May 10, 2024 • 54 mins
As we close out the season, it's a privilege to bring you the remarkable tale of Cyrus Hambaz – a name synonymous with cannabis industry innovation and the driving force behind the Loudplug. His story isn't just one of triumph over the tumultuous tides of business, but also of the cultural tapestry woven into the very fabric of his brand.
From the tranquil effects of chamomile tea leaf integration to the nostalgic homage paid to classic strains, Cyrus's journey from Scarborough's streets to the pinnacle of cannabusiness success is a narrative steeped in authenticity and community reverence.
Every entrepreneur's path is lined with personal anecdotes and industry-specific challenges, and Cyrus's expedition from an immigrant in Iran to the CEO chair in Canada is no exception. He candidly discusses his early cultivation under the MMAR program, the transition to legality, and the subsequent growth of a quality-driven cannabis enterprise.
Beyond the financial sacrifices and the hurdles of cultural perception, there's a warm acknowledgment of the critical role played by a dedicated team, the company's financial strategies, and the shaping of public perception towards quality cannabis products.
Our season finale wouldn't be complete without a nod to wellness and the profound potential of cannabis in that realm. We honor Brad Stott's trailblazing utilization of CBD in his fight against cancer and the ripple effect it's had on the industry at large. From exploring the launch of wellness brand UfeelU to the integration of cannabis into fitness regimens, this episode encapsulates the evolving nature of the cannabis landscape and leaves you with a wealth of insights.
So join us as we celebrate Cyrus and the indelible mark he's making in the ever-green world of cannabis.
To stay in the loop on our latest episodes, follow us on Instagram (@higherorbit), and YouTube (@higherorbit), and don't forget to subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Or send us an email: info@higherorbit.ca.
Thank you for your unwavering support. We're excited to bring you even more awe-inspiring content in the near future.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, main engine start 4, 3, 2, 1.
I'm Sean and I'm Charlie andthis is Higher Orbit.
Hi everyone, I'm Cyrus.
(00:26):
Yeah, that's great.
It was the cue.
We got a big guest.
We're going to give you a niceintro, Cyrus Season finale.
It's the season finale.
Straight off a plane from BCand from Scarborough with Love,
our boy and Vice.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
President of.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Operations and from Scarborough with love, our boy
and vice president of operations, CEO of the Loudplug.
Canadian Clinical Cannabinoids.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
I have a lot of titles, though I do a lot of
different things.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
So I agree with you.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah, there's a few of them we've got to put in
there.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Yeah, I missed a couple.
You grind buddy, you grindbuddy and honestly, it's so nice
to have like a success story onthe show because we feel like
sometimes in our industry it'slike it's hard swimming out
there, you know oh thank you.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Thank you, you know what I mean.
We're still working on it,though.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I think it's a testament to like your hard work
and your dedication and justyour passion, man for this stuff
, I can tell.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Appreciate you, yeah, it's been a long time coming.
We're definitely excited tohave you on the show.
It's a great and about time.
I mean we were just saying howwe had re probably about a year
ago.
So grab a sheesh and kick back,guys.
We appreciate you listening.
Definitely excited to kick itoff with Cyrus.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, thanks for a great season, everybody that is
listening, and thanks foreverybody supporting us out
there and let's have aphenomenal show.
Go grab yourself some Benny.
Bluntos Grab yourself someSheesh, or yeah, they just
dropped the Tangerine Dream.
I'll plug the Tangerine Dreamwith the live resin and fire up
a Benny Blunto.
I was saying the Banana Havanais my personal favorite, but I
(02:00):
also like that Mixed Pack.
You know you get the one of theEach Charlie.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, but I also like that mix pack.
You know, you get the one ofthe each, charlie.
Yeah, those are great, thoseare really good.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
The variety pack, those are great.
Those are really awesome andsuch a great product.
Do you?
I'm going to ask this Are youreally involved in the product
development?
I mean, you say you wear a lotof hats.
I'm assuming you are right.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yeah, for sure, a lot of your ideas, right, for sure,
yeah, I'm pretty much involvedin everything from, you know,
the beginning to up to now.
I'm still, you know, hands-onon a lot of different things.
By the way, thanks for havingme, you know, on this show so we
can kind of tell a little bitof our side of the story.
Sometimes, with cannabiscompanies, there's so many regs
(02:39):
and things that we can't talkabout or advertise, so any
platform that we get, like this,you know it means a lot.
So thank you for everythingthat you all do.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Thanks, man.
No, we're super happy to haveyou Again.
You know, kind of coming out ofScarborough, it means a lot to
us.
We're kind of from the East End.
Some would say Scarborough.
To be honest, some people evensay like you're past the dawn at
Scarborough, which is kind ofjokes.
But we Don at Scarborough,which is kind of jokes.
But we're always happy tosupport your local brands.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yeah, exactly Toronto , and that's what you definitely
are.
And yeah, sorry, charlie, Ididn't mean to steal the no, not
at all.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I would say.
You know, from day one, we'vealways felt that you were really
a part of, like the communityand what we thought we should be
in this new format andlegalization and I'll give
everyone a little $10,000 word Ilearned today there's a lot of
interlopers, which is, I know,that's a nice one, a that's good
(03:33):
, which which and by that I justmean, like, a lot of people we
feel like Don't really belong,like we see a lot of corporate
cannabis, a lot of weed, a lotof people who don't care about
the culture, especially from theproduction side, and a lot on
the retail side, and we've justalways felt like you stayed true
to that and that's why itresonated with us.
So thank you for that, thankyou.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Yeah, yeah, and like the first, like real blunt, in
my opinion, on the market, whichis so huge, because I feel like
before the Benny Blunto therewas really nothing that like, I
think, satisfied that person, ifthat makes sense, that segment
of customer that really wanted,I don't know, something that's
going to be as close tasting toa blunt as you could get in the
legal market.
They're great.
(04:15):
I love Benny Bluntos.
I'm just going to say that thechocolate it's like that
chocolate flavor really nails itfor me.
It's like super smooth too.
It doesn't like irritate mythroat, it really nails it for
me.
It's like super smooth too, itdoesn't like irritate my throat.
And you guys were definitely, Ithink, the first to use the
chamomile, the chamomile tealeaf.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, I mean, when we were working on it we were, you
know, just about to release theloud plug and the brand and I
had no idea what was about tohappen.
You know, we worked hard withHealth Canada, going back and
forth because they never dealtwith chamomile tea leaf before.
So we knew that obviously itwas going to be something, you
(04:51):
know, new in the market, but wehad no clue that, you know, very
shortly after it was going togo viral on us and, you know,
really take off and having puteverything I owned, me and my
partner Zach, into the business,obviously was some nervous
times and, you know, seeing whathappened after was, you know,
amazing to see.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Yeah, it's such like the Benny Blunto I always think
of.
Like, who is Benny Blunto, youknow, is it like this person?
I always think of my head.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
He's a man down from Scarborough.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Yeah like the Scarborough zigzag man.
That's kind of what I think.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
I was just high one day smoking a joint and you know
Zach calls me.
He's like hey, what do youthink we should call this?
And I think I was watchingCarlitos Way.
Oh no shit.
And Benny Blanco from the Bronx, and I'm like, why don't I just
make it simple, Call it BennyBlanco, so you know what it is
the minute the name comes, andthen have a brown bag and just
(05:47):
everything told you is a bluntand it's a little story behind
that.
But I was really high when Imade that decision.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
You know what I'm going to say it I think that's a
better film than Scarface.
Nothing wrong with Scarface,but I like it.
It's a good one.
It's a good one.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
I really like that one.
Sean Penn, isn't he in that?
No Al.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Pacino no Al.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Pacino.
Sorry, I'm thinking of anotherCarlito's way, I thought he was
the lawyer Sean Penn.
He might be.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
It might be his brother.
I think he's the sketchy, itmight be his brother.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
I haven't seen it for a minute.
It's Chris Penn.
I haven't seen it for a minute.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Chris Penn, yeah, Anyway, he you came to be, but I
really wanted to touch on acouple of topics just because
there was a lot of spice thatwas going around in the in the
industry this week.
I would say Um, but data, um,you know, we heard about a big
(06:35):
retailer kind of getting smokedby the regular regulator.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
I don't know, charlie , I guess just a quick
background, I feel like you kindof just was cannabis expresses
the name of the retailer, yeah,and they got hit with a two
hundred thousand dollarregulatory.
Fine, we'll say, right, yeah,sure, fine, I mean I don't care,
that's what happened yeah, um,I don't know if you care to talk
about that.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
from my understanding , I don't think you play that
game, um, if you do, whatever,um, but you know, it's just was
certainly Me and Sean kind ofsat back and just were like hmm
Well, it's kind of interesting,Like I wonder what's the
difference between why they'regoing after him.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Is it just because they can nail him to the wall,
Like I was?
Like, really, Cannon Cabana andValue Buds are like they don't
really hide it.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
I think you know, maybe certain players are very
aggressive of approachinglicensed producers.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
OK.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
And you've got to remember, like a lot of the
licensed producers, you knowwhere they start and when they
bring out a brand.
Sure, we want distribution inall the stores but we can't
afford it.
We're not.
You know big publicly traded,you know traded companies where
we could afford hundreds ofthousands of dollars.
The minute you come out, by thetime you get to the market,
(07:49):
you're already in debt, right?
So you're going to see a lot ofbrands like the Lao Plug.
You know we don't have certaindistribution and I don't want to
name names but at all incertain very big chains that
were not there and we'd love toobviously get their business.
But overall, you know, I thinkyou know it's a known fact that
(08:11):
it goes on in the industry andthere is no policing it and
nobody has really done anythingup to now.
I mean, there's no way you tellme that AGCO does not know
what's going on, you know, andwhether it's now or whether even
three years ago, I'm sure theyknew what was happening three
years ago.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
See, that seems crazy to me too, because, as a
retailer and somebody that sellsyour products, I think that
they're missing out, because Iwould call some of your products
, I would say, like a hero SKUor like a really a core
assortment item that like peoplecome in specifically and ask me
for some of your things.
Ex.
A core assortment item thatlike people come in specifically
and ask me for some of yourthings.
Exotic gas I am a staple.
I've done creative things.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
So when, for example, in 2021, january 15th, when we
first started, we started, youknow, from co-packing, just
making pre-rolls, even though inthe legacy market I was a
grower and so that was gave us asegue to bring some revenue in
Right, and so that gave us asegue to bring some revenue in
Right.
So, as you know, and wecontinued that coal packing kind
(09:09):
of tradition to bring profitsto our company in order to do
what we can do, like what willwe do today packing.
We have worked with companieslike One Plant right where we
procure their flour and, youknow, just kind of provide them
(09:31):
with the pre-rolls kind of whitelabeling, white labeling
service yeah, that's the onlything that Loud Plug has done.
You know where we get.
You know, obviously,distribution through that, but
other than that, we've neverplayed in any kind of play to
play or anything like that, andI think because we grew so fast
and so organically I thinkthat's the way I see our brand
(09:54):
go I mean, and we're not.
You know, as I said, we're nowwe're becoming one of the
leading brands in Canada and wegot here like, without doing
these pay to play.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
So Are you so?
I know you were just on a planefrom British Columbia.
Was it their kind out there Isthat what you were there for.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Yeah, we were there for Kind Vancouver.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
How was that?
Is that the first one that theydid out there it?
Speaker 3 (10:16):
was the first one.
It was amazing.
I thought Josh and the Kindteam did an amazing job.
You know, vancouver is a verydifferent kind of landscape as
far as retail goes right, so youdon't have the big chains.
You know there's a limit toeight stores or now they're
becoming 12.
So it was the first time uskind of going down there and
(10:38):
just meeting a lot of mom andpop shops or people that own
only a few stores and, beingfrom Ontario, you know obviously
from Scarborough going outthere.
It was just at a perfect time.
Up to November of last yearpeople knew the Loud Plug as a
blunt company per se, because weonly had Guava Biscotti, benny
(10:59):
Bluntos Right and right afterNovember, when we dropped our
ounces, literally overnight webecame one of the top selling,
you know, cannabis companies inBC, being from Scarborough, and
I think one of the things me andyou were earlier chatting about
is we resonated very well withthe BC you know crowd and the
(11:21):
consumers and the bartenders andthat tremendously helped and
that comes from being consistent, being able to as a bartender
or owner, to being able to trustthe brand, knowing that every
case you buy, hey, you're notjust throwing away another three
, four hundred bucks.
So it was really nice to seefrom my team to honestly to go
there and get so much love.
That's cool man.
