The news is intriguing in a world overwhelmed with pandemic news. THC Global, a Canadian-Aussie company now raising money and signing global deals, has just bought a “clinic network” of 30 prescribing physicians that will be able to supply up to 6,000 Australian patients this year.
In doing so, this entity is clearly beginning to establish a pattern of expansion in a new medical market not seen so far outside of Canada. Namely being able to obtain the all-important prescription for one’s brand at the doctor or prescriber’s office which is affiliated with a certain producer. Pharmacies and dispensaries downstream have no discretion for any other product to sell if the brand is written right on the prescription itself.
And this marks a new step in an industry frustrated with the high prices and high levels of red tape in other international environments where more widespread medical cannabis reform has come.
The Situation in Germany Germany represents, so far at least, the destination market of choice for Canadian cannabis firms (for the last several years at least). This is for several very sound business reasons (at least in theory).
Photo: Ian McWilliams, Flickr
The German medical market is the largest in Europe. Health reforms which swept the country at the time of reunification also created a system that is in its own way a hybrid of the more European (and British) NHS and American healthcare. Namely, 90% of the German population is on the system, but it is tied to employment and income. Freelancers, even of the German kind, must use private healthcare as must all non-passport foreigners. If you make over a certain amount of money (about $65,000), you must also pay for private healthcare. As the cannabis revolution rolls forward, many cannabis patients are caught in changing rules and a great reluctance by public health insurers to allow fast entry of any new drug, including this one. This is based on “science” but also cost.
Bottom line? Yes, the market is lucrative and growing, and yes, cannabis is covered under public health insurance, but the ability of any producers to be able to maintain a reliable, steady market of “prescribers” is highly limited. Furthermore, unlike anywhere else in the world, pharmacists play an outsized role in the process – namely because there are no chains (more than four brick and mortar outlets are verboten). Prices and availability vary widely across the country.
There are also no “online” drug stores where patients can send prescriptions in the sense that this vertical has developed in other countries.
Hospital dispensation is, for all the obvious reasons, highly expensive and generally prohibitive for the long term, if not serving much larger numbers of patients.
The Problem in the UK Like Germany, the UK decided to launch medical “cannabis” – or at least cannabinoid-related drugs under the purview of the NHS, but there are several issues with this.
The problems start with the fact that the system remains a monopoly for one British company, GW Pharmaceuticals. The medication produced by them, including Sativex and Epidiolex is expensive and does not work for many patients that it is produced “on label” for (such as MS or childhood epilepsy).
And then of course, the largest group of cannabis patients anywhere (chronic pain) have been explicitly excluded from the list of conditions cannabis can be prescribed for under public health guidelines in the UK. This, like Germany, has created a highly expensive system where those patients who obtain the drug on a regular (and legal basis) have to have both private healthcare and obtain help through private clinics. While there are several chain clinics now forming in the UK, this is not the same thing as “buying” patients in the thousands – the model seen in Canada from the beginning of 2014.
The market has a lot of potential, in other words, but like Germany, via very different paths to market than seen in Canada, in particular.
Why Is Canada Different? The development of the medical market came through federal change in the law around the turn of the century. Namely, after patients won the right to grow for themselves, via Supreme Court legal challenge, patient collectives gradually formed to grow and sell cannabis that was more “professionally” cultivated. This, in turn, became the right of private companies and indeed household names in the Canadian market saw buying patient pools as their path to financing on the equity markets as of 2014.
This is not widely popular within the industry. Indeed, the last legal challenge mounted by the industry to ban non-profit patient collectives fell apart in 2016 – the year that the larger Canadian companies began to look abroad to Europe.
It is also undoubtedly why, beyond the red tape they face in Germany and the UK if not across Europe, Canadian firms are looking to hybridize a model which worked well for them at least in the early days of capitalization of the private industry. And maybe Australia will be “it.” Stay tuned.
Hemp-based construction materials are an attractive option for achieving environmentally friendly goals in construction, including reduced emissions and conservation of natural resources. Hemp construction materials dating back to the 6th Century have been discovered in France and it has long been eyed with interest by hemp growers and manufacturers, as well as environmentalists in the United States and abroad. As the European Union moves forward with its 2019 European Green Deal, United States hemp, construction and limestone industries, as well as regulatory agencies, will be provided with an important preview of the benefits, risks and issues arising out of the use of hemp in construction.
The European Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan
Hemp applications in construction are gaining increased interest as the EU seeks to neutralize its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Much of the specifics for this transition to zero emissions are outlined in the EU’s “A New Circular Economy Action Plan,” announced on March 11, 2020. According to the EU, “This Circular Economy Action Plan provides a future-oriented agenda for achieving a cleaner and more competitive Europe in co-creation with economic actors, consumers, citizens and civil society organisations.” The plan aims at accelerating the transformational change required by the European Green Deal and tackles emissions and sustainability issues across a number of industries and products, including construction.
