Business View Magazine September 2018

364 365 LISTED ON MAPLE LEAF GREENWORLD INC. “We will have a medical patient model, where we will ship directly to patient. On the recre- ational side, we will ship to various agencies that are in charge of distribution for each province. Typically, in Canada, the provincial liquor and gaming commissions have taken the lead on receiving recreational product from the LPs, and cannabis retailers then purchase through those governing bodies. “Several recent independent market analyses have shown that we are, more than likely, looking at a significant undersupply of cannabis for the Canadian market for, potentially, the next two years. “We’ve made a responsible choice to incor- porate sustainable practices for our buildings in B.C., and it’s great for the local communities there because we are creating new employment opportunities. In the next ten years, it’s estimat- ed that the cannabis industry will be creating 150,000 new jobs in Canada - everything from janitorial work, to cultivation, to processing, pack- aging, transportation, and security. It will make a huge impact, with the potential to change the way we think about medicine and health. Socie- tal and cultural norms are shifting toward more traditional plant-based medicines and exploring these options before going to synthetic pharma- ceuticals. I believe cannabis has tremendously far reaching medical applications.” BVM: What are the next steps for Maple Leaf Green World? Welbourn: “The next steps are to finish our facilities and begin cultivation in British Colum- bia and Nevada. Once those facilities are com- pleted and operational, we will look to expand our facilities on our land in Riverside, California, pending county regulations. We understand the power this plant has to improve the quality of life, globally.We’re definitely looking to interna- tional markets. “Producing high-quality, premium cannabis and cannabis products is something we are extremely passionate about and we are very proud of our world-class team of cultivators and extractors. Our commitment is to provide the highest-qual- ity cannabis and cannabis products to both the medical and recreational markets.We feel that both segments of the market are far from being satisfied and we’re going to make great efforts to ensure we can play our part in making that happen.” sumers to confidently make informed purchase decisions. A lot of it will come down to communi- ties established online and through social media and apps that have peer-to-peer reviews where people can compare how they interacted with a specific strain or type of product. “Third-party service providers are out there, now, working to aggregate this data and creating platforms where users can learn about the dif- ferences in strains and how the effects may vary. Companies like Leafly, Labrador Technologies, and Strainprint are working to solve these challenges that we know we’re going to face as an industry.” BVM: Will you be selling direct to consumers, distributors, medical institutions? Welbourn: “Initially, Maple Leaf will be produc- ing cannabis for the recreational market all while we are setting up our extraction processes, fur- ther developing our product lines, and developing our e-commerce platform for our medical patient model. Ultimately we will be medical, first and recreational, second. “For a medical cannabis company in Canada, that distribution model is direct to patient. In- dividuals contact a cannabis clinic, meet with a medical practitioner, and get their prescription or recommendation to use cannabis. Then, they choose from a list of licensed producers (LP’s), submit their medical documentation, log on to that company’s website, and purchase cannabis products through the LP they have selected. PREFERRED VENDOR n NEO Exchange neostockexchange.com MORE ONLINE To see a video about Maple Leaf Green World, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IssDsnPApFo