(11:42):
Me and Rihanna, a few other teammembers went up there and I
think we saw almost 1,400 butttenders, which was amazing to
see, and it was great to see thebrand from Scarborough.
My early days, literally, Iwould have never pictured
ourself, you know, taking a teamand put up a big stage.
If you would have told me this10 years ago, I would have said
(12:03):
what?
Speaker 1 (12:03):
are you crazy?
What this?
10 years ago I would have saidwhat are you crazy?
What do you mean?
What Thousands of kilometers?
What we're going to be doing,what Exactly?
Away from Scarborough?
People get Scarborough.
So there you go.
That's cool.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
You guys are received so well, that's awesome, and 10
years ago you could do someserious jail time.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I do want to hear a little bit more about your story
, especially for our listeners,who I know.
You you know, of course, fromScarborough.
Was it Vaughan originally too?
No I live in Vaughan today.
You live in Vaughan today.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
But yeah, you know, my family came from Iran.
When I was 13 years old and youknow, we moved into Scarborough
.
Chester Lee and my littlebrother and sister went to
Chester Lee Elementary Schooland I ended up going to Lamarue
and yeah, so I lived there for avery long time and I started
(12:51):
growing, by the way, inScarborough in 2010.
Oh yeah, at the currentlocation that we're currently in
, no way.
Under MMA.
That's awesome.
Yeah, Nice show there going.
That's awesome.
Yeah, Nice show they're going.
And you know, just as theregulation changed, stayed at
home.
Scarborough, and you know kindof Maybe I'll get into another
(13:13):
segment A lot of people say, hey, who does the marketing, or
what do you guys do exactly?
We don't really do marketing.
We just turn on the cameras andjust show ourself and the
history behind it.
And I think that it's nice tohave that history, you know,
just to be able to kind ofshowcase what you've done and
people kind of see yourexperience and what you do.
And I think really that's atour core, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
You nailed it on the head You're a cannabis success
story and also afirst-generation immigrant
success story, which is alsoamazing too, you know, and what
you've built at the Loud Plug isreally special, man, thank you.
I think the Loud Plug too, I'vealways like thought about it.
It's like yeah, if I recall, Iguess it is like I.
(13:59):
I've always thought about it aslike yeah, if I recall, I guess
it is like I remember that term.
He said like you know, likecall who's your loudest plug, or
like who's got the you know.
So it always kind of resonatedwith me and made sense to me, I
guess in a way.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
You know, yeah, our facility used to be known for
the best headband.
Really In the city.
I don't see a lot of headbandsnow in the legal market.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I love his headband.
You're right, that is a classicstrain definitely so.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
we used to produce quite a bit of that.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
So you were actually a farmer, you were growing, a
cultivator.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, I used to have a place in Welland, a greenhouse
as well.
We opened up another MMARprogram in Vaughan and then the
last place we opened up, which Inever thought much of it
because of, I don't know why,but just it was a little bit on
the smaller scale and it wasScarborough and all the other
places ended up, you know, goingdown one way or another.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Scarborough always held strong.
Is that why you have that deepconnection to?
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Scarborough.
That was one facility.
Because of its size, I wouldhave said, you know, you know,
maybe it wouldn't have a goodchance of converting to the
legal side because they werelooking for all these big, big
facilities, right, yeah, butthat one stuck.
And yeah, we're still there,crazy, all these years later.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Crazy dude, crazy dude.
Did you think, like all thoseyears back when you were growing
in those MMMR and like beforelegalization actually happened,
that you know, did you seeyourself in 2024?
Like where you are now?
Speaker 3 (15:23):
I guess no, I couldn't even dream of it
because it wasn't even a thought, right, like just actually,
like you know, cash registersand network and retailers, then
provincial bodies andsubmissions, and it's just.
It's not in my wildest dreams,yeah.
Crazy man, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
No, it's.
It's just wild to think, man,what, what kind of?
Got you into weed to begin with, Like I guess there is some
connection for sure in that partof the world where you're from.
But why come to Canada and, youknow, make a life for yourself
here with your family, and thenyeah, I just like weed since I
was a teenager.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
I mean I think it's a rite of passage for all
Canadian kids.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
When was the first time you smoked?
That's always a fun story.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
When I was 15.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
You were 15?
Yeah, do you remember?
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah, I think I smoked once.
I mean I shouldn't be sayingthis for kids, but in Iran when
I was 12 years old northern Iran, by the Caspian Sea a lot of
weed grows and I remember thisolder kid you know kind of gave
me some weed and I was like, ah,that's interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
But yeah, but really, since I was 15, 16 years old,
yeah, man, I can only imagineand I know Iranian culture is
not as like I would whatforgiving of cannabis or, you
know, welcoming of the culture Iwas.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
That's the problem, right, that's why I?
Love Canada.
I mean we get to do what welove and you know freedom of
thoughts and freedom of religion, living a free life.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
So it was crazy man yeah yeah, it's a really cool
story for me.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
What an amazing story .
What would you say your?
Your mission is for a Canadianclinical cannabinoids Say that
10 times fast.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Um, you know, if you would ask me this question three
years ago, um was a lotdifferent than today.
Um, when we started, we startedwith a whole bunch of debt and
you know, uh, personal, uh, likewe, we brought no investors.
We started this from, literallyfrom scratch.
So a few things.
(17:22):
I think I want to make surethat you know I can kind of pay
back all the mortgages I tookand everything else to stabilize
my life.
But you know, fast forward totoday.
You know we have over a hundredemployees, a lot of dedicated
staff that wear so manydifferent hats, and that's why
we even punch above our weightwith the staff that we have.
(17:42):
I want them to do better.
It's the same as myself, I, youknow they become family and the
only reason I'm here because Ihave a great team.
You know, I mean, sure, I getinto a lot of different
departments, but the heavylifting now these days is with a
lot of my team members thatthey're doing an amazing job and
when I go across the countryand I come back home and I see
(18:05):
how much they do compared tosome of the counterparts, I hope
I can repay them by makingtheir lives better.
And honestly, I'm not justsaying this as a line.
I think it's a way for success,just like our slogan you learn
this, like we say okay, hey,with love from Scarborough.
Honestly, I truly believe whatwe started.
(18:26):
As long as we put the love intoit, we're going to get
everything we want 10 times inreturn.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
I think you nailed it on the head about building a
team, and I think as you scale abusiness or in my experience as
an entrepreneur, you reallylike start to realize just how
important that is and to kind ofgrow into your leadership style
, and I'm sure you agree tooit's.
It must be crazy to think youprobably started with how many
employees and now you have overa hundred and you built it by
yourself, like you said, andthat's something.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
I also think stories like us needs to be told.
We have so much bad storiescoming out of.
You know our industry.
When I first started, it was alot of.
There was too many facilities,there was way too much weed
being grown out of subparquality, and we saw in the past
few years years a lot offacilities shut down.
(19:16):
So now you're starting to see abalance between, you know,
supply and demand for the firsttime.
In Canada, a lot of growershave got improved and a lot of
people like myself from BC, likepeople like Logan from Dunn
Cannabis or Dylan from Pistoland Paris we all have crossed
(19:36):
over and we're putting our livesinto this.
I mean we have done it andwe're just continuing that.
So a lot of the notion that, oh, the guys on the legal side,
they don't know how to grow orthe weed is not as good.
Now those things are not true.
You're getting the best weed inthe world and and and also the
best variety in the world uh,from so many different companies
(20:00):
.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
I think you're totally right and as we've kind
of seen, uh, everything develop,it's so nice to see the quality
just get better, and I knowthat you guys are all trying to
do better and uh, aren't we alland and and really really shows,
especially with the producersyou just mentioned.
So I totally agree with thatthought.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
No, and I appreciate your energy because it certainly
there's a lot of cynicism andyou're right, like lots of
negativity in the industry andat the end of the day, there is
definitely some, some headwindsand some challenges.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
We experience that, but we do it, we do it together,
right For sure, and whateverhas to happen, I think, for bad
or good it has to be we have toclean up.
If a facility has to close,then it has to to clean itself
out, and I think our industrynow is coming out of that dark
side, as they say.
I mean, if you look at, let'ssay, publicly traded companies,
(20:51):
I don't think it can go anylower.
So from here on, it's only up.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
That's a good way of looking at it.
I think you're right.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
And again, we work on behind the scenes A lot of the
colleagues I got.
They work for many, manydifferent companies and they're
working hard as anyone, andsometimes I think certain
companies don't get their creditdue because some CEO made a bad
decision two years ago, right,and nobody's giving the men and
women that they're still there,nevermind the ones that are gone
(21:20):
.
But so, anyways, just wanted tomention that.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
No, that's legit.
What advice would you, wouldyou give for those trying to,
you know, find success and buildsomething in this industry?
Speaker 3 (21:32):
I think you know advice.
I mean, I don't think of myselfas anyone that you know should
give advice, but I'll try.
I think really you've got toreally know your craft.
It doesn't matter what you do,especially in this industry,
being so new, it leaves no roomfor error, even if you know what
you're doing.
(21:52):
A lot of times it comes down tofinances.
That maybe also is stackedagainst you, and never mind
Health Canada and CRA and thegood folks at the Canada Revenue
Agency.
So you really just got toreally know your craft.
You got to know every part ofit.
I think even you know you lookat titles and I don't really
(22:15):
believe in titles in companies.
That's why we wear a lot ofdifferent hats.
But the old guards or the firstgeneration of LPs that you know
the CEO or you know the CFO,can only figure out numbers and
didn't understand anything aboutthe business.
Those days are long gone.
There is guys, you know leadersin this industry, like Nick
(22:37):
from Canara that is a CFO but hecan talk weed better than
anyone else in the industry.
So you have to be a you know,kind of like almost like a
jujitsu fighter.
You know, never mind boxing.
You know because you're goingto get into a ring with someone
that you know knows every aspectof that business, and they'll
pick you apart.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Yeah, I think you nailed it on a head.
I think all the brands and thepeople behind the brands that
we're seeing that are havingsuccess are ones that are
consumers or at least understandconsumers, and I think that is
because they are experts intheir field and they do consume,
and I think the days of thepeople in alcohol bad trying to
get into cannabis are hopefullycoming to an end.
But hey, all good, we'll see.
(23:19):
I guess I do.
I agree with you that, like youknow, the loud plug always kind
of creates like we have thisrelationship where we can count
on quality to be there.
Like, what do you guys do toalways ensure that that quality
assurance is there and are youinvolved in that process?
Speaker 3 (23:36):
Yeah, absolutely, me and my partner Zach, and we're
especially in that aspect of itwhen it becomes about the
product and release of productsand how we're going to imagine
our future SKUs are involved inevery aspect of it.
We have currently four farmsthat we work with.
(24:01):
If anybody is coming in ournetwork now that our supply
chain is getting bigger, whetherit's on extraction side,
whether it's on the flower side,we put them through the wringer
, to be honest, because we knowwhat it means to put that flower
and put a loud plug logo infront of it.
So we go through a stingingprocess of understanding the
(24:24):
grower, what they're doing, whatthey can do with the genetics,
and then, beyond that, to beconsistent, you could maybe hit
a 30% and you see from time totime, you know companies in the
past where they hit a 30% or 28%, but the next batch is 22,
right?
So the growers that we workwith, we believe they're one of
(24:45):
the best, if not the best, inthe country in what they do and
they're super consistent.
Man, like, every time we seethe flower, it smells the same
THC, the cure is amazing and andthat's how we make our family
bigger now, you know, by makingsure that these team members,
either we grow with them and if,if there's somebody that, as I
(25:06):
said, it's a, it's a newcomer tothe team, then you know it's a
long process.
At this point you know where wereally make sure that they stay
consistent throughout.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
So it's an important part of the game, man, that
consistency piece, and yeah, itshows.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Agreed.
I think you have a greatpositive outlook on where we're
going at least where you'regoing, so it's great to forge
that path.
I'm definitely interested toget your thoughts on.
You know kind of where you seethis going.
We'll take a break.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Yeah, we're going to take a break.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Thanks so much to our listeners and our sponsor,
sheesh.
If you like this podcast,definitely give us a shout out,
share it with a friend like andsubscribe.
Please.
I do also have a great questionfrom our listener, george but
we'll hit that back when we comeback.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
We'll be right back with Cyrus from Canadian
Clinical Cannabinoids Love, love.
We'll be right back with Cyrusfrom Canadian Clinical
Cannabinoids Love, love, peace.
Welcome back, we back.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Hello, hello we back.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
One of the rare times that me and Sean are baked by
the end of the show.