Construction in the EU accounts for approximately 50% of all extracted natural resources and more than 35% of the EU’s total waste generation. According to the plan, greenhouse gas emissions from material extraction, manufacturing of construction products and construction and renovation of buildings are estimated at 5-12% of total national greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that greater material efficiency could save 80% of those emissions. To achieve those savings, the plan announces various efforts to address sustainability, improve durability and increase energy efficiency of construction materials.
How Hemp Could Help Europe Achieve Neutral Emissions
Hemp, and specifically hempcrete, is being eyed with heightened interest as the EU enacts its plan. Indeed, recent mergers and acquisitions in the European hemp industry signal just how attractive this hemp-based product may be as international, national and local green initiatives gain momentum. But how would hemp be utilized in construction and what types of legal issues will this industry face as it expands?
Image: National Hemp Association
The primary hemp-based construction material is “hempcrete.” Hempcrete is typically composed of hemp hurds (the center of the hemp plant’s stalk), water and lime (powdered limestone). These materials are mixed into a slurry. The slurry petrifies the hemp and the mixture turns into stone once it cures. Some applications mix other, traditional construction materials with the hempcrete. The material can be applied like stucco or turned into bricks. According to the National Hemp Association, hempcrete is non-toxic, does not release gaseous materials into the atmosphere, is mold-resistant, is fire– and pest-resistant, is energy-efficient and sustainable. To that last point, hemp, which is ready for harvest after approximately four months, provides clear advantages over modern construction materials, which are either mined or harvested from old forests. Furthermore, the use of lime instead of cement reduces the CO2 emissions of construction by about 80%.
Watching Europe with an Eye on Regulation and Liability Risks
Hempcrete indeed sounds like a wünder-product for the construction industry (and the hemp industry). Unfortunately, while it may alleviate some of the negative environmental impacts of the construction sector, it will not alleviate the threat of litigation in this industry, particularly in the litigious United States. The European Union’s experience with it will provide important insights for U.S. industries.
Hempcrete blocks being used in construction
Because hemp was only recently legalized in the United States with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, it is not included in mainstream building codes in the United States, the International Residential Code, nor the International Building Code. Fortunately, there are pathways for the consideration and use of non-traditional materials, like hempcrete, in building codes. However, construction applications of any form of hemp, including hempcrete, at this point would likely require extensive discussions with local building authorities and an application showing that the performance criteria for the building are satisfied by the material. Such criteria would include standards and testing relating to structural performance, thermal performance, and fire resistance. Importantly, the ASTM does have a subcommittee working on various performance standards for hemp in construction applications. European progress on this front would pave an important regulatory pathway for the United States, as well as provide base-line standards for evaluating hempcrete materials.
Insights into regulation and performance standards are not the only reason to watch the EU construction industry in the coming decades. Introduction of hempcrete and hemp-based building materials in the United States will likely stoke litigation surrounding these materials. Although there is no novel way to avoid the most common causes of construction litigation, including breach of contract, quality of construction, delays, non-payment and personal injury, the lessons learned in Europe could provide risk management and best-practice guidance for the U.S. industry. Of particular concern for the hemp industry should be the potential for product liability, warranty, and consumer protection litigation in the United States. The European experience with hempcrete’s structural performance, energy efficiency, mold-, pest- and fire-resistant properties will be informative, not just for the industry, but also for plaintiff attorneys. Ensuring that hempcrete has been tested appropriately and meets industry gold-standards will be paramount for the defense of such litigation and EU practices will be instructive.
The United States construction industry, and particularly hempcrete product manufacturers, should pay close attention as the EU expands green construction practices, including the use of hempcrete. The trials and errors of European industry counterparts will inform U.S. regulations, litigation and risk management best practices.
The cannabis industry is fraught with hypocrisy. Cannabis is good medicine as has been established by the numerous patients we have seen who are now off of their opioids, benzos and sleep agents due to the addition of medical cannabis products to their regimen. We see patients using cannabis when nothing else has worked and they tell us about their decreased suffering on a daily basis and thank us profusely for staying open during the COVID-19 shutdown, due to our designation as an essential business in Maryland.
