The recent merger of Tilray and Aphria under the former’s name has forged a national powerhouse that is also the leading provider of medical marijuana in Europe.
My plan is to grow the Canadian business to about 30 per cent market share in adult use, medical cannabis, and cannabis 2.0, which are drinks and edibles.
I want to build a consumer packaged-good business around brands where the common denominator is cannabis.
There are different alcohol levels and ways to consume it, differences in how it tastes and how it goes down.
The other big thing I have to address is exactly what you just said: “I’m not a user.” So why aren’t you a user? We have to educate consumers that cannabis is OK.
Today, 15 per cent to 20 per cent of adult Canadians consume cannabis, but there are three parts to that: those who buy it, those who still go to the illicit market, and those who don’t admit to using it.
At that time consumers were not educated about natural, organic, GMO-free foods, so I’ve done that before, creating an industry around a category that was not well known.
The big guys who can afford to invest and innovate and put the right marketing behind their products will survive.
Now, happy hour probably starts at 2 or 3 p.m., right? The Canadian government also does not allow us to advertise, and not that we should be out there saying, “Let’s get high and party.” We need to advertise the health and safety and the benefits.
population and half cannot consume cannabis because of being under age, but I see Canadian retail sales becoming a $9-billion marketplace.
But medical cannabis is legal in eight to 10 countries in Europe, and Germany and Portugal will probably legalize recreational cannabis in the next few years.
CBD or THC is used in a lot of medicines in China and India, so it’s not like we’d be introducing it.
But I will tell you, when I was running the food company, I wondered how people would perceive me selling drugs and alcohol.