Yes, that is true, that is true.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Charlie, that is a rarity.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
We're at the back of the shop with Cyrus from.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
The Loud Plug.
Canadian Clinical Cannabinoids.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Hard for me to say, hard for me to say we're really
happy to have you here.
I did leave us off and I reallywant to ask this question.
It's our very last rip tip.
Somehow we still have them.
We got the big fat one, uh, ourboy, jorge George, uh, george
Kish, yeah, homie, uh, and thiswill you know, we'll let
(26:47):
everyone answer on this one, but, uh, have you noticed any
trends or change in publicperception regarding the union
or intersection of cannabisculture and wellness practices,
and how do you see those tworelating in the future?
Speaker 3 (26:58):
okay, yeah, I definitely.
I mean you're seeing, uh youknow, a lot more nhp products
and natural health productsthank you, I think so and um, at
least being more carried.
I think the consumer isdefinitely there.
Back in 2010, a friend of mine,Brad Stott, that is an old
(27:23):
friend of mine he got diagnosedwith prostate cancer.
Oh, no.
And he approached me.
You know, he knew I had an MMRand he was looking for purple
kush at the time.
This man ended up spending aquarter of a million dollars in
his lab Wow, and with a friendof his, colin Jennison, who was
a prof at the University ofRyerson chemistry prof they
(27:48):
started formulating this oilthat they were talking about CBD
way before Sanjay Gupta and CNNand all that you know we're
talking about 2010.
All the other information forcannabinoids and terpenes was
coming out to the masses in 2012, 2013.
Not that, you know, heformulated a magic pill by any
(28:09):
means.
He alkalined his body and byalkalining his body and taking
certain supplements throughouthis research again his research
with a godfather of cannabinoids, dr Rafael Mishulam from Israel
.
He worked with Manuel Guzman,who was a head of cancer
(28:30):
research in the University ofMadrid, and by doing that he
ended up actually, you know,putting his cancer in remission.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
So, anyways, I have a really big history in DAS
Canadian Clinical Cannabinoids.
It comes from our history withBrad.
So interesting that you broughtit up.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
So I wouldn't touch on your medical background
because I was going to ask thatat one point.
Like the MMR experience, andobviously you have this deep
passion for cannabis, it must befrom that kind of wellness or
you've seen what it can do forpeople, right, and, um, as such
a good alternative medicine too,right?
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Like for sure, listen , as I was telling you, we were
growing some of the bestheadbands in the city and you
know the back in the day when wewere growing out of Scarborough
.
But at the root of it, withBrad, we always dreamed of the
day that we could put certainyou know some of the Brad's
formulation Obviously, withclaims and Health Canada, you've
(29:25):
got to be very careful, oryou've got to go through long
processes of years of clinicaltrials, that by the time we get
this product on the market,which is really, you know, a
natural product, it shouldn'ttake 10 years.
But anyways, all I'm trying tosay that, as far as natural
(29:45):
health products goes, I thinkthis industry has a lot to give
to it and I think definitely theLaplug and CCC is going to be
behind some of these innovative,maybe natural health products
as well.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
What do you think, charlie?
I think there's so much aboutthis and I really appreciate
your answer there.
I think that's cool.
You kind of I don't know enoughabout, like, I guess, the
medical side of it to speak tothat.
But certainly, like wellnessand perception is changing.
People are definitely more opento different types of products
that are providing them sometype of relief or some type of
(30:23):
therapeutic effects.
When it comes to actuallyselling and dealing with them,
this is where I kind of have aproblem, because it's very
difficult in the way that we'resupposed to speak to them and
even in the way it's set up andagain, I don't know enough about
the medical side.
It feels very disjointed andI'll always have this and I
think we probably agree on this.
(30:44):
There's like this dark shadowcast from pharmaceuticals right,
because at the end of the day,they don't want this to succeed
in the way that it is proven ina lot of instances and not
enough research, but I thinkthat it does have um effects
that really do help people a lotwhen it comes to wellness.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
For sure, Um, you know.
Another thing maybe I shouldmention is, uh, recently, uh, we
brought on a brand called youfeel you.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
Oh yeah, we like you feel you, yeah, yeah, you.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Feel you.
Oh yeah, we like you.
Feel you, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah.
So interesting.
You said that.
I think you know they reallyneeded a licensed producer that
knows how to execute and justreally be able to have their
products on the shelves all thetime, because you know, since
they came out they were doingreally good.
I think they just ran into someinstances where you know
obviously they couldn't fulfillthe POs, into some instances
(31:36):
where you know obviously theycouldn't fulfill the POs.
But by end of May of this yearyou're going to see a brand new
portfolio from Ufele is going tocome out and I can tell all the
retailers that at this timethey're not going to run out.
We're going to make sure thatthey're fully supported with all
their SKUs and any POs thatwe're going to get from Ontario
is going to be fulfilledimmediately.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Those seem to be that's a really strong up and
coming wellness brand.
I would say you feel, yeah, Ithink we carry their focus drops
, which is like the CBG.
I try those.
I'm CBD formulation with thecannabis derived, only terpenes,
I think, added for obviously alittle bonus effect there, but
it seems I've heard it's a veryeffective product and kind of
(32:18):
fits right into that kind ofconsumer.
So we're kind of happy to carryit and that's cool.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
I didn't know they were, you know.
Do you have anything to add toJorge's question there, Sean?
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Yeah, I think you touched on it.
I think that stigma has kind ofchanged a little bit and there's
a huge segment that are lookingto cannabis for wellness and
recovery, especially like theamount of times we, even on
Queen West, like so many peoplelike they're coming from the gym
, you can tell right away I'lltake the CBD beverage I want the
muscle rub and give me some ofthose you know gummies for later
(32:51):
maybe that have like a low doseTHC with it, with a nice head
of CBD as well.
And I think, as that, peoplekind of know that micro dosing
and cannabis can kind of likejust bring you a lot of benefit
and I think people are startingto realize that and that's why I
think it is fitting in morewith that wellness segment.
(33:11):
I hope that answers yourquestion, george.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
Hey, you know what?
One more thing I wanted to justadd to this is that, again,
even good products on NHB startswith good flour, good turfs,
good cannabinoids.
So when I was talking to youabout that headband right and
some of our genetics, we, justover the years, we perfect what
we did, whether it was from thegrowing sides and all the way to
(33:35):
the cure and then the finalproducts.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
No one's done a really good headband.
I'd love to see you bring thatcut.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
If anybody is going to bring it, I think it's got to
be me.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
There you go.
I look forward to that.
I think that it's a legendarystrain and we talk about how
important those nostalgic kindof strains are, and I think
that'd probably do pretty well.
Yeah, so strains are, and Ithink that probably do pretty
well.
Yeah, so I think you shouldlook forward to it.
Sounds good.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
We're definitely starting to see More with that
news coming, yeah, more coming,yeah, that's right, something in
the kitchen.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
We're definitely starting to see kind of more of
those old school strains pop upon the market.
Kind of interested to know.
I mean, your experience hasprobably been similar to many
dealing with the OCS or, I guess, other provincial retail
retailers or wholesalers ratherHow's that been different, like
where, where?
Where can people find you, Iguess across the country, and
(34:25):
what's been some of thechallenges?
You know, getting the loud plugout there.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
I think you know a lot of the distribution problems
we used to have.
It's all gone and we're anational brand now, including
Yukon and the territories.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Really.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
The only place that we don't have a lot of SKUs
right now, it's Quebec.
Okay, we have one SKU andanother one coming, but that's
something that is out of ourhand and it's a political, I
think issue.
We've just got to be patient.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
You guys don't have an office in Quebec.
I'm sure they'd give you somemore, maybe, maybe soon, right,
I'm sure that has something todo with it, right?
Speaker 3 (35:00):
But everywhere else, you know, across the country we
have many SKUs from BC to youknow Newfoundland and yeah, you
can find us at any retaileracross the country.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
I had a, I had a thought, cyrus, I was going to
ask you.
It is our fourth birthday thefirst week of June and we are
thinking of Third, but Sorry,the third technically, but the
Saturday, and we have a greatlocation.
We're keeping it a secret, butit is close to the shop that is
cannabis-friendly and we'rewondering if the Loud Plug wants
to be a part of that.
Damn, I'd love to.
(35:32):
I'm going to put you on thespot.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
That's amazing man.
Yeah, party in downtown Toronto.
But when the weather is good,it doesn't get any better than
that, so glad to be there.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
I think that'll be amazing and you know we'll
connect with a bunch of peoplein the community and make sure
they get to try some of yourfantastic products.
I think right.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
That's for sure, and you know how we sample, so
samples.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
So always, always generous, always good weed.
So we're going to have somekiller weed.
Stay tuned for that and keepyour your calendar open for that
first weekend of June.
Stay tuned for more detailsfrom our orbit.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
We got 420 coming up.
I know it too.
Probably this will air wellafter that, but do you have any
like, I guess, rituals?
What's 420 mean to you, is it?
Speaker 3 (36:16):
just another day, or is it a?
Speaker 2 (36:18):
big mark on the calendar.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Yeah, I mean it definitely is a big mark.
I mean you know we're the onesthat usually put the party or
involved with a lot of retailersright.
So it's a busy time justworking 24-7 for now, but that's
good.
I mean we like to be busy, tobe honest, like appreciate to
have this job.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Are you guys participating in anything for
420?
Do you guys have like a bigevent?
Are you going to be around?
You're supporting someretailers.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
Yeah, we're just supporting retailers and
basically we just had the bigone right in Vancouver Awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
No, I hear you're tired.
I forgot.
You're just getting off, justcatching my breath.
You're just getting off, you'reinterested, kind, so you're
like all right, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
You mentioned.
I guess it's always.
I think a lot of people answerthis coy but what do you guys
got cooking up over there?
Anything exciting?
There's always new stuff Like.
I'm always impressed at thenumber of products we do see
come out, at least in Ontario.
Speaker 3 (37:13):
No, for sure.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
So happy to see that, but anything new and exciting,
like what's your take oninnovation?
Speaker 3 (37:19):
Yeah, I think our industry.
Every three months you got tokind of recreate yourself right.
So it's like what's next,what's next, what's next?
It's like a fashion show.
So every season we try to putour best foot forward.
You know, kind of really lookat the products, but personally
I always want to see, like youknow, new genetics, new flavors,
(37:40):
and then take that flavor andthen bring out, let's say, you
want to infuse it.
Sure, you want to bring it in alive resin cart like exotic gas
, what we did.
But we're always constantlyworking on, you know, hey,
what's a good flavor to bringout for the loud plug, and then
from there, you know, just kindof put in different format keep
it in motion, keep it simple.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Yeah, you know, always move and keep it simple.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
I like that, yeah so you mentioned your partnership
with you feel you is there any,uh, anybody else, I guess, that
you're bringing into the family,so to speak, that we can look
forward to in 2024?
Speaker 3 (38:15):
From the CCC, I guess , point of view.
It's like you know, obviouslythe Laplug is our, you know,
biggest success, you know,nationally.
But recently you know webrought out two more brands,
which is the Turb Crusher andthe Republic, right, right, and
we're going to expand on thoseand we're pretty busy, you know.
As I said, we're lucky enoughnow to be able to support two
(38:37):
shifts with the loud plug.
A lot of times I went to such ahard time a year ago, two years
ago, where you know we would beco-packing for someone and then
over a few cents they would cutus off because obviously they
want to make more margins and wewere looking forward to a day
that we can be independent,right, and now that we can
support those two shifts andLoud Plug being 90% of that, you
(39:00):
know we can also come out nowwith some creative ideas under
the Terp Crusher and theRepublic and again, you know you
can trust the same team thatyou have so far with the
Loudplug to innovate in thosekind of brands as well.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
How is the TurbGushers going?
I guess I'm not going to lie,that's not like probably a
product that I would probablygravitate towards, necessarily.
But I'm just curious.
And those are the ones that,like you, pop the filter.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
TurbGush is a whole brand.
So our first move was, yes, itwas the poppers, right, but we
have live resin now under a TurpGusher, you know, and other
products that they're coming outspecifically for a Turp Gusher.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
Oh, very cool.
I look forward to checkingthose out.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
I think, regardless, like you said, there's always
products that you or me or somethings don't speak to certain
people, but it's stillinnovative.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
No that's what I was trying to say.
I was just like that.
I wasn't trying to shit on it.
Does that make sense?
Yeah, I'm not trying to giveCyrus a hard time here.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
I'm definitely on the spot now, but no, we were kind
of talking about it earlier.