Gina Dubbé (left) and Dr. Leslie Apgar (right), co-founders of Greenhouse Wellness, a medical cannabis dispensary in Maryland
The fact that this essential business has seen an increase in business due to the anxiety surrounding Covid-19 is an indication that our society will be dealing with the ramifications of anxiety, PTSD and depression for a long time to come as we deal with the fallout from the pandemic. Our forced shutdown of the workforce has resulted in the opportunity to look deeply at our basic assumptions and policies. Policing and incarceration for what is now a medically-necessary component to society is the crime. We believe that we have the opportunity to rectify the errors of our past and release those still imprisoned for cannabis possession, use, etc.
Further, as evidenced by our country’s recovery from the great depression, the legalization of alcohol certainly helped to bolster the economy. The US has the same opportunity with the cannabis industry. Tax revenue from the legalization of cannabis nationwide is sure to add a much-needed economic boost to help us recover from the disaster of this pandemic.
Our country has had an unfortunate historical relationship with a plant that has the potential to ease suffering safely and bring about some much-needed economic stimulation. It’s high time we fix the mistakes of our past and create a kinder and more inclusive future.
It is almost impossible to turn on the tv and not find a show or news conference or even live footage of an ongoing protest over “Black Lives Matter” or “Economic Equality.” The same situation exists with social media platforms, radio broadcast, etc. All sharing the common theme of social equity. While we all seek a solution, the state of Illinois is doing their part by awarding the coveted adult use cannabis business licenses for craft growing, infusion, transportation and dispensaries to social equity applicants by using a scoring system that favors the social equity applicant. We believe in this vision at TGC Group and our dream is to pay it forward.
Taneeshia Thomas and her husband, Christopher Lacy, who did 3.5 years in prison for growing cannabis in 2009.
We see the world, especially for minorities living in poverty, quite differently because of where we come from. “Black Lives Matter” is a movement to save the lives of all people and have human life viewed equally no matter the race of an individual. Economic equality is a totally different fight. Our communities that are impoverished need cash infusions. There needs to be financial infrastructure that recirculates the dollars from the poor communities and that comes from having business owners in the affected community to put their profits back into their community. There needs to be a system of lending that is not based on credit scores and criminal background checks because most people at the bottom will never qualify. An example would be my husband, Christopher Lacy: he went to prison for 3.5 years for growing cannabis back in 2009. He is not a violent man; he never even had a fight in prison. He spent much of his time in prison teaching inmates how to read, write and most importantly, he tried to teach them economics. He is educated about cannabis because he has been intimately involved with this plant and has been growing it for just about 20 years. Yet when he tried to apply for jobs in Illinois for growing cannabis, his invisible barrier starts with the resume. Just think about it, my husband, knows more about cannabis than most people in the industry today and could manage a facility with ease. No one could see his worth because of his background and work experience? This is the same situation with so many others in our poor communities. We know for a fact that there is hidden talent in the impoverished communities and prison system, and we intend to find it and empower these individuals to rebuild what was destroyed by the war on drugs. I speak for all the ghettos when I say this: give us access to the capital and we will get the rest done on our own. Conventional banks have their hands tied with this approach because they are regulated, but private funds have more flexibility. The excess capital needed to rebuild will not come from jobs, it only comes from ownership. Luckily, J.B. Pritzker and Toi Hutchinson are aware of this and hence created the social equity fund to help the social equity applicants fund their projects if and when they are awarded a license. We must find a way to give to the bottom so that the dollars can trickle up. Trickledown economics is kind of like that movie “Platform” on Netflix. There are never enough resources to get to the bottom because the people sending the resources down have no idea how to get them to the bottom floors of society. Trickle up economics can start at the very bottom rungs of society and still will reach to this highest level of the economic system because its built in such a way that it will inevitably get there.
State Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D-Park Forest), now The Illinois Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer
These new licenses, literally pathways to financial freedom if operated correctly and efficiently, are revenue machines capable of changing our community. This change does not come from providing jobs (although jobs do help and will be available), but by providing capital to rebuild. These funds can provide scholarships, business loans, even small infrastructure projects can get accomplished via the tax revenue generated by the local governments. We have already made a written commitment to give a portion of net margins to the village. Capital in the right hands can make dreams come true. In theory, poverty can be solved. Poverty is not a prerequisite to the American way of life. That is why we were so proud to get zoning approval by our village. They see what we see. We can change neighborhoods like Beacon Hill. The dollars must recirculate in the community. Wherever you see high poverty rates you see high crime rates. This is not a coincidence. If you can lower the poverty rate you can lower the crime rates. This raises the quality of life for everyone. We see the state is on board, the county is on board, the Village of Park Forest is on board and the citizens of the community are on board. Now all we need is the license and capital to get the resurrection started.
