At a glance
What Team Elite Genetics is
Team Elite Genetics is a family-owned California craft cannabis breeder and cultivator founded in Orange County in 2011 and now associated with Los Angeles production. Its core products are living-soil flower, solventless concentrates, hash holes and vapes made either directly or through identified partners.
Founders Steve and Jade Castillo
Steve and Jade Castillo are the husband-and-wife founders behind Team Elite Genetics. Steve leads breeding and cultivation, while Jade has overseen post-harvest work and broader operations. The company describes itself as family owned, and independent reporting documents the pair's long-running cultivation partnership.
Living-soil cultivation
The Castillos describe a biologically active soil program using custom nutrients, mycorrhizal fungi, beneficial bacteria, enzymes, microbial teas and hand watering. Those practices are more informative than the phrase “living soil” alone, but claims about increased potency, immunity or flavor remain cultivation hypotheses unless tied to controlled measurements.
Breeding and signature cultivars
The portfolio includes Pearadise, Peach Ozz, Orange Soda, Banana Taffy, J1, Goat Cheese and Styrofoam Cup. The company says eight of its award-winning lines were bred in-house; Styrofoam Cup itself is credited to Cannarado. Breeder attribution should remain separate from the cultivator that selected or popularized a phenotype.
Flower and solventless formats
Team Elite hand packages flower and also produces cold-cure live rosin, hash holes and all-in-one vapes. Collaborations with ColdFire have extended flavors into additional formats. Each package should identify the licensed cultivator, manufacturer and distributor because the partner can change by product.
Documented award results
The brand's award ledger lists Pearadise first in the 2022 High Times Sativa People's Choice category and ninth at the 2023 Emerald Cup. Styrofoam Cup rosin placed first in the 2024 High Times solventless category, while the flower placed in 2022 and 2023. Awards apply to the entered product and year.
2026 authenticity warning
Team Elite's current homepage warns that 2026 products cultivated or distributed by Broadway Alliance were not made under its supervision or quality controls. It says official flower eighths use rigid two-piece boxes, not mylar, and identifies its North Hollywood and Orange County channels as current authorized distribution points.