Um you having just traveledacross the country and kind of
highlighting the fact that someof the community might be
missing out in some of theseother areas, um, whether it be
Edmonton or or not Edmontonspecifically, but Alberta, let's
(40:27):
say um, what do you think canhelp fill that gap for people
you know across the country?
Speaker 3 (40:33):
I.
I think by connecting the dotsyou know where, wherever that is
, whether it's, uh, red deer,alberta or, you know, chiloac bc
, I think wherever we can kindof connect is a good thing and
network.
A lot of people can geteducated by just not knowing
things and being able to have asource of information that you
can go to that comes from thecannabis community across the
(40:55):
nation and I think maybe that'sthe evolution of just.
You know us as a community nowcoming closer and closer
together, just like a lot ofother industries or other
networks, except that till nowyou know we have to hide because
we would do some serious jailtime if they catch us talking
yeah, fair Over cannabis.
(41:17):
What's the biggest takeaway,man?
Speaker 1 (41:21):
from like I guess your first product to now, what
has been like your biggestlearning curve and what was like
something that didn't work andsomething that obviously benny
blunto is probably like yourbiggest success, but like is
there anything you've learnedalong the way that just didn't
work?
I guess that's what I'm saying,yeah uh, not really.
Speaker 3 (41:42):
To be honest, I think they want to say I love it.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
No, that's great, so I'll tell you why because like
uh the first thing was.
Speaker 3 (41:48):
I think we got here the way we got it and again,
like in three years time, rightfor CCC as a whole, as my team,
right to be able to say we'reone of the top 10 revenue
companies in Canada for aprivate company out of.
Scarborough, you know, with7,500 square feet, somebody's.
(42:14):
You know the team.
As I said, you guys got to comethere one day for a tour.
I think you nailed it.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
I want to come check out your facility, dude, I
didn't realize that you had thatmoniker of like a top 10 LP and
you're working with such asmall canopy.
That's really impressive, man.
Yeah, that's awesome.
And obviously Underdog story.
I love that.
Shout out to the whole team atthe Loud Plug, and Rihanna
included.
She's off camera here.
Shout out Rihanna.
We love seeing her.
Sorry, bro.
Yeah, go back and listen to ourepisode with her If you haven't
(42:42):
before, yeah and her storyabout being a woman in cannabis.
Speaker 2 (42:47):
I've got.
Maybe this is a little offside,but it'll be a harder question
perhaps.
So you've seen this success.
You know we're facing all thesechallenges.
How do you get to be this pointwhere and I could be wrong and
overstepping my boundary herebut are we in the green?
Like is CCC?
Are we there?
It's a success, we're there.
Speaker 3 (43:09):
So you know CCC from day one because everything, as I
said, I put it in the companyit was profitable From the month
one, january 15, 2021.
It was very small but I wouldmeet my demand of making, as I
said, from pre-rolls till now.
And it's because we'redisciplined.
(43:30):
We know what pricings work,what quality consumers are
looking for across the nation.
Again, it came from 10, 12years of experience of actually
being on the other side andseeing the difference between
consumers and I think we justneed again a lot of us to speak
up and just kind of right theyou know, write the ship now and
(43:51):
make our own stories and let goof the kind of the bad past
that maybe sometimes is, youknow, haunting us.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
That's remarkable dude, even in any business to be
.
You know, in that territory dayone is a feat.
But like in this industry, Iknow a lot of people, a lot of
our listeners know.
Speaker 3 (44:10):
But for those who don't like, yeah, I was in the
production room myself likeclosing the joints.
You know like, uh, it was maybe13 of us Right and just started
from there.
You know just, uh, it never rana uh organization this large
ever and I was learning fast andhad a good team.
(44:31):
And I'm still learning.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
I realized you, I'm a real estate agent and I forgot
I never connected the dots thatyou have a history in real
estate as well, too, don't you?
Yes, yes, I think for like along time, like 13 years or
something like that well, quitea long time yeah and was?
Were you always, like, stillinvolved with cannabis while you
were doing that?
Yes, there, there you go.
That's so funny man.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
Sean's doing the same thing.
Speaker 3 (44:52):
I'm doing the same thing.
Those that know I got a goodquestion for you.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
I got a question for you then in that relation.
Did you find it was hard tolike?
Do you have to keep itseparated your cannabis business
and your real estate businessor did you think it went hand in
hand and it wasn't a no?
Speaker 3 (45:05):
I mean at the time that I was growing with MMAR
right, still there was a reallylarge stigma around cannabis,
like he just you know, even ifhe had a dad's soccer practice
how people would view somebodywho was a grower versus, you
know, engineer or something likethat you know.
So it's nice to see now wefinally can actually say what we
(45:26):
do and be proud of it.
It's funny enough, but Rightyeah.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Interesting.
No, I just thought I'd ask youthat question.
Speaker 3 (45:32):
And yeah, I just find sometimes you have to keep it
close to the chest about youknow, depending on who the
client is, who you're going toshare that information with
Listen at the end of the day, itwas something that, whether it
(45:52):
was the landlords that used togouge people like us that you
know, or there was, you know,somebody that has a vendetta
against someone they couldliterally ruin your life by you
telling everybody what you'redoing.
You know, this is, you know, ina kind of a gray zone.
So by the time, actually, I'lltell you another thing I saw
retailers open, right.
I thought they were fuckingcrazy.
And it's like, you know, I'vehad friends come in.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
I thought they were fucking crazy, and it's like you
know I've had friends come inthe deals they were taking.
You mean like, is that a realestate deal?
Speaker 3 (46:13):
I would never even bring my neck out, you know,
growing under the MMR in afacility that had no signs.
Right Now you're opening up onmiddle of Queen Street, seeing
open and buy your cannabis here.
So so it's a different kind ofrisk, but it's crazy man, it is
a wild world.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
It is awesome and we get to do it, though.
It's fine.
Speaker 2 (46:33):
I'm sorry, I'm just thinking.
I love diving into likefinancial stuff and we don't
need to get too into it, but I'mvery curious, especially since
it was news, in a sense of todaythe Canadian uh budget was
released, um, but there is noplan to change excise tax no
excise tax reform.
How big of an issue is that foryou know?
(46:57):
Ccc, for instance, like we hearabout it all the time and a lot
of complaining, and I you knowto a degree I understand why.
But like we have some successhere, we have some unsuccess
over here.
Speaker 3 (47:10):
Right yeah.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
What's going on?
Speaker 1 (47:12):
What's the challenge for you in the exercise stacks
and what?
How do you feel about it?
Is there like a way that youthink it would be fair to kind
of put forth a solution?
Do you have you ever thoughtabout it?
Speaker 3 (47:21):
There's a lot of people say exercise is a flow
through right, it's a tax, it'snot your money.
So I agree to a certain degreewith that, but at the end of the
day let's break down one of themost expensive ounces in the
industry which is the Laplug.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
And we sell a lot of it, the exotic gas, all of them,
all of them.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
As far as if you look at the data on DataBI, they're
all bangers Super successful.
We get $49.
Speaker 1 (47:53):
Off of that sale.
Speaker 3 (47:54):
Off of that sale.
Everything is with us All theway to palletizing and
delivering it.
How much are we selling thatwheat?
Just think about it.
It can't be more than a dollarsomething.
That is crazy Out of the $10that the consumer is paying.
So sure I could say, well, yeah, it's a flow through, but the
(48:14):
consumer can't afford more thanthese prices anymore.
We don't have like, whetherit's your cannabis, your grocery
stores, you're adding another33% to that cart, right?
So yeah, for me, just as I said, it's uh, it's obviously
challenging, it's difficult, uh,but again, you know, since day
(48:36):
one, because we worked hard andweather was minus 40 plus 40, we
worked every day and we wereprofitable, I always made sure
that, because I knew it could besuch a big handicap and
literally could cripple us, wewere paying, you know, $10,000 a
(49:00):
month.
Sometimes, as we grew, we paid$120,000 and $500,000.
And today, last month, I got myexcise stamp and it was $1.7
million for March.
Wow, crazy, I mean it's a lot ofsales we're doing as well, but
again, to show you a person likeme that doesn't have access to
that money to pay you.
Yeah, you could cripple me whythe province doesn't pay me for
(49:20):
up to 60 days, right?
60 days wow, the governmentwants their money in 30 days,
but it's the same government andI'm dealing with just a
different branch of you.
So why can't you guys togetherand you would help the industry
so much if you give that cashflow back to the people that
they're starting out now,nevermind the loud plug right,
(49:41):
there's a lot of us that arestarting today.
They might be able to like, geta lifeline and breathe and
maybe they'd be successful.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
Right.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
So definitely.
I think it's something.
It's so disappointing, first ofall, that this happened.
I actually was talking to afriend of mine a couple of days
ago and I was telling him Idon't think they're going to do
anything about it now and hesaid, no, I think there is going
to be.
And I was like, listen, they'vegotten used to this money and
at the end of the day, I thinkeven the good folks at Health
(50:09):
Canada that they're working hard, or Canada Revenue Agency the
politicians are not doing enoughbecause they're ignorant
towards this industry.
Speaker 1 (50:18):
So unless again, it's a long road but just like
legalization, we get involved ina community and your counselors
and right Ultimately, I reallythink that if they change the
excise tax and just gave moreback to the producers, like you
said, it would probably createmore job security in our
industry, which is somethingI've noticed is really tough.
We're losing so many greatpeople and I'm sure you agree
(50:40):
too One in a hundred percent, alot of great talent.
Just feeling like I'm fed upwith cannabis because it's all
contracts.
Speaker 3 (50:47):
Some of the companies are getting, for example, their
revenue from OCS garnished upto 50%, up to 100%.
Oh yeah, so you know, for thatperson that waited a few years
to get that license, now it'sjust You're cut, you're cut.
But you could fix it easily byjust allowing that money, just
like BC or just like Albertadoes, within 15 days.
(51:10):
Allowing that money just likeBC or just like Alberta does,
within 15 days.
Again, you know, when you talkto OCS as well with David Lobo,
I mean he's a good guy, but youknow he knows that he has
challenges again with peoplethat run the AGCO, and it's
limited how much you know youcan go back and forth Because
again, on the other hand, you'vegot a politician that is making
(51:31):
decisions, business decisions,on our industry.
That doesn't have to.
Oh, no.
He's not a subject expert tomake that decision.
Speaker 1 (51:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (51:40):
Right, and that's where the dilemma is.
Speaker 1 (51:42):
Yeah, I also wish that sometimes, like, the left
arm would talk to the right,like I feel like sometimes, like
you know, for instance,instance, like if the OCS talk
to the board and be seeing if,like you said, a Lot of the
rules, don't they?
They're all over the map, likeeven just how long things they
hold on to and how long before aProduct expires, quote-unquote.
And it would just be nice, Iguess, like you said, to see
some more alignment across that160 days, when's net 30?
(52:04):
Like right, it doesn't reallymake any sense, right?
So, easier said than done, Iguess.
Speaker 3 (52:10):
Yeah.
Or understood sometimes as amistake.
Speaker 2 (52:12):
It's going to be a slow process, like I've long
been in the camp that they don'treally care.
So, like you know, we talkabout edible limits increasing,
right, nah.
Talk about excise, nah, nah,it's going to take forever.
Speaker 3 (52:25):
It doesn't take forever, Just take care of go
south, and then we live in abubble and sometimes I think
it's like, hey, you guys havebeen given enough.
Shut up, Fair yeah fair.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
Yeah, no, at the end of the day, I feel super blessed
and grateful to even justparticipate.
You know what I mean.
We're here, we have relativelysuccess Stories.
We're still around.
Speaker 3 (52:50):
But we're going to push.
Speaker 2 (52:51):
We're going to keep on pushing, exactly right, and
we'll do it together.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,true.
Speaker 1 (52:58):
I look forward to partying with you guys.
In the first I feel like we gota bunch of tricks up our sleeve
.
We'll kind of reveal those aswe divulge and go on a little
bit later.
Speaker 3 (53:10):
Well expect the Loud Plug to bring the heat.
Speaker 2 (53:13):
Bring the heat, baby.
Where can they find you?
You're on Instagram, on social.
Speaker 3 (53:17):
Yeah, on Instagram I mean, we get deleted a lot.
But Classic.
Speaker 1 (53:22):
What's the current handle at the Loud Plug, or is
that?
Speaker 3 (53:24):
I couldn't even tell you.
I think it's Loud Plug.
Underscore official.
Speaker 1 (53:28):
Official there we go.
Thanks, Rihanna.
It was a pleasure getting tomeet you and hear the story of
the Loud Plugs.