Unlike other applicants, we were only capable of applying for one license for a craft grow facility. Some may see this as a disadvantage because only 40 licenses will be issued for this purpose. I wish we could have applied for more to increase our odds, but resources were scarce and applying was not cheap. We decided to stick with the efficient market theory and put all our eggs in the one basket that we know we can carry and be successful with. Without the help of Justice Grown, we would’ve never completed the application so shout out to them and anyone else that helped “true” social equity applicants apply.
The wheels are in motion so all we can do is wait to see who wins. I would hate to be on the team who must decide who wins these licenses. Everyone knows large corporations found ways to apply as social equity applicants because they only needed a certain number of “social equity” employees to qualify. But if you go ask the employees, not the owners, if they have been cured of their financial burdens and see if $15 has raised their quality of life to a middle-class level. The answer is emphatically NO. You cannot give out band-aids for heart attacks. If these large corporations are awarded the licenses, it will perpetuate the cycle of poverty. We do not personally have anything against the big companies. Like Toi Hutchinson said regarding the first round of dispensary and cultivation licenses: we needed the big company dollars to fund the next round of licenses. Well, the next round is here. Let’s do right by the communities that were truly affected by the war on drugs and on a more personal level and my reason for applying: let’s do right by my husband because he lost 3.5 years of his life and was excluded from participating with his family for doing what is now legal.
Back in late 2016, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) legalized delivery for cannabis products. Since then, dispensaries could offer a delivery option for their customers to purchase cannabis products without leaving the comfort of their home. Up until quite recently, that market was dominated by a handful of dispensaries who also conduct business at their physical location, offering delivery as an option while conducting most sales in-person.
Enter Pot Mates. Founded in 2018 by Hammond Potter, the company embarked on the long regulatory road towards licensing and beginning operations. On April 20, 2020, Pot Mates opened for business, starting their engines to take on the fledgling cannabis delivery market in Portland.
Pot Mates is a tech startup through and through. The founders are former Apple employees. Hakon Khajavei, the chief marketing officer at Pot Mates, founded Blackline Collective, a business and marketing consultancy, which is where he joined the Pot Mates team. The other co-founder of Pot Mates and chief technology officer, Jason Hinson, joined after serving in the US Navy as an electronics technician maintaining satellite communications networks.
With the sheer amount of regulations for cannabis businesses, coupled with the new delivery-based business model, Pot Mates had to focus on technology and automation from the get-go.
Not Just an Online Dispensary
For the cannabis companies already offering delivery in the Portland metro area, their websites seem to mimic the in-person dispensary experience. They offer dozens of products for each category, like concentrates, edibles and flower, making a customer pour through options, all at different price points, which can get confusing for the average consumer.
The Pot Mates logo
Pot Mates does things a little differently. “Our start up process was thinking through how do we make this the best experience possible, how do we get rid of the unnecessary junk and how do we do things that only an online dispensary can do,” says Khajavei. They have flat pricing across the board. In each category, almost every product is priced the same, moving away from the common tiered-pricing model. This, Khajavei says, removes the decision barriers customers often face. Instead of choosing the right price point, they can choose the delivery mechanism and effect they desire uninhibited by a difference in cost.
It all comes back to focusing on the simplest way for someone to buy cannabis. “Shopping online is just very different,” says Khajavei. “Our process focuses on the customer journey and limits the number of products we offer. We have a mood system, where we tag our products from reviews to typify moods that you experience with different products.” All of that requires a lot of back-end technology built into their website.
The Long Regulatory Road
Technology has been a strong suit for Pot Mates since they opened their doors, and well before that too. Making the decision to be an online-only delivery cannabis company pushed them to pursue a very unique business model, but regulations dictate a lot of the same requirements that one might see in dispensaries.
Hakon Khajavei, Chief Marketing Officer
The same rules apply to them when Pot Mates submitted their license application. You need to have a signed lease, extreme security measures, detailed business plans, integrated seed-to-sale traceability software (Metrc in Oregon) and much more. “During the months leading up to getting our license, we were able to iron out a lot of the regulatory details ahead of time,” says Khajavei. A lot of that was about security and tracking their products, which is why technology plays such a huge role in their ongoing regulatory compliance efforts. “We built in a lot of automation in our system for regulatory compliance,” says Khajavei. “Because of our technology, we are a lot faster.”
In the end, their licensing process through the state of Oregon as well as the city of Portland took about nine months. Once they had the license, they could finally get down to business and begin the process of building their website, their POS system, their inventory and reaching out to partners, producers, distributors and growers.
