Marijuana Business Magazine April 2019

April 2019 | mjbizdaily.com 11 385,800-pound, equivalent of cannabis products from Aphria over five years.) We have a trusted grow focused on cultivation with significant square footage built out, and we were able to negotiate pricing we felt was competitive and we could still achieve significant margins from, whether we’re sell- ing flower or value-added products. Where do you start? We started with talent. We realized if we want to be a leading company, we have to have the best talent in-house. We looked for people who had that experience, who knew how to identify and capitalize on opportunities in the marketplace. If we were to become a consumer packaged goods company, we needed people who had those skills in terms of product innovation, marketing strategy and brand strategy. On the adult-use side, we hired Maria Guest. Maria had been with Labatt (Brewing) for 18 years doing product innovation, branding and strategy. She launched Bud Light Lime, which was Labatt’s most successful beer launch in their history. We made a similar hire on the pharma and medical side with Wayne Kreppner, who spent 20 years on product development (and) commercialization on the pharmaceutical side. He joined us from Concordia International and Trimel Pharmaceuticals (since renamed Acerus Pharmaceuticals). How are you rolling out brands and preparing for the future? In the adult-use space, we’re exploring product innova- tion with the introduction of edibles and beverages. (Canada will have its infused and edibles regulations in place by October 2019.) We started having conversations with other groups that may specialize in non-cannabis edibles but would like to partner with a company to create a joint venture or joint product. We partnered with the consumer packaged goods firm GreenSpace Brands, which already has a suite of organic, natural and health and wellness products. We formed a partnership with them to produce a line of health and beauty products. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. www.kannamill.com | techsales@kannamill.com | 1-800-447-4634 Improved efficiency and better yield for processing cannabis and industrial hemp Whether you’re processing 50 pounds or 50 tons per hour, KannaMill is the most efficient, fully scalable equipment on the market for CBD processing