Cyrus Hambas, clinical Canadiancannabinoid.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (53:39):
Thanks for our listeners.
Speaker 2 (53:40):
Love you guys.
Speaker 1 (53:41):
And thanks to our sponsor Sheafs, Go out and get a
tangerine dream.
That's right, Matt.
Hash soda today and you willnot regret it.
Speaker 3 (53:50):
Matt, call me.
I'm waiting for you 22 grams ofsugar, only 22?
.
Speaker 2 (53:54):
Smoke a Benny Blunto and wash it down.
Speaker 1 (53:57):
I think a banana Havana with the tangerine dream
is like.
That's like a.
That's like a.
That's a match made in heavenright there.
Until next time, guys, untilnext season Peace.
Speaker 3 (54:09):
Take care everyone.
Speaker 1 (54:09):
Peace.
Speaker 3 (54:17):
Take care everyone Peace.
Minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, main engine start 4, 3, 2, 1.
I'm Sean and I'm Charlie andthis is Higher Orbit.
Hi everyone, I'm Cyrus.
(00:26):
Yeah, that's great.
It was the cue.
We got a big guest.
We're going to give you a niceintro, Cyrus Season finale.
It's the season finale.
Straight off a plane from BCand from Scarborough with Love,
our boy and Vice.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
President of.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Operations and from Scarborough with love, our boy
and vice president of operations, CEO of the Loudplug.
Canadian Clinical Cannabinoids.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
I have a lot of titles, though I do a lot of
different things.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
So I agree with you.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah, there's a few of them we've got to put in
there.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Yeah, I missed a couple.
You grind buddy, you grindbuddy and honestly, it's so nice
to have like a success story onthe show because we feel like
sometimes in our industry it'slike it's hard swimming out
there, you know oh thank you.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Thank you, you know what I mean.
We're still working on it,though.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I think it's a testament to like your hard work
and your dedication and justyour passion, man for this stuff
, I can tell.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Appreciate you, yeah, it's been a long time coming.
We're definitely excited tohave you on the show.
It's a great and about time.
I mean we were just saying howwe had re probably about a year
ago.
So grab a sheesh and kick back,guys.
We appreciate you listening.
Definitely excited to kick itoff with Cyrus.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, thanks for a great season, everybody that is
listening, and thanks foreverybody supporting us out
there and let's have aphenomenal show.
Go grab yourself some Benny.
Bluntos Grab yourself someSheesh, or yeah, they just
dropped the Tangerine Dream.
I'll plug the Tangerine Dreamwith the live resin and fire up
a Benny Blunto.
I was saying the Banana Havanais my personal favorite, but I
(02:00):
also like that Mixed Pack.
You know you get the one of theEach Charlie.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, but I also like that mix pack.
You know, you get the one ofthe each, charlie.
Yeah, those are great, thoseare really good.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
The variety pack, those are great.
Those are really awesome andsuch a great product.
Do you?
I'm going to ask this Are youreally involved in the product
development?
I mean, you say you wear a lotof hats.
I'm assuming you are right.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yeah, for sure, a lot of your ideas, right, for sure,
yeah, I'm pretty much involvedin everything from, you know,
the beginning to up to now.
I'm still, you know, hands-onon a lot of different things.
By the way, thanks for havingme, you know, on this show so we
can kind of tell a little bitof our side of the story.
Sometimes, with cannabiscompanies, there's so many regs
(02:39):
and things that we can't talkabout or advertise, so any
platform that we get, like this,you know it means a lot.
So thank you for everythingthat you all do.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Thanks, man.
No, we're super happy to haveyou Again.
You know, kind of coming out ofScarborough, it means a lot to
us.
We're kind of from the East End.
Some would say Scarborough.
To be honest, some people evensay like you're past the dawn at
Scarborough, which is kind ofjokes.
But we Don at Scarborough,which is kind of jokes.
But we're always happy tosupport your local brands.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yeah, exactly Toronto , and that's what you definitely
are.
And yeah, sorry, charlie, Ididn't mean to steal the no, not
at all.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I would say.
You know, from day one, we'vealways felt that you were really
a part of, like the communityand what we thought we should be
in this new format andlegalization and I'll give
everyone a little $10,000 word Ilearned today there's a lot of
interlopers, which is, I know,that's a nice one, a that's good
(03:33):
, which which and by that I justmean, like, a lot of people we
feel like Don't really belong,like we see a lot of corporate
cannabis, a lot of weed, a lotof people who don't care about
the culture, especially from theproduction side, and a lot on
the retail side, and we've justalways felt like you stayed true
to that and that's why itresonated with us.
So thank you for that, thankyou.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Yeah, yeah, and like the first, like real blunt, in
my opinion, on the market, whichis so huge, because I feel like
before the Benny Blunto therewas really nothing that like, I
think, satisfied that person, ifthat makes sense, that segment
of customer that really wanted,I don't know, something that's
going to be as close tasting toa blunt as you could get in the
legal market.
They're great.
(04:15):
I love Benny Bluntos.
I'm just going to say that thechocolate it's like that
chocolate flavor really nails itfor me.
It's like super smooth too.
It doesn't like irritate mythroat, it really nails it for
me.
It's like super smooth too, itdoesn't like irritate my throat.
And you guys were definitely, Ithink, the first to use the
chamomile, the chamomile tealeaf.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, I mean, when we were working on it we were, you
know, just about to release theloud plug and the brand and I
had no idea what was about tohappen.
You know, we worked hard withHealth Canada, going back and
forth because they never dealtwith chamomile tea leaf before.
So we knew that obviously itwas going to be something, you
(04:51):
know, new in the market, but wehad no clue that, you know, very
shortly after it was going togo viral on us and, you know,
really take off and having puteverything I owned, me and my
partner Zach, into the business,obviously was some nervous
times and, you know, seeing whathappened after was, you know,
amazing to see.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Yeah, it's such like the Benny Blunto I always think
of.
Like, who is Benny Blunto, youknow, is it like this person?
I always think of my head.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
He's a man down from Scarborough.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Yeah like the Scarborough zigzag man.
That's kind of what I think.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
I was just high one day smoking a joint and you know
Zach calls me.
He's like hey, what do youthink we should call this?
And I think I was watchingCarlitos Way.
Oh no shit.
And Benny Blanco from the Bronx, and I'm like, why don't I just
make it simple, Call it BennyBlanco, so you know what it is
the minute the name comes, andthen have a brown bag and just
(05:47):
everything told you is a bluntand it's a little story behind
that.
But I was really high when Imade that decision.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
You know what I'm going to say it I think that's a
better film than Scarface.
Nothing wrong with Scarface,but I like it.
It's a good one.
It's a good one.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
I really like that one.
Sean Penn, isn't he in that?
No Al.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Pacino no Al.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Pacino.
Sorry, I'm thinking of anotherCarlito's way, I thought he was
the lawyer Sean Penn.
He might be.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
It might be his brother.
I think he's the sketchy, itmight be his brother.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
I haven't seen it for a minute.
It's Chris Penn.
I haven't seen it for a minute.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Chris Penn, yeah, Anyway, he you came to be, but I
really wanted to touch on acouple of topics just because
there was a lot of spice thatwas going around in the in the
industry this week.
I would say Um, but data, um,you know, we heard about a big
(06:35):
retailer kind of getting smokedby the regular regulator.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
I don't know, charlie , I guess just a quick
background, I feel like you kindof just was cannabis expresses
the name of the retailer, yeah,and they got hit with a two
hundred thousand dollarregulatory.
Fine, we'll say, right, yeah,sure, fine, I mean I don't care,
that's what happened yeah, um,I don't know if you care to talk
about that.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
from my understanding , I don't think you play that
game, um, if you do, whatever,um, but you know, it's just was
certainly Me and Sean kind ofsat back and just were like hmm
Well, it's kind of interesting,Like I wonder what's the
difference between why they'regoing after him.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Is it just because they can nail him to the wall,
Like I was?
Like, really, Cannon Cabana andValue Buds are like they don't
really hide it.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
I think you know, maybe certain players are very
aggressive of approachinglicensed producers.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
OK.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
And you've got to remember, like a lot of the
licensed producers, you knowwhere they start and when they
bring out a brand.
Sure, we want distribution inall the stores but we can't
afford it.
We're not.
You know big publicly traded,you know traded companies where
we could afford hundreds ofthousands of dollars.
The minute you come out, by thetime you get to the market,
(07:49):
you're already in debt, right?
So you're going to see a lot ofbrands like the Lao Plug.
You know we don't have certaindistribution and I don't want to
name names but at all incertain very big chains that
were not there and we'd love toobviously get their business.
But overall, you know, I thinkyou know it's a known fact that
(08:11):
it goes on in the industry andthere is no policing it and
nobody has really done anythingup to now.
I mean, there's no way you tellme that AGCO does not know
what's going on, you know, andwhether it's now or whether even
three years ago, I'm sure theyknew what was happening three
years ago.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
See, that seems crazy to me too, because, as a
retailer and somebody that sellsyour products, I think that
they're missing out, because Iwould call some of your products
, I would say, like a hero SKUor like a really a core
assortment item that like peoplecome in specifically and ask me
for some of your things.
Ex.
A core assortment item thatlike people come in specifically
and ask me for some of yourthings.
Exotic gas I am a staple.
I've done creative things.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
So when, for example, in 2021, january 15th, when we
first started, we started, youknow, from co-packing, just
making pre-rolls, even though inthe legacy market I was a
grower and so that was gave us asegue to bring some revenue in
Right, and so that gave us asegue to bring some revenue in
Right.
So, as you know, and wecontinued that coal packing kind
(09:09):
of tradition to bring profitsto our company in order to do
what we can do, like what willwe do today packing.
We have worked with companieslike One Plant right where we
procure their flour and, youknow, just kind of provide them
(09:31):
with the pre-rolls kind of whitelabeling, white labeling
service yeah, that's the onlything that Loud Plug has done.
You know where we get.
You know, obviously,distribution through that, but
other than that, we've neverplayed in any kind of play to
play or anything like that, andI think because we grew so fast
and so organically I thinkthat's the way I see our brand
(09:54):
go I mean, and we're not.
You know, as I said, we're nowwe're becoming one of the
leading brands in Canada and wegot here like, without doing
these pay to play.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
So Are you so?
I know you were just on a planefrom British Columbia.
Was it their kind out there Isthat what you were there for.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Yeah, we were there for Kind Vancouver.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
How was that?
Is that the first one that theydid out there it?
Speaker 3 (10:16):
was the first one.
It was amazing.
I thought Josh and the Kindteam did an amazing job.
You know, vancouver is a verydifferent kind of landscape as
far as retail goes right, so youdon't have the big chains.
You know there's a limit toeight stores or now they're
becoming 12.
So it was the first time uskind of going down there and
(10:38):
just meeting a lot of mom andpop shops or people that own
only a few stores and, beingfrom Ontario, you know obviously
from Scarborough going outthere.
It was just at a perfect time.
Up to November of last yearpeople knew the Loud Plug as a
blunt company per se, because weonly had Guava Biscotti, benny
(10:59):
Bluntos Right and right afterNovember, when we dropped our
ounces, literally overnight webecame one of the top selling,
you know, cannabis companies inBC, being from Scarborough, and
I think one of the things me andyou were earlier chatting about
is we resonated very well withthe BC you know crowd and the
(11:21):
consumers and the bartenders andthat tremendously helped and
that comes from being consistent, being able to as a bartender
or owner, to being able to trustthe brand, knowing that every
case you buy, hey, you're notjust throwing away another three
, four hundred bucks.
So it was really nice to seefrom my team to honestly to go
there and get so much love.
That's cool man.
(11:42):
Me and Rihanna, a few other teammembers went up there and I
think we saw almost 1,400 butttenders, which was amazing to
see, and it was great to see thebrand from Scarborough.
My early days, literally, Iwould have never pictured
ourself, you know, taking a teamand put up a big stage.
If you would have told me this10 years ago, I would have said
(12:03):
what?
Speaker 1 (12:03):
are you crazy?
What this?
10 years ago I would have saidwhat are you crazy?
What do you mean?
What Thousands of kilometers?
What we're going to be doing,what Exactly?
Away from Scarborough?
People get Scarborough.
So there you go.
That's cool.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
You guys are received so well, that's awesome, and 10
years ago you could do someserious jail time.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I do want to hear a little bit more about your story
, especially for our listeners,who I know.
You you know, of course, fromScarborough.
Was it Vaughan originally too?
No I live in Vaughan today.