For any cannabis company, there are a number of regulations unique to their business. “We need to report every product movement in house through Metrc,” says Khajavei. “Every time something is repackaged it needs to be reported. We focus so much on our technology and automation because these regulations force us to do so.” But delivery companies are required to report even more. Pot Mates needs to report every single movement a product makes until it reaches the customer. Before the delivery can leave the shop, it is reported to Metrc with an intended route, using turn-by-turn directions. It complicates things when you make two or more deliveries in one trip. Reporting a daisy chain of deliveries a vehicle makes with turn-by-turn directions to regulatory authorities can get very tedious.
As far as regulations go for delivery parameters, they can legally deliver anywhere inside Portland city limits. “It is our job to figure that out, not the customer’s job; so we don’t have any distance limits, as long as it is residential,” Khajavei says. “We programmed customized technology that allows us to handle really small orders.” Without a minimum order policy or a distance limit, Pot Mates can reach a much bigger group of consumers.
Launching in the Midst of a Global Pandemic
Chief Technology Officer, Jason Hinson
Luckily, the Pot Mates team received their license just in time. About two weeks after they submitted their application, Oregon put a moratorium on any new dispensaries.
They went forward with their launch on April 20 this year, despite the coronavirus pandemic impacting just about every business in the world, including their marketing efforts tremendously. With cannabis deemed essential by the state, they could operate business as usual, just with some extra precautions. What’s good for PotMates is that they don’t need to worry about keeping social distancing policies for customers or curbside pickup, given the lack of storefront.
They still need to keep their team safe though. The Pot Mates team began 3D printing washable and reusable face masks, getting more gloves for delivery drivers, cleaning their warehouse thoroughly, cleaning vehicles and making sure employees maintained distancing. Pot Mates is even 3D printing enough masks and donating them to local organizations that need access to masks. “As a cannabis company, we always have to handle things with gloves here and take necessary safety precautions anyway, so our response is more about how we can help than what we need to change.”
Advertising Cannabis in a Pandemic is No Easy Task
“The marketing aspect is where covid-19 really hurt us,” says Khajavei. “There are so many regulations for cannabis companies advertising already. Unlike other products, we can’t just put up advertisements anywhere. We have to follow very specific rules.” So, in addition to the normal marketing woes in the cannabis industry, the team then had to deal with a pandemic.
Pot Mates had to scrap their entire marketing strategy for 2020 and redo it. “We wanted to begin with a lot of face-to-face marketing at events, but that didn’t quite work out so well.” Without any concerts, industry events or large gatherings of any kind, Pot Mates had to pivot to digital marketing entirely. They started building their SEO, growing their following on social media, producing content in the form of blogs and education around cannabis and the local laws.
On an Upward Trajectory
Obviously, the short-term problem for a new cannabis company is reaching people, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. “We have a good trajectory though, we know we are growing our business, but we still have a ways to go,” says Khajavei. It doesn’t help that social media companies have nonsensical policies regarding cannabis. Their Facebook page was recently removed too.
Founder & CEO of Pot Mates, Hammond Potter
But the bigger issue here is kind of surprising when you first hear it: “It’s not even a matter of customer preference, a lot of people just have no idea that delivery is even legal.”
It’s pretty evident that cannabis delivery has not really gone mainstream yet. “We’ve told people about our business in the past and a common answer we get is, ‘Oh my gosh, I didn’t even know we could get cannabis delivered.’” It’s never crossed their mind that they can get cannabis delivered to their home. It’s an awareness problem. It’s a marketing problem. But it’s a good problem to have and the solution lies in outreach. Through educational content they post on social media and in their blog, Khajavei wants to spread the word: “Hey, this is a real thing, you can get cannabis delivered.”
As the market develops and as consumers begin to key in on cannabis delivery, there’s nowhere to go but up. Especially in the age of Amazon and COVID-19 where consumers can get literally anything they can dream of delivered to their front door.
Moving forward, Pot Mates has plans to expand as soon as they can. Right now, they’re limited to Portland city limits, but there’s a massive population just outside of Portland in towns like Beaverton, Tigard and Tualatin. “We are so close to these population centers but can’t deliver to them now because of the rules. We want to work with OLCC about this and hopefully change the rules to allow us to deliver outside of the city limits,” says Khajavei. In the long term, they plan to expand out of state, with Washington on their north border being first on the docket.
To the average person, one would think launching a delivery cannabis business in the midst of a global pandemic would be a walk in the park, but Pot Mates proved it’s no easy task. As the market develops and the health crisis continues, it seems the Oregon market will react positively to the nascent delivery market, but first they need to know it is even an option.
This year, many issues have gotten put on a shelf as the world has dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. The legalization of cannabis in many states has been one of those issues. But this time on pause has given the industry a chance to identify how it would like to move forward as an emerging market that has many benefits across medicine, from mental health to the economy.
