, environmental impact, retail dynamics,
and how different consumers actually prefer to vape. That analysis has
pushed the company toward pod-based and other closed systems in some cases,
while still supporting 510 and disposable formats where they make sense for
certain markets and use cases.
4. What is Quantum Chip, and how does it fit into this consumer-first
approach?

Quantum Chip is Greentank’s next-generation heating platform, built on a
precise, ceramic-free substrate using biocompatible metals. It came out of
the same consumer-first playbook: the team wanted more consistent
performance, better flavor fidelity, and fewer issues with clogging or
burned hits. By managing heat more carefully and avoiding traditional
ceramic elements, Quantum Chip is meant to give consumers a smoother, more
reliable experience from the first draw to the last.
5. How is Quantum Chip different from traditional ceramic vape hardware?

Traditional ceramic heaters tend to absorb oil and go through extreme
thermal cycling, which can contribute to clogging, inconsistent vapor
production, and muted or scorched flavor over time. Quantum Chip is
designed to minimize that thermal stress and keep temperatures in a
tighter, more predictable range. The goal is to preserve the character of
the oil — especially terpenes — while reducing common failure points that
frustrate consumers.
6. What’s next for Greentank’s hardware roadmap?

Greentank plans to expand the use of its consumer-first playbook and
Quantum Chip platform across a broader range of devices, from compact
disposables to more advanced systems with real-time control. The roadmap
focuses on giving brands flexible hardware options that still feel
consistent to consumers, while continuing to push on reliability, flavor,
and trust in what’s inside the device.