You live in Vaughan today.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
But yeah, you know, my family came from Iran.
When I was 13 years old and youknow, we moved into Scarborough
.
Chester Lee and my littlebrother and sister went to
Chester Lee Elementary Schooland I ended up going to Lamarue
and yeah, so I lived there for avery long time and I started
(12:51):
growing, by the way, inScarborough in 2010.
Oh yeah, at the currentlocation that we're currently in
, no way.
Under MMA.
That's awesome.
Yeah, Nice show there going.
That's awesome.
Yeah, Nice show they're going.
And you know, just as theregulation changed, stayed at
home.
Scarborough, and you know kindof Maybe I'll get into another
(13:13):
segment A lot of people say, hey, who does the marketing, or
what do you guys do exactly?
We don't really do marketing.
We just turn on the cameras andjust show ourself and the
history behind it.
And I think that it's nice tohave that history, you know,
just to be able to kind ofshowcase what you've done and
people kind of see yourexperience and what you do.
And I think really that's atour core, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
You nailed it on the head You're a cannabis success
story and also afirst-generation immigrant
success story, which is alsoamazing too, you know, and what
you've built at the Loud Plug isreally special, man, thank you.
I think the Loud Plug too, I'vealways like thought about it.
It's like yeah, if I recall, Iguess it is like I.
(13:59):
I've always thought about it aslike yeah, if I recall, I guess
it is like I remember that term.
He said like you know, likecall who's your loudest plug, or
like who's got the you know.
So it always kind of resonatedwith me and made sense to me, I
guess in a way.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
You know, yeah, our facility used to be known for
the best headband.
Really In the city.
I don't see a lot of headbandsnow in the legal market.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I love his headband.
You're right, that is a classicstrain definitely so.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
we used to produce quite a bit of that.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
So you were actually a farmer, you were growing, a
cultivator.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, I used to have a place in Welland, a greenhouse
as well.
We opened up another MMARprogram in Vaughan and then the
last place we opened up, which Inever thought much of it
because of, I don't know why,but just it was a little bit on
the smaller scale and it wasScarborough and all the other
places ended up, you know, goingdown one way or another.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Scarborough always held strong.
Is that why you have that deepconnection to?
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Scarborough.
That was one facility.
Because of its size, I wouldhave said, you know, you know,
maybe it wouldn't have a goodchance of converting to the
legal side because they werelooking for all these big, big
facilities, right, yeah, butthat one stuck.
And yeah, we're still there,crazy, all these years later.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Crazy dude, crazy dude.
Did you think, like all thoseyears back when you were growing
in those MMMR and like beforelegalization actually happened,
that you know, did you seeyourself in 2024?
Like where you are now?
Speaker 3 (15:23):
I guess no, I couldn't even dream of it
because it wasn't even a thought, right, like just actually,
like you know, cash registersand network and retailers, then
provincial bodies andsubmissions, and it's just.
It's not in my wildest dreams,yeah.
Crazy man, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
No, it's.
It's just wild to think, man,what, what kind of?
Got you into weed to begin with, Like I guess there is some
connection for sure in that partof the world where you're from.
But why come to Canada and, youknow, make a life for yourself
here with your family, and thenyeah, I just like weed since I
was a teenager.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
I mean I think it's a rite of passage for all
Canadian kids.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
When was the first time you smoked?
That's always a fun story.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
When I was 15.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
You were 15?
Yeah, do you remember?
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah, I think I smoked once.
I mean I shouldn't be sayingthis for kids, but in Iran when
I was 12 years old northern Iran, by the Caspian Sea a lot of
weed grows and I remember thisolder kid you know kind of gave
me some weed and I was like, ah,that's interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
But yeah, but really, since I was 15, 16 years old,
yeah, man, I can only imagineand I know Iranian culture is
not as like I would whatforgiving of cannabis or, you
know, welcoming of the culture Iwas.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
That's the problem, right, that's why I?
Love Canada.
I mean we get to do what welove and you know freedom of
thoughts and freedom of religion, living a free life.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
So it was crazy man yeah yeah, it's a really cool
story for me.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
What an amazing story .
What would you say your?
Your mission is for a Canadianclinical cannabinoids Say that
10 times fast.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Um, you know, if you would ask me this question three
years ago, um was a lotdifferent than today.
Um, when we started, we startedwith a whole bunch of debt and
you know, uh, personal, uh, likewe, we brought no investors.
We started this from, literallyfrom scratch.
So a few things.
(17:22):
I think I want to make surethat you know I can kind of pay
back all the mortgages I tookand everything else to stabilize
my life.
But you know, fast forward totoday.
You know we have over a hundredemployees, a lot of dedicated
staff that wear so manydifferent hats, and that's why
we even punch above our weightwith the staff that we have.
(17:42):
I want them to do better.
It's the same as myself, I, youknow they become family and the
only reason I'm here because Ihave a great team.
You know, I mean, sure, I getinto a lot of different
departments, but the heavylifting now these days is with a
lot of my team members thatthey're doing an amazing job and
when I go across the countryand I come back home and I see
(18:05):
how much they do compared tosome of the counterparts, I hope
I can repay them by makingtheir lives better.
And honestly, I'm not justsaying this as a line.
I think it's a way for success,just like our slogan you learn
this, like we say okay, hey,with love from Scarborough.
Honestly, I truly believe whatwe started.
(18:26):
As long as we put the love intoit, we're going to get
everything we want 10 times inreturn.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
I think you nailed it on the head about building a
team, and I think as you scale abusiness or in my experience as
an entrepreneur, you reallylike start to realize just how
important that is and to kind ofgrow into your leadership style
, and I'm sure you agree tooit's.
It must be crazy to think youprobably started with how many
employees and now you have overa hundred and you built it by
yourself, like you said, andthat's something.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
I also think stories like us needs to be told.
We have so much bad storiescoming out of.
You know our industry.
When I first started, it was alot of.
There was too many facilities,there was way too much weed
being grown out of subparquality, and we saw in the past
few years years a lot offacilities shut down.
(19:16):
So now you're starting to see abalance between, you know,
supply and demand for the firsttime.
In Canada, a lot of growershave got improved and a lot of
people like myself from BC, likepeople like Logan from Dunn
Cannabis or Dylan from Pistoland Paris we all have crossed
(19:36):
over and we're putting our livesinto this.
I mean we have done it andwe're just continuing that.
So a lot of the notion that, oh, the guys on the legal side,
they don't know how to grow orthe weed is not as good.
Now those things are not true.
You're getting the best weed inthe world and and and also the
best variety in the world uh,from so many different companies
(20:00):
.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
I think you're totally right and as we've kind
of seen, uh, everything develop,it's so nice to see the quality
just get better, and I knowthat you guys are all trying to
do better and uh, aren't we alland and and really really shows,
especially with the producersyou just mentioned.
So I totally agree with thatthought.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
No, and I appreciate your energy because it certainly
there's a lot of cynicism andyou're right, like lots of
negativity in the industry andat the end of the day, there is
definitely some, some headwindsand some challenges.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
We experience that, but we do it, we do it together,
right For sure, and whateverhas to happen, I think, for bad
or good it has to be we have toclean up.
If a facility has to close,then it has to to clean itself
out, and I think our industrynow is coming out of that dark
side, as they say.
I mean, if you look at, let'ssay, publicly traded companies,
(20:51):
I don't think it can go anylower.
So from here on, it's only up.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
That's a good way of looking at it.
I think you're right.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
And again, we work on behind the scenes A lot of the
colleagues I got.
They work for many, manydifferent companies and they're
working hard as anyone, andsometimes I think certain
companies don't get their creditdue because some CEO made a bad
decision two years ago, right,and nobody's giving the men and
women that they're still there,nevermind the ones that are gone
(21:20):
.
But so, anyways, just wanted tomention that.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
No, that's legit.
What advice would you, wouldyou give for those trying to,
you know, find success and buildsomething in this industry?
Speaker 3 (21:32):
I think you know advice.
I mean, I don't think of myselfas anyone that you know should
give advice, but I'll try.
I think really you've got toreally know your craft.
It doesn't matter what you do,especially in this industry,
being so new, it leaves no roomfor error, even if you know what
you're doing.
(21:52):
A lot of times it comes down tofinances.
That maybe also is stackedagainst you, and never mind
Health Canada and CRA and thegood folks at the Canada Revenue
Agency.
So you really just got toreally know your craft.
You got to know every part ofit.
I think even you know you lookat titles and I don't really
(22:15):
believe in titles in companies.
That's why we wear a lot ofdifferent hats.
But the old guards or the firstgeneration of LPs that you know
the CEO or you know the CFO,can only figure out numbers and
didn't understand anything aboutthe business.
Those days are long gone.
There is guys, you know leadersin this industry, like Nick
(22:37):
from Canara that is a CFO but hecan talk weed better than
anyone else in the industry.
So you have to be a you know,kind of like almost like a
jujitsu fighter.
You know, never mind boxing.
You know because you're goingto get into a ring with someone
that you know knows every aspectof that business, and they'll
pick you apart.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Yeah, I think you nailed it on a head.
I think all the brands and thepeople behind the brands that
we're seeing that are havingsuccess are ones that are
consumers or at least understandconsumers, and I think that is
because they are experts intheir field and they do consume,
and I think the days of thepeople in alcohol bad trying to
get into cannabis are hopefullycoming to an end.
But hey, all good, we'll see.
(23:19):
I guess I do.
I agree with you that, like youknow, the loud plug always kind
of creates like we have thisrelationship where we can count
on quality to be there.
Like, what do you guys do toalways ensure that that quality
assurance is there and are youinvolved in that process?
Speaker 3 (23:36):
Yeah, absolutely, me and my partner Zach, and we're
especially in that aspect of itwhen it becomes about the
product and release of productsand how we're going to imagine
our future SKUs are involved inevery aspect of it.
We have currently four farmsthat we work with.
(24:01):
If anybody is coming in ournetwork now that our supply
chain is getting bigger, whetherit's on extraction side,
whether it's on the flower side,we put them through the wringer
, to be honest, because we knowwhat it means to put that flower
and put a loud plug logo infront of it.
So we go through a stingingprocess of understanding the
(24:24):
grower, what they're doing, whatthey can do with the genetics,
and then, beyond that, to beconsistent, you could maybe hit
a 30% and you see from time totime, you know companies in the
past where they hit a 30% or 28%, but the next batch is 22,
right?
So the growers that we workwith, we believe they're one of
(24:45):
the best, if not the best, inthe country in what they do and
they're super consistent.
Man, like, every time we seethe flower, it smells the same
THC, the cure is amazing and andthat's how we make our family
bigger now, you know, by makingsure that these team members,
either we grow with them and if,if there's somebody that, as I
(25:06):
said, it's a, it's a newcomer tothe team, then you know it's a
long process.
At this point you know where wereally make sure that they stay
consistent throughout.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
So it's an important part of the game, man, that
consistency piece, and yeah, itshows.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Agreed.
I think you have a greatpositive outlook on where we're
going at least where you'regoing, so it's great to forge
that path.
I'm definitely interested toget your thoughts on.
You know kind of where you seethis going.
We'll take a break.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Yeah, we're going to take a break.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Thanks so much to our listeners and our sponsor,
sheesh.
If you like this podcast,definitely give us a shout out,
share it with a friend like andsubscribe.
Please.
I do also have a great questionfrom our listener, george but
we'll hit that back when we comeback.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
We'll be right back with Cyrus from Canadian
Clinical Cannabinoids Love, love.
We'll be right back with Cyrusfrom Canadian Clinical
Cannabinoids Love, love, peace.
Welcome back, we back.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Hello, hello we back.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
One of the rare times that me and Sean are baked by
the end of the show.
Yes, that is true, that is true.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Charlie, that is a rarity.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
We're at the back of the shop with Cyrus from.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
The Loud Plug.
Canadian Clinical Cannabinoids.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Hard for me to say, hard for me to say we're really
happy to have you here.
I did leave us off and I reallywant to ask this question.
It's our very last rip tip.
Somehow we still have them.
We got the big fat one, uh, ourboy, jorge George, uh, george
Kish, yeah, homie, uh, and thiswill you know, we'll let
(26:47):
everyone answer on this one, but, uh, have you noticed any
trends or change in publicperception regarding the union
or intersection of cannabisculture and wellness practices,
and how do you see those tworelating in the future?
Speaker 3 (26:58):
okay, yeah, I definitely.
I mean you're seeing, uh youknow, a lot more nhp products
and natural health productsthank you, I think so and um, at
least being more carried.
I think the consumer isdefinitely there.