For many of these reasons, cannabis use is coming out of the shadows and there has clearly been a shift in recent years from cannabis being an illicit item to becoming a boutique product in many circles. The transition of cannabis’ image from that of the stoner in his parent’s basement to the “it” consumable for the jet set has as much to do about science as it does sophisticated branding.
Approximately 24 million Americans in 2019 have used cannabis, about 10% say they consume it for medical purposes based upon a growing body of evidence supporting the use of medical cannabis for a number of conditions. There are also economic reasons why legalizing cannabis makes sense including increased revenue for the government, job creation and more.
As cannabis becomes legal across America—11 states have adopted laws allowing for recreational use, while 22 others permit only medical cannabis—it’s finally becoming the sprawling business its proponents have long envisioned.
And this has moved the mainstreaming of cannabis in today’s society from a taboo illicit drug to now being openly discussed at dinner tables.
A plant tagged with a barcode and date for tracking
First of all, our hats need to be taken off to the cannabis advocates who over the last 20 years have shaped an emerging industry, educating society and the government on the benefits cannabis can offer based on science.
The global cannabis community has collaborated with regulatory bodies to establish compliance and regulations as a starting point to help the general public understand sourcing products from legal entities is a safer way to get quality product to consume that is not compromised from unregulated producers.
In addition, technology advancements within the cannabis space have led to sophisticated track and trace solutions of raw materials and products through the supply chain. The data captured within these systems allows cannabis brands to tell a compelling authentication story to end consumers based on scientific facts.
This all leads to an emerging market that has open transparency, full traceability and establishing trust with consumers. The early master growers now work hand in hand with designer laboratories, perfecting and protecting their IP. A sophisticated supply chain has been put in place so consumers know where their cannabis was grown and by whom. Consumers understand which strains have been harvested and what hybrid models have been created. This is certainly no longer a bag of weed you purchased from a neighborhood friend, but a complex, innovative industry with established brands that have celebrities, ex-politicians and well know business executives involved now and the advocates that has been leading the charge for over 30 years are still the backbone to educate the masses on the benefits cannabis and hemp will bring to mankind over time.
The Brand Marketing Byte showcases highlights from Pioneer Intelligence’s Cannabis Brand Marketing Snapshots, featuring data-led case studies covering marketing and business development activities of U.S. licensed cannabis companies.
Here is a data-led, shallow dive on GrowHealthy:
GrowHealthy – Basking in Sunshine
Although Florida may only have a medical market and a relatively restrictive regulatory framework, a handful of companies are leading the pack in dominating the new market. Even though the medical cannabis market is fairly young and the state has not adopted adult use yet, the market’s growth trajectory is very encouraging.
GrowHealthy (GH) is one of those companies capitalizing on market growth with a number of expansion plans. They already have 16 dispensaries open for business throughout Florida and have plans to add to that considerably.
In the past few months, GH has taken a number of steps to enhance their web presence. Perhaps as a reaction to the COVID-19 crisis, GH, along with many other companies in the cannabis space, have started aggressively improving their websites.
With the pandemic wreaking havoc on the national economy, cannabis companies are not immune. However, in the early days of the health crisis, Florida deemed the medical cannabis market ‘essential.’ That proved to be a boon for cannabis companies in the state like GH, who pivoted to curbside pickup and delivery quickly.
In order to capitalize on curbside pickup and delivery, a strong web presence is very important. GH saw a solid rise in web traffic in the past few months, thanks in part to their continuing expansion of brick-and-mortar dispensaries. Adding to their boost in web traffic, GH saw increased strength in their backlinks profile, indicating further increases in future web traffic.
In May, GH shot up to the 20th hottest brand in the United States, up from the 38th slot in April, according to the Pioneer Index. We can attribute this jump to the brand’s performance in web-related activities. The trend continued into the first week of June, as GH’s web activities were the 2nd best nationwide, with the company becoming the 4th hottest brand in the Pioneer Index.
Once you have your product and your business model conceived in the legal cannabis industry, it’s time to brand your endeavor. Branding is what will differentiate your company from others in the same cannabis space. It’s a reflection of what you value and why customers should care about your company.
Build brand identity
When branding your cannabis business, the first place to start is defining your brand identity. Working off your original business plan, you need to determine what your company stands for and how this reflects the services or products you provide. Formalizing your brand will create a foundation for all of your marketing materials, collateral, imagery, packaging and design. This will allow you to better reach your target market and build customer loyalty in the competitive cannabis marketplace. Brand identity includes your company’s voice, tone, visuals, values, and mission. These core components work together to demonstrate how customers perceive your brand. It can help to personify your brand and illustrate its personality.
