Manitoba Cannabis Syndicate Reduces Costs Associated with Processing
A Manitoba cannabis syndicate started as a tongue-in-cheek idea. Jesse Lavoie, founder of TobaGrown, saw that much of the Manitoba-grown cannabis had to be shipped to Ontario for processing before getting shipped back to retail cannabis stores. Shipping costs alone could be $1,000 – and that was before processing costs.
“We all have similar issues where we’re paying big money for shipping or we’re paying a big corporation to do our processing and maybe it gets deprioritized, maybe it doesn’t,” Lavoie said.
Lavoie wondered aloud why they couldn’t just get put together a Manitoba cannabis syndicate and process cannabis closer to home.
“It was kind of an in-house joke and never thought about it again, but then Jesse called me up and said, ‘Hey, we have this idea,'” said Waldemar Heidebrecht, co-owner of Alicanto Gardens. He signed on to the TobaRolling Syndicate, a real-life Manitoba cannabis syndicate, soon after.
TobaRolling is a group of five Manitoba-based cannabis companies who have teamed up to do their own processing within the province. Those companies are TobaGrown, Alicanto Gardens, Cypress Craft, Kief Cannabis, and Natural Earth Craft Cannabis.
Selkirk, Man.-based Kief Cannabis is one of the key players since it holds a Health Canada processing licence. It has a room set aside for packaging and has an additional room in case of expansion. Jesse Denton, who founded Kief Cannabis, said the Manitoba cannabis syndicate arrangement is a testament to the provincial cannabis industry.
“I think it speaks volumes into how well-connected we are as a province and how well-connected we want to be as an industry, especially locally,” Denton said. “From my understanding, we’re the first of its kind.”
Manitoba Cannabis Syndicate Another Example of Innovation in the Cannabis Industry – LPC
TobaRolling’s Manitoba cannabis syndicate is yet another example of innovation in the cannabis industry – and there are many examples popping up across Canada. Many industry experts believe that Canada’s cannabis industry needs to be fixed. The implication of course is that regulators including Health Canada need to do the fixing. But we’re seeing how industry itself can drive change and innovation.
For example, this cannabis consumption café in Grand Bend, Ont. was likely in a legal grey area. But it did lead to a cannabis consumption space in Toronto that was clearly legal: Cannabis Carnival within Grand Bizarre at Ontario Place. Also in Toronto, competition has led some cannabis retail stores to experiment with smaller stores for better profit margins. Calgary-Based Cannanaskis brought Alberta cannabis tourism to Kananaskis Country, also operating in a bit of a legal grey area.
The new Manitoba cannabis syndicate isn’t in a legal grey area whatsoever. But it still demonstrates how the cannabis industry itself can push for innovations.
Are changes to government regulations still needed to loosen cannabis rules? Absolutely. But it’s nice to see that some of those changes are coming from a grassroots level. After all, nobody knows the Canadian cannabis industry better than the industry itself.
Read the Full Story on the CBC Website
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