Back in 2010, a friend of mine,Brad Stott, that is an old
(27:23):
friend of mine he got diagnosedwith prostate cancer.
Oh, no.
And he approached me.
You know, he knew I had an MMRand he was looking for purple
kush at the time.
This man ended up spending aquarter of a million dollars in
his lab Wow, and with a friendof his, colin Jennison, who was
a prof at the University ofRyerson chemistry prof they
(27:48):
started formulating this oilthat they were talking about CBD
way before Sanjay Gupta and CNNand all that you know we're
talking about 2010.
All the other information forcannabinoids and terpenes was
coming out to the masses in 2012, 2013.
Not that, you know, heformulated a magic pill by any
(28:09):
means.
He alkalined his body and byalkalining his body and taking
certain supplements throughouthis research again his research
with a godfather of cannabinoids, dr Rafael Mishulam from Israel
.
He worked with Manuel Guzman,who was a head of cancer
(28:30):
research in the University ofMadrid, and by doing that he
ended up actually, you know,putting his cancer in remission.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
So, anyways, I have a really big history in DAS
Canadian Clinical Cannabinoids.
It comes from our history withBrad.
So interesting that you broughtit up.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
So I wouldn't touch on your medical background
because I was going to ask thatat one point.
Like the MMR experience, andobviously you have this deep
passion for cannabis, it must befrom that kind of wellness or
you've seen what it can do forpeople, right, and, um, as such
a good alternative medicine too,right?
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Like for sure, listen , as I was telling you, we were
growing some of the bestheadbands in the city and you
know the back in the day when wewere growing out of Scarborough
.
But at the root of it, withBrad, we always dreamed of the
day that we could put certainyou know some of the Brad's
formulation Obviously, withclaims and Health Canada, you've
(29:25):
got to be very careful, oryou've got to go through long
processes of years of clinicaltrials, that by the time we get
this product on the market,which is really, you know, a
natural product, it shouldn'ttake 10 years.
But anyways, all I'm trying tosay that, as far as natural
(29:45):
health products goes, I thinkthis industry has a lot to give
to it and I think definitely theLaplug and CCC is going to be
behind some of these innovative,maybe natural health products
as well.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
What do you think, charlie?
I think there's so much aboutthis and I really appreciate
your answer there.
I think that's cool.
You kind of I don't know enoughabout, like, I guess, the
medical side of it to speak tothat.
But certainly, like wellnessand perception is changing.
People are definitely more opento different types of products
that are providing them sometype of relief or some type of
(30:23):
therapeutic effects.
When it comes to actuallyselling and dealing with them,
this is where I kind of have aproblem, because it's very
difficult in the way that we'resupposed to speak to them and
even in the way it's set up andagain, I don't know enough about
the medical side.
It feels very disjointed andI'll always have this and I
think we probably agree on this.
(30:44):
There's like this dark shadowcast from pharmaceuticals right,
because at the end of the day,they don't want this to succeed
in the way that it is proven ina lot of instances and not
enough research, but I thinkthat it does have um effects
that really do help people a lotwhen it comes to wellness.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
For sure, Um, you know.
Another thing maybe I shouldmention is, uh, recently, uh, we
brought on a brand called youfeel you.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
Oh yeah, we like you feel you, yeah, yeah, you.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Feel you.
Oh yeah, we like you.
Feel you, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah.
So interesting.
You said that.
I think you know they reallyneeded a licensed producer that
knows how to execute and justreally be able to have their
products on the shelves all thetime, because you know, since
they came out they were doingreally good.
I think they just ran into someinstances where you know
obviously they couldn't fulfillthe POs, into some instances
(31:36):
where you know obviously theycouldn't fulfill the POs.
But by end of May of this yearyou're going to see a brand new
portfolio from Ufele is going tocome out and I can tell all the
retailers that at this timethey're not going to run out.
We're going to make sure thatthey're fully supported with all
their SKUs and any POs thatwe're going to get from Ontario
is going to be fulfilledimmediately.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Those seem to be that's a really strong up and
coming wellness brand.
I would say you feel, yeah, Ithink we carry their focus drops
, which is like the CBG.
I try those.
I'm CBD formulation with thecannabis derived, only terpenes,
I think, added for obviously alittle bonus effect there, but
it seems I've heard it's a veryeffective product and kind of
(32:18):
fits right into that kind ofconsumer.
So we're kind of happy to carryit and that's cool.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
I didn't know they were, you know.
Do you have anything to add toJorge's question there, Sean?
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Yeah, I think you touched on it.
I think that stigma has kind ofchanged a little bit and there's
a huge segment that are lookingto cannabis for wellness and
recovery, especially like theamount of times we, even on
Queen West, like so many peoplelike they're coming from the gym
, you can tell right away I'lltake the CBD beverage I want the
muscle rub and give me some ofthose you know gummies for later
(32:51):
maybe that have like a low doseTHC with it, with a nice head
of CBD as well.
And I think, as that, peoplekind of know that micro dosing
and cannabis can kind of likejust bring you a lot of benefit
and I think people are startingto realize that and that's why I
think it is fitting in morewith that wellness segment.
(33:11):
I hope that answers yourquestion, george.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
Hey, you know what?
One more thing I wanted to justadd to this is that, again,
even good products on NHB startswith good flour, good turfs,
good cannabinoids.
So when I was talking to youabout that headband right and
some of our genetics, we, justover the years, we perfect what
we did, whether it was from thegrowing sides and all the way to
(33:35):
the cure and then the finalproducts.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
No one's done a really good headband.
I'd love to see you bring thatcut.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
If anybody is going to bring it, I think it's got to
be me.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
There you go.
I look forward to that.
I think that it's a legendarystrain and we talk about how
important those nostalgic kindof strains are, and I think
that'd probably do pretty well.
Yeah, so strains are, and Ithink that probably do pretty
well.
Yeah, so I think you shouldlook forward to it.
Sounds good.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
We're definitely starting to see More with that
news coming, yeah, more coming,yeah, that's right, something in
the kitchen.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
We're definitely starting to see kind of more of
those old school strains pop upon the market.
Kind of interested to know.
I mean, your experience hasprobably been similar to many
dealing with the OCS or, I guess, other provincial retail
retailers or wholesalers ratherHow's that been different, like
where, where?
Where can people find you, Iguess across the country, and
(34:25):
what's been some of thechallenges?
You know, getting the loud plugout there.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
I think you know a lot of the distribution problems
we used to have.
It's all gone and we're anational brand now, including
Yukon and the territories.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Really.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
The only place that we don't have a lot of SKUs
right now, it's Quebec.
Okay, we have one SKU andanother one coming, but that's
something that is out of ourhand and it's a political, I
think issue.
We've just got to be patient.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
You guys don't have an office in Quebec.
I'm sure they'd give you somemore, maybe, maybe soon, right,
I'm sure that has something todo with it, right?
Speaker 3 (35:00):
But everywhere else, you know, across the country we
have many SKUs from BC to youknow Newfoundland and yeah, you
can find us at any retaileracross the country.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
I had a, I had a thought, cyrus, I was going to
ask you.
It is our fourth birthday thefirst week of June and we are
thinking of Third, but Sorry,the third technically, but the
Saturday, and we have a greatlocation.
We're keeping it a secret, butit is close to the shop that is
cannabis-friendly and we'rewondering if the Loud Plug wants
to be a part of that.
Damn, I'd love to.
(35:32):
I'm going to put you on thespot.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
That's amazing man.
Yeah, party in downtown Toronto.
But when the weather is good,it doesn't get any better than
that, so glad to be there.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
I think that'll be amazing and you know we'll
connect with a bunch of peoplein the community and make sure
they get to try some of yourfantastic products.
I think right.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
That's for sure, and you know how we sample, so
samples.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
So always, always generous, always good weed.
So we're going to have somekiller weed.
Stay tuned for that and keepyour your calendar open for that
first weekend of June.
Stay tuned for more detailsfrom our orbit.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
We got 420 coming up.
I know it too.
Probably this will air wellafter that, but do you have any
like, I guess, rituals?
What's 420 mean to you, is it?
Speaker 3 (36:16):
just another day, or is it a?
Speaker 2 (36:18):
big mark on the calendar.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Yeah, I mean it definitely is a big mark.
I mean you know we're the onesthat usually put the party or
involved with a lot of retailersright.
So it's a busy time justworking 24-7 for now, but that's
good.
I mean we like to be busy, tobe honest, like appreciate to
have this job.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Are you guys participating in anything for
420?
Do you guys have like a bigevent?
Are you going to be around?
You're supporting someretailers.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
Yeah, we're just supporting retailers and
basically we just had the bigone right in Vancouver Awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
No, I hear you're tired.
I forgot.
You're just getting off, justcatching my breath.
You're just getting off, you'reinterested, kind, so you're
like all right, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
You mentioned.
I guess it's always.
I think a lot of people answerthis coy but what do you guys
got cooking up over there?
Anything exciting?
There's always new stuff Like.
I'm always impressed at thenumber of products we do see
come out, at least in Ontario.
Speaker 3 (37:13):
No, for sure.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
So happy to see that, but anything new and exciting,
like what's your take oninnovation?
Speaker 3 (37:19):
Yeah, I think our industry.
Every three months you got tokind of recreate yourself right.
So it's like what's next,what's next, what's next?
It's like a fashion show.
So every season we try to putour best foot forward.
You know, kind of really lookat the products, but personally
I always want to see, like youknow, new genetics, new flavors,
(37:40):
and then take that flavor andthen bring out, let's say, you
want to infuse it.
Sure, you want to bring it in alive resin cart like exotic gas
, what we did.
But we're always constantlyworking on, you know, hey,
what's a good flavor to bringout for the loud plug, and then
from there, you know, just kindof put in different format keep
it in motion, keep it simple.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Yeah, you know, always move and keep it simple.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
I like that, yeah so you mentioned your partnership
with you feel you is there any,uh, anybody else, I guess, that
you're bringing into the family,so to speak, that we can look
forward to in 2024?
Speaker 3 (38:15):
From the CCC, I guess , point of view.
It's like you know, obviouslythe Laplug is our, you know,
biggest success, you know,nationally.
But recently you know webrought out two more brands,
which is the Turb Crusher andthe Republic, right, right, and
we're going to expand on thoseand we're pretty busy, you know.
As I said, we're lucky enoughnow to be able to support two
(38:37):
shifts with the loud plug.
A lot of times I went to such ahard time a year ago, two years
ago, where you know we would beco-packing for someone and then
over a few cents they would cutus off because obviously they
want to make more margins and wewere looking forward to a day
that we can be independent,right, and now that we can
support those two shifts andLoud Plug being 90% of that, you
(39:00):
know we can also come out nowwith some creative ideas under
the Terp Crusher and theRepublic and again, you know you
can trust the same team thatyou have so far with the
Loudplug to innovate in thosekind of brands as well.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
How is the TurbGushers going?
I guess I'm not going to lie,that's not like probably a
product that I would probablygravitate towards, necessarily.
But I'm just curious.
And those are the ones that,like you, pop the filter.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
TurbGush is a whole brand.
So our first move was, yes, itwas the poppers, right, but we
have live resin now under a TurpGusher, you know, and other
products that they're coming outspecifically for a Turp Gusher.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
Oh, very cool.
I look forward to checkingthose out.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
I think, regardless, like you said, there's always
products that you or me or somethings don't speak to certain
people, but it's stillinnovative.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
No that's what I was trying to say.
I was just like that.
I wasn't trying to shit on it.
Does that make sense?
Yeah, I'm not trying to giveCyrus a hard time here.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
I'm definitely on the spot now, but no, we were kind
of talking about it earlier.
Um you having just traveledacross the country and kind of
highlighting the fact that someof the community might be
missing out in some of theseother areas, um, whether it be
Edmonton or or not Edmontonspecifically, but Alberta, let's
(40:27):
say um, what do you think canhelp fill that gap for people
you know across the country?
Speaker 3 (40:33):
I.
I think by connecting the dotsyou know where, wherever that is
, whether it's, uh, red deer,alberta or, you know, chiloac bc
, I think wherever we can kindof connect is a good thing and
network.
A lot of people can geteducated by just not knowing
things and being able to have asource of information that you
can go to that comes from thecannabis community across the
(40:55):
nation and I think maybe that'sthe evolution of just.
You know us as a community nowcoming closer and closer
together, just like a lot ofother industries or other
networks, except that till nowyou know we have to hide because
we would do some serious jailtime if they catch us talking
yeah, fair Over cannabis.
(41:17):
What's the biggest takeaway,man?