From healthcare to leisure, there are many emerging markets within the cannabis industry. It’s important to know the subtle differences between each type of cannabis business. Knowing your market will help define your identity.
Formulate the first impression
Your business name is your first impression on customers. Landing on a memorable name that speaks to your customers is a crucial decision that affects your bottom line. Reports have demonstrated that a strong name performs up to 33 percent better on the stock market than weaker names. These marginal advantages cannot be ignored in an industry that continues to ramp up. It’s important to select a name that will be both powerful and overcome any social stigma associated with the cannabis industry.The cannabis industry is fresh and innovative and so should your brand and name.
One of the first steps in this process is to review naming constructs. Most brands fit into one of five styles: classic, clever, pragmatic, emotional or modern. The style needs to reflect your brand’s tone and values. It should also appeal to your dedicated audience. Using what you produced about your cannabis company’s identity, you should begin the brainstorming process. You can utilize online tools such as a brand name generator to spark the brainstorm. Squadhelp’s generator is powerful in that it analyzes the accessibility, depth and functionality of each name idea.
Think creatively
The cannabis industry is fresh and innovative and so should your brand and name. Creative names are what customers respond to. It’s what will set you apart from the bland and sterile. Remember your name doesn’t solely have to describe your product or service. Your brand’s name should, however, evoke genuine emotion.
According to Motley Fool, here is a list of the 10 largest cannabis stocks in 2020:
Canopy Growth
GW Pharmaceuticals
Curaleaf Holdings
Cronos Group
Aurora Cannabis
Green Thumb Industries
Tilray
Aphria
Trulieve Cannabis
Harvest Health & Recreation
The majority of these names involve nomenclature and cannabis buzzwords. But they also include names completely unrelated to the industry, proving an original name can drive success.
Feedback is key
Love at first name is real. It’s easy to fall for a name relying heavily on personal preference. But that’s why audience testing is so important. Through proper audience testing, you can gauge whether your favorite name resonates with your key demographic or if there’s another name that better hits the mark. You may also discover that your name is actually offensive or politically incorrect, a fail you truly want to avoid in today’s cancel culture.
The company Bodega changed their name to Stockwell in 2018, after worldwide backlash to the tone-deaf name
One example of this was a startup called Bodega, a San Francisco company that specialized in tech-enabled vending machines. The founders believed the name was a nod to corner stores heavily established throughout New York’s boroughs. Instead, the company received extreme backlash for exploitation and cultural appropriation of these beloved mom and pop stores. In 2017, The Verge said that “Bodega is either the worst-named startup of the year, or the most devious.” Tapping into diverse audience surveys and polls provides valuable feedback to avoid catastrophic launches such as this.
Check for functionality
When you finally settle on a name you want to be sure that you’ve run through a final functionality checklist.
There are three main parts of functionality to review when naming your cannabis business:
Read to Speak – Can customers easily say the name aloud after reading it? Do they pronounce the name correctly?
Hear to Spell – Can someone easily spell your name after hearing it? Would they be able to Google search it after hearing it once or look your business up on social media?
Speak to Hear – Does your name pass the “crowded bar test”? Meaning, would somebody be able to clearly understand your brand name even if it was spoken in a crowded bar? Would whoever heard it be able to repeat the name back in the same situation?
A highly functional name are ones that are easily remembered and often referred to in conversations.
The time is now
The industry as a whole can be a complicated space to understand. Creative branding is an opportunity to educate potential customers about this novel industry as well as debunk myths. After all, two in three Americans support the legalization of recreational cannabis, according to a 2018 Gallup poll. This illustrates that there’s still a population that needs additional cultivation.
By following these steps, your impactful brand name will promote interest and stand out in an industry that shows no sign of slowing down.
According to a press release, the University of Colorado at Boulder is offering a new course focused on cannabis science through the Continuing Education program at the university during the upcoming Summer and Fall semesters.
The class is called Modern Cannabis Science and will involve a lot of genetic research. The course is sponsored by the Agricultural Genomics Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to scientific research and education in cannabis. In the press release, they describe the course as meant for students who are well informed, but “seek a deeper appreciation of scientific advancements in cannabis genetics.”
Here’s a snapshot of what students can expect to learn from it:
In Modern Cannabis Science, we will explore the range of Cannabis research currently available covering topics such as evolutionary history and global distribution, sex chromosomes, genetic contribution to chemotype, and analyses to aid law enforcement and forensic investigations. We will examine how genetic data allow us to understand relationships between strains and common categories in the Cannabis genus, and why this is important for breeding, policy-making, and medical purposes.
