‘We’re coming out of prohibition here’
Pelham cannabis producer CannTrust ready for Oct. 17 legalization
From Brad Rogers’ perspective, it probably feels an awful lot like it did in 1933.
“We’re coming out of prohibition here,” he said.
And being at the helm of one of Niagara’s largest medical cannabis producers just weeks away from the legalization of recreational marijuana “is amazing,” Rogers added.
“We’re the modern-day Jack Daniel,” he said — referring to the U.S. whisky manufacturer that was shut down by U.S. prohibition laws that were repealed in 1933. “I don’t know what it was like back then, but this is what it’s like now. It’s exciting, I’ll tell you that.”
Rogers said CannTrust — one of several major marijuana producers that have set up shop throughout Niagara in the past few years — has already seen “phenomenal growth.”
CannTrust was founded in Vaughan four years ago, developing products from the once maligned plant to ease the suffering of patients facing ailments ranging from headaches to cancer. Since taking on the role as CannTrust’s president in 2016, he said the number of employees on the payroll has grown to more than 500 people from 15.
The company has also recently transformed a greenhouse in Fenwick into a secure state-ofthe-art complex for the production of cannabis, while investing about $40 million on a 54,000square-metre expansion.
And the industry is only just getting started.
“It’s incredible the amount of opportunity that this industry is providing folks,” Rogers said
With online sales of recreational marijuana to begin Oct. 17, and storefront retail sales set to begin in April, the company has been ramping up its staffing levels to meet that demand.
Every week, anywhere from five to 15 employees are being hired on, and there’s no signs of slowing down. CannTrust currently has seven help-wanted listings on the indeed.com website, with multiple positions available.
“That’s what we’re doing. More staff, more production, more of everything to feed this beast,” Rogers said.
He hopes that “beast” — recreational cannabis sales — eventually grow to account for 80 per cent of CannTrust’s sales, while the company retains its medical customers.
The company’s hopes will be placed on three products for the recreational market, to start, called Liiv, Synr.g and Xscape. Rogers said the Liiv brand will be marketed to everyday users, while the Synr.g brand was developed to focus on flavour, and Xscape was developed to “make you feel a little more uplifted.” And that’s just the start.
The company is looking at other alternatives for the recreational users, including singleserve products that work in coffee makers, and other beverages like sports drink.
Rogers sees ingestible cannabis products as eventually becoming its biggest sellers.
“It’s going to be extracts, it’s going to be edible, it’s going to be in food products. I see that going everywhere. It ubiquitous and it’s going to happen soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said legalization should also mean the end of the violence that the industry has long been plagued by.
For instance, last week’s shooting at a licensed medical marijuana greenhouse in Niagara Falls is “exactly what the government wants to get rid of.”
“That’s exactly what needs to happen. It’s going to be like, where was the last shooting in a winery? It’s going to become normalized. Everyone is going to be OK with it,” he said.
“We’re living in dog years here, that’s the thing. Every day is like seven. It’s a crazy world right now we live in,” he said. “But it’s fun nonetheless, because we get to do something that’s never been done in the history of the world.”