Speaker 1 (41:21):
from like I guess your first product to now, what
has been like your biggestlearning curve and what was like
something that didn't work andsomething that obviously benny
blunto is probably like yourbiggest success, but like is
there anything you've learnedalong the way that just didn't
work?
I guess that's what I'm saying,yeah uh, not really.
Speaker 3 (41:42):
To be honest, I think they want to say I love it.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
No, that's great, so I'll tell you why because like
uh the first thing was.
Speaker 3 (41:48):
I think we got here the way we got it and again,
like in three years time, rightfor CCC as a whole, as my team,
right to be able to say we'reone of the top 10 revenue
companies in Canada for aprivate company out of.
Scarborough, you know, with7,500 square feet, somebody's.
(42:14):
You know the team.
As I said, you guys got to comethere one day for a tour.
I think you nailed it.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
I want to come check out your facility, dude, I
didn't realize that you had thatmoniker of like a top 10 LP and
you're working with such asmall canopy.
That's really impressive, man.
Yeah, that's awesome.
And obviously Underdog story.
I love that.
Shout out to the whole team atthe Loud Plug, and Rihanna
included.
She's off camera here.
Shout out Rihanna.
We love seeing her.
Sorry, bro.
Yeah, go back and listen to ourepisode with her If you haven't
(42:42):
before, yeah and her storyabout being a woman in cannabis.
Speaker 2 (42:47):
I've got.
Maybe this is a little offside,but it'll be a harder question
perhaps.
So you've seen this success.
You know we're facing all thesechallenges.
How do you get to be this pointwhere and I could be wrong and
overstepping my boundary herebut are we in the green?
Like is CCC?
Are we there?
It's a success, we're there.
Speaker 3 (43:09):
So you know CCC from day one because everything, as I
said, I put it in the companyit was profitable From the month
one, january 15, 2021.
It was very small but I wouldmeet my demand of making, as I
said, from pre-rolls till now.
And it's because we'redisciplined.
(43:30):
We know what pricings work,what quality consumers are
looking for across the nation.
Again, it came from 10, 12years of experience of actually
being on the other side andseeing the difference between
consumers and I think we justneed again a lot of us to speak
up and just kind of right theyou know, write the ship now and
(43:51):
make our own stories and let goof the kind of the bad past
that maybe sometimes is, youknow, haunting us.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
That's remarkable dude, even in any business to be
.
You know, in that territory dayone is a feat.
But like in this industry, Iknow a lot of people, a lot of
our listeners know.
Speaker 3 (44:10):
But for those who don't like, yeah, I was in the
production room myself likeclosing the joints.
You know like, uh, it was maybe13 of us Right and just started
from there.
You know just, uh, it never rana uh organization this large
ever and I was learning fast andhad a good team.
(44:31):
And I'm still learning.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
I realized you, I'm a real estate agent and I forgot
I never connected the dots thatyou have a history in real
estate as well, too, don't you?
Yes, yes, I think for like along time, like 13 years or
something like that well, quitea long time yeah and was?
Were you always, like, stillinvolved with cannabis while you
were doing that?
Yes, there, there you go.
That's so funny man.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
Sean's doing the same thing.
Speaker 3 (44:52):
I'm doing the same thing.
Those that know I got a goodquestion for you.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
I got a question for you then in that relation.
Did you find it was hard tolike?
Do you have to keep itseparated your cannabis business
and your real estate businessor did you think it went hand in
hand and it wasn't a no?
Speaker 3 (45:05):
I mean at the time that I was growing with MMAR
right, still there was a reallylarge stigma around cannabis,
like he just you know, even ifhe had a dad's soccer practice
how people would view somebodywho was a grower versus, you
know, engineer or something likethat you know.
So it's nice to see now wefinally can actually say what we
(45:26):
do and be proud of it.
It's funny enough, but Rightyeah.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Interesting.
No, I just thought I'd ask youthat question.
Speaker 3 (45:32):
And yeah, I just find sometimes you have to keep it
close to the chest about youknow, depending on who the
client is, who you're going toshare that information with
Listen at the end of the day, itwas something that, whether it
(45:52):
was the landlords that used togouge people like us that you
know, or there was, you know,somebody that has a vendetta
against someone they couldliterally ruin your life by you
telling everybody what you'redoing.
You know, this is, you know, ina kind of a gray zone.
So by the time, actually, I'lltell you another thing I saw
retailers open, right.
I thought they were fuckingcrazy.
And it's like, you know, I'vehad friends come in.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
I thought they were fucking crazy, and it's like you
know I've had friends come inthe deals they were taking.
You mean like, is that a realestate deal?
Speaker 3 (46:13):
I would never even bring my neck out, you know,
growing under the MMR in afacility that had no signs.
Right Now you're opening up onmiddle of Queen Street, seeing
open and buy your cannabis here.
So so it's a different kind ofrisk, but it's crazy man, it is
a wild world.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
It is awesome and we get to do it, though.
It's fine.
Speaker 2 (46:33):
I'm sorry, I'm just thinking.
I love diving into likefinancial stuff and we don't
need to get too into it, but I'mvery curious, especially since
it was news, in a sense of todaythe Canadian uh budget was
released, um, but there is noplan to change excise tax no
excise tax reform.
How big of an issue is that foryou know?
(46:57):
Ccc, for instance, like we hearabout it all the time and a lot
of complaining, and I you knowto a degree I understand why.
But like we have some successhere, we have some unsuccess
over here.
Speaker 3 (47:10):
Right yeah.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
What's going on?
Speaker 1 (47:12):
What's the challenge for you in the exercise stacks
and what?
How do you feel about it?
Is there like a way that youthink it would be fair to kind
of put forth a solution?
Do you have you ever thoughtabout it?
Speaker 3 (47:21):
There's a lot of people say exercise is a flow
through right, it's a tax, it'snot your money.
So I agree to a certain degreewith that, but at the end of the
day let's break down one of themost expensive ounces in the
industry which is the Laplug.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
And we sell a lot of it, the exotic gas, all of them,
all of them.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
As far as if you look at the data on DataBI, they're
all bangers Super successful.
We get $49.
Speaker 1 (47:53):
Off of that sale.
Speaker 3 (47:54):
Off of that sale.
Everything is with us All theway to palletizing and
delivering it.
How much are we selling thatwheat?
Just think about it.
It can't be more than a dollarsomething.
That is crazy Out of the $10that the consumer is paying.
So sure I could say, well, yeah, it's a flow through, but the
(48:14):
consumer can't afford more thanthese prices anymore.
We don't have like, whetherit's your cannabis, your grocery
stores, you're adding another33% to that cart, right?
So yeah, for me, just as I said, it's uh, it's obviously
challenging, it's difficult, uh,but again, you know, since day
(48:36):
one, because we worked hard andweather was minus 40 plus 40, we
worked every day and we wereprofitable, I always made sure
that, because I knew it could besuch a big handicap and
literally could cripple us, wewere paying, you know, $10,000 a
(49:00):
month.
Sometimes, as we grew, we paid$120,000 and $500,000.
And today, last month, I got myexcise stamp and it was $1.7
million for March.
Wow, crazy, I mean it's a lot ofsales we're doing as well, but
again, to show you a person likeme that doesn't have access to
that money to pay you.
Yeah, you could cripple me whythe province doesn't pay me for
(49:20):
up to 60 days, right?
60 days wow, the governmentwants their money in 30 days,
but it's the same government andI'm dealing with just a
different branch of you.
So why can't you guys togetherand you would help the industry
so much if you give that cashflow back to the people that
they're starting out now,nevermind the loud plug right,
(49:41):
there's a lot of us that arestarting today.
They might be able to like, geta lifeline and breathe and
maybe they'd be successful.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
Right.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
So definitely.
I think it's something.
It's so disappointing, first ofall, that this happened.
I actually was talking to afriend of mine a couple of days
ago and I was telling him Idon't think they're going to do
anything about it now and hesaid, no, I think there is going
to be.
And I was like, listen, they'vegotten used to this money and
at the end of the day, I thinkeven the good folks at Health
(50:09):
Canada that they're working hard, or Canada Revenue Agency the
politicians are not doing enoughbecause they're ignorant
towards this industry.
Speaker 1 (50:18):
So unless again, it's a long road but just like
legalization, we get involved ina community and your counselors
and right Ultimately, I reallythink that if they change the
excise tax and just gave moreback to the producers, like you
said, it would probably createmore job security in our
industry, which is somethingI've noticed is really tough.
We're losing so many greatpeople and I'm sure you agree
(50:40):
too One in a hundred percent, alot of great talent.
Just feeling like I'm fed upwith cannabis because it's all
contracts.
Speaker 3 (50:47):
Some of the companies are getting, for example, their
revenue from OCS garnished upto 50%, up to 100%.
Oh yeah, so you know, for thatperson that waited a few years
to get that license, now it'sjust You're cut, you're cut.
But you could fix it easily byjust allowing that money, just
like BC or just like Albertadoes, within 15 days.
(51:10):
Allowing that money just likeBC or just like Alberta does,
within 15 days.
Again, you know, when you talkto OCS as well with David Lobo,
I mean he's a good guy, but youknow he knows that he has
challenges again with peoplethat run the AGCO, and it's
limited how much you know youcan go back and forth Because
again, on the other hand, you'vegot a politician that is making
(51:31):
decisions, business decisions,on our industry.
That doesn't have to.
Oh, no.
He's not a subject expert tomake that decision.
Speaker 1 (51:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (51:40):
Right, and that's where the dilemma is.
Speaker 1 (51:42):
Yeah, I also wish that sometimes, like, the left
arm would talk to the right,like I feel like sometimes, like
you know, for instance,instance, like if the OCS talk
to the board and be seeing if,like you said, a Lot of the
rules, don't they?
They're all over the map, likeeven just how long things they
hold on to and how long before aProduct expires, quote-unquote.
And it would just be nice, Iguess, like you said, to see
some more alignment across that160 days, when's net 30?
(52:04):
Like right, it doesn't reallymake any sense, right?
So, easier said than done, Iguess.
Speaker 3 (52:10):
Yeah.
Or understood sometimes as amistake.
Speaker 2 (52:12):
It's going to be a slow process, like I've long
been in the camp that they don'treally care.
So, like you know, we talkabout edible limits increasing,
right, nah.
Talk about excise, nah, nah,it's going to take forever.
Speaker 3 (52:25):
It doesn't take forever, Just take care of go
south, and then we live in abubble and sometimes I think
it's like, hey, you guys havebeen given enough.
Shut up, Fair yeah fair.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
Yeah, no, at the end of the day, I feel super blessed
and grateful to even justparticipate.
You know what I mean.
We're here, we have relativelysuccess Stories.
We're still around.
Speaker 3 (52:50):
But we're going to push.
Speaker 2 (52:51):
We're going to keep on pushing, exactly right, and
we'll do it together.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,true.
Speaker 1 (52:58):
I look forward to partying with you guys.
In the first I feel like we gota bunch of tricks up our sleeve
.
We'll kind of reveal those aswe divulge and go on a little
bit later.
Speaker 3 (53:10):
Well expect the Loud Plug to bring the heat.
Speaker 2 (53:13):
Bring the heat, baby.
Where can they find you?
You're on Instagram, on social.
Speaker 3 (53:17):
Yeah, on Instagram I mean, we get deleted a lot.
But Classic.
Speaker 1 (53:22):
What's the current handle at the Loud Plug, or is
that?
Speaker 3 (53:24):
I couldn't even tell you.
I think it's Loud Plug.
Underscore official.
Speaker 1 (53:28):
Official there we go.
Thanks, Rihanna.
It was a pleasure getting tomeet you and hear the story of
the Loud Plugs.
Cyrus Hambas, clinical Canadiancannabinoid.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (53:39):
Thanks for our listeners.
Speaker 2 (53:40):
Love you guys.
Speaker 1 (53:41):
And thanks to our sponsor Sheafs, Go out and get a
tangerine dream.
That's right, Matt.
Hash soda today and you willnot regret it.
Speaker 3 (53:50):
Matt, call me.
I'm waiting for you 22 grams ofsugar, only 22?
.
Speaker 2 (53:54):
Smoke a Benny Blunto and wash it down.
Speaker 1 (53:57):
I think a banana Havana with the tangerine dream
is like.
That's like a.
That's like a.
That's a match made in heavenright there.
Until next time, guys, untilnext season Peace.
Speaker 3 (54:09):
Take care everyone.
Speaker 1 (54:09):
Peace.
Speaker 3 (54:17):
Take care everyone Peace.
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