The press release suggests students who enroll can expect to use this knowledge in the cannabis industry. “For example, a budtender will be able to more accurately recommend strains to users,” reads the press release. “Similarly, medical personnel will more fully understand the relationship between strains, the compounds they produce, and how to properly advise Cannabis patients.”
The Canadian-German market connection has been a “thing” ever since the middle of the last decade. But this is not the only international cannabis connection. Indeed, firms in multiple countries have been developing international partnerships for quite some time – and not just deals involving the plant or its extracts, but on the cannabis technology front.
This year and going forward expect these to bear fruit, and in interesting ways.
What are the trends? And who is doing what?
Europe The entire European cannabis market has slowly been developing momentum since 2017 when Germany kicked off its first attempt at a domestic cultivation bid. The first German-grown cannabis is expected to hit pharmacies this fall, and further at a price that will keep everyone else hopping (€3.20 a gram from BfArM to distributors). However, because domestic cultivation was never expected to keep up with patient demand, Germany has become one of the hottest destination markets on the planet.
While there is clearly product still coming in from Canada, the big importer into Germany is actually from Holland (Bedrocan), right across a common border.
But Holland is not the only game in town anymore. Europe has long had promise as one of the most international cannabis markets in the world, simply because of relatively open, cross-border trade. Cannabis from Denmark, Portugal and Spain as well as Australia and South Africa have already made it into the German market. Greece, Italy and Poland are all moving into position as major sources of at minimum, floss if not extracts, along with growing interest in Eastern European entries (and not only the Czech Republic).
The intra-European market for cannabis is well underway, in other words, and this is likely to be an increasing trend, particularly as cannabis continues to make waves on the medical front as well as continually mounting evidence that the drug treats difficult to treat conditions including neurological disorders, cancer and the ever-present chronic pain.
Then of course, there is Israel, which is expected to be a big contender now that the country is finally in the export game.
Beyond the direct imports, however, there are also multiple country hops in play (such as Uruguay to Portugal to Germany). Malta is also increasingly shaping up to be an intriguing pass through port, if nothing else.
But of course, Europe is not the only international game in town.
The UK Despite all of the problems that British patients face in obtaining high quality medical cannabis at a price that is affordable, the UK has actually led the world in cannabis exports (benefitting so far only GW Pharmaceuticals). However many firms have also been cooperating to bring cannabis into the country (from Canada and Holland in particular so far). The biotech partnerships set up by firms like Canopy Growth are also expected to bear fruit as cannabinoid research begins to truly come into its own in the coming decade.
The Americas Despite the fact that exporting from the U.S. is still difficult (although some firms have managed to export hemp to Europe), there is a lot of cross border cooperation going on throughout the hemisphere (including investment and all kinds of creative partnerships). Canada of course, got its export game going early. Yet one of the more intriguing cross border stories of the last 18-24 months is the amount of South American cultivated cannabis ending up “north of the border.” Changing laws in the region make Latin America a major export location as well as a source for product bound elsewhere including Europe (see Columbia, Uruguay and Jamaica in particular). Mexico is expected to be a power player globally going forward too.
There are also many American firms who have developed strategic partnerships globally beyond the actual plant (including in Israel).
Israel The country is absolutely in the export market, but that is not the whole story. Earlier in the year, the country received its first import from Uganda. There are also multiple U.S. companies in partnership with Israeli firms, and this will increasingly play out in terms of both product and cannabis technology as the market continues to open internationally. American firms, in other words, are still largely prohibited from shipping from the U.S., but they can now do so from Israel, and further, anywhere in the world.
South Africa Another newcomer, South African firms are partnering internationally (including with American firms) to develop not only product but extraction technology. Cannabis firms here have also already shipped product to Canada and Europe.
Australia Agricultural exports generally are a major part of the Aussie economy, and cannabis is shaping up to be no exception. Domestic firms are increasingly exporting to Europe (in particular), but partnerships here will be intriguing to watch, particularly as the Chinese market comes into its own. And there are already plenty of firms with partnerships now established or in the last phases of inking out deals with Israeli firms. Canada has been the largest source of imports into the country since 2017.
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The problems start with the fact that the system remains a monopoly for one British company, GW Pharmaceuticals. The medication produced by them, including Sativex and Epidiolex is expensive and does not work for many patients that it is produced “on label” for (such as MS or childhood epilepsy).
The development of the medical market came through federal change in the law around the turn of the century. Namely, after patients won the right to grow for themselves, via Supreme Court legal challenge, patient collectives gradually formed to grow and sell cannabis that was more “professionally” cultivated. This, in turn, became the right of private companies and indeed household names in the Canadian market saw buying patient pools as their path to financing on the equity markets as of 2014.
