Here’s What’s Changing In The Cannabis Industry
In the latest Trade To Black podcast presented by Flowhub, hosts Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell break down three developments shaping the cannabis industry, joined off the top by Flowhub CEO Kyle Sherman, as M&A stays front and center following Curaleaf’s move on Aurora. We welcome Klutch Cannabis VP of Retail Operations Lauren Delande on Ohio’s maturing market, Rubicon Organics CEO Margaret Brodie on a strong quarter, and Vantage Chief Medical Officer Dr. Paul Shields for our weekly Vantage Standard segment.
In segment one, the focus turns to Ohio, a market that continues to outperform two years into adult use. Delande — a pharmacist who left traditional retail for cannabis — walks us through the market’s evolution and why the rollout was so slow: just four days’ notice before launch, lingering medical rules with no eighths or pre-rolls, and strict advertising limits. As form factors have come online, basket sizes have climbed, and she makes the case for pharmacist oversight of budtender education and drug-interaction questions. Klutch, founded in 2020 and headquartered in Akron with seven locations, has become one of Ohio’s most respected premium producers, known for rare genetics, small-batch cultivation, and award-winning flower. We also get into the black-market and unregulated-hemp confusion still clouding the market.
In segment two, Brodie breaks down Rubicon Organics’ (TSXV: ROMJ) record Q2: net revenue of CAD $18.5 million, up 23% year over year and 35% sequentially, powered by a 20% yield jump at its Pacifica greenhouse, with adjusted EBITDA of $1.1 million reflecting investments to scale. Rubicon holds its number-one premium spot in Canada — roughly 10% of premium flower and 30% of topicals through Wildflower — even as the premium category contracts. She details the Cascadia facility’s early ramp, a capacity path from 15,500 to 20,000 kilos, and an international push led by the 1964 brand’s U.K. launch, with Germany contracts to follow. On M&A, with Boris Jordan’s Aurora bid fresh, she frames Canada’s premium growers as increasingly strategic assets, and expects revenue, margins, and cash flow to strengthen through the second half.
For our Vantage Standard segment, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Paul Shields returns to make the case for cannabinoid APIs — active pharmaceutical ingredients derived from the plant — as the path to medical legitimacy. He argues the medical community won’t lower its standards, so cannabinoids must meet them: standardized, reproducible inputs that enable real research and consistent dosing, without going fully synthetic. We also get into DEA licensing and how Vantage’s regulatory position — a GMP facility and Schedule I license — enables white-label manufacturing and international distribution for U.S. cannabis companies as rescheduling nears.
Hear all three conversations when you tune in.
