For anyone interested in Canopy Growth (TSX: CGC) (OTC: TWMJF), the broader Canadian cannabis industry or just exciting start-up stories, The Walrus has published a fantastic history of the parent of Tweed and Bedrocan Cannabis, with some new information about its future path. The author, Brett Popplewell, toured Tweed Farms, the 350,000 sq. ft. greenhouse in Niagara-on-the-Lake, with CEO Bruce Linton and later visited the flagship Tweed factory in Smiths Falls, where he also interviewed Mark Zekulin, who was recently promoted to President of Canopy Growth.
Canopy Growth’s early days were filled with several challenges, and Popplewell elaborates upon many of them, including setbacks in getting initial seeds, difficulty scaling, construction cost overruns, the departure of original CEO Chuck Rifici, and, more recently, some pushback from doctors who didn’t like the company’s association with brand ambassador Snoop Dogg. At the same time, there have been some positive surprises, including cannabis oil sales that have far surpassed the company’s expectations and tremendous interest from other governments and businesses in other countries looking to partner, including Australia, Brazil, Germany, Jamaica, South Africa and Uruguay.
The article also revealed some information that hasn’t yet been publicly disclosed, including a research project to “grow experimental marijuana trees…in 170-liter pots.” The company has also had licensing discussions with a Colorado-based company, presumably Foria, to bring its sexual enhancement products into Canada in the future. Finally, the company has plans to sell drinkable cannabis products.
Read Brett Popplewell’s “The Big Smoke: Inside the Ontario company that is set to turn Canada into a marijuana superpower”: http://thewalrus.ca/the-big-smoke/
