The Loud Plug Finale, With Love From Scarborough

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.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, main engine start 4, 3, 2, 1. I'm Sean and I'm Charlie and this is Higher Orbit. Hi everyone, I'm Cyrus. Yeah, that's great. It was the cue. We got a big guest. We're going to give you a nice intro, Cyrus Season finale. It's the season finale. Straight off a plane from BC and from Scarborough with Love, our boy and Vice.

Speaker 2: 0:44

President of.

Speaker 1: 0:45

Operations and from Scarborough with love, our boy and vice president of operations, CEO of the Loudplug. Canadian Clinical Cannabinoids.

Speaker 3: 0:52

I have a lot of titles, though I do a lot of different things.

Speaker 1: 0:54

So I agree with you.

Speaker 3: 0:55

Yeah, there's a few of them we've got to put in there.

Speaker 1: 0:58

Yeah, I missed a couple. You grind buddy, you grind buddy and honestly, it's so nice to have like a success story on the show because we feel like sometimes in our industry it's like it's hard swimming out there, you know oh thank you.

Speaker 3: 1:12

Thank you, you know what I mean. We're still working on it, though.

Speaker 1: 1:14

I think it's a testament to like your hard work and your dedication and just your passion, man for this stuff, I can tell.

Speaker 2: 1:20

Appreciate you, yeah, it's been a long time coming. We're definitely excited to have you on the show. It's a great and about time. I mean we were just saying how we had re probably about a year ago. So grab a sheesh and kick back, guys. We appreciate you listening. Definitely excited to kick it off with Cyrus.

Speaker 1: 1:38

Yeah, thanks for a great season, everybody that is listening, and thanks for everybody supporting us out there and let's have a phenomenal show. Go grab yourself some Benny. Bluntos Grab yourself some Sheesh, or yeah, they just dropped the Tangerine Dream. I'll plug the Tangerine Dream with the live resin and fire up a Benny Blunto. I was saying the Banana Havana is my personal favorite, but I also like that Mixed Pack. You know you get the one of the Each Charlie.

Speaker 2: 2:03

Yeah, but I also like that mix pack. You know, you get the one of the each, charlie. Yeah, those are great, those are really good.

Speaker 1: 2:06

The variety pack, those are great. Those are really awesome and such a great product. Do you? I'm going to ask this Are you really involved in the product development? I mean, you say you wear a lot of hats. I'm assuming you are right.

Speaker 3: 2:18

Yeah, for sure, a lot of your ideas, right, for sure, yeah, I'm pretty much involved in everything from, you know, the beginning to up to now. I'm still, you know, hands-on on a lot of different things. By the way, thanks for having me, you know, on this show so we can kind of tell a little bit of our side of the story. Sometimes, with cannabis companies, there's so many regs and things that we can't talk about or advertise, so any platform that we get, like this, you know it means a lot. So thank you for everything that you all do.

Speaker 2: 2:48

Thanks, man. No, we're super happy to have you Again. You know, kind of coming out of Scarborough, it means a lot to us. We're kind of from the East End. Some would say Scarborough. To be honest, some people even say like you're past the dawn at Scarborough, which is kind of jokes. But we Don at Scarborough, which is kind of jokes. But we're always happy to support your local brands.

Speaker 1: 3:06

Yeah, exactly Toronto, and that's what you definitely are. And yeah, sorry, charlie, I didn't mean to steal the no, not at all.

Speaker 2: 3:12

I would say. You know, from day one, we've always felt that you were really a part of, like the community and what we thought we should be in this new format and legalization and I'll give everyone a little $10,000 word I learned today there's a lot of interlopers, which is, I know, that's a nice one, a that's good, which which and by that I just mean, 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 lot of people who don't care about the culture, especially from the production side, and a lot on the retail side, and we've just always felt like you stayed true to that and that's why it resonated with us. So thank you for that, thank you.

Speaker 1: 3:54

Yeah, yeah, and like the first, like real blunt, in my opinion, on the market, which is so huge, because I feel like before the Benny Blunto there was really nothing that like, I think, satisfied that person, if that makes sense, that segment of customer that really wanted, I don't know, something that's going to be as close tasting to a blunt as you could get in the legal market. They're great. I love Benny Bluntos. I'm just going to say that the chocolate it's like that chocolate flavor really nails it for me. It's like super smooth too. It doesn't like irritate my throat, it really nails it for me. It's like super smooth too, it doesn't like irritate my throat. And you guys were definitely, I think, the first to use the chamomile, the chamomile tea leaf.

Speaker 3: 4:31

Yeah, I mean, when we were working on it we were, you know, just about to release the loud plug and the brand and I had no idea what was about to happen. You know, we worked hard with Health Canada, going back and forth because they never dealt with chamomile tea leaf before. So we knew that obviously it was going to be something, you know, new in the market, but we had no clue that, you know, very shortly after it was going to go viral on us and, you know, really take off and having put everything I owned, me and my partner Zach, into the business, obviously was some nervous times and, you know, seeing what happened after was, you know, amazing to see.

Speaker 1: 5:12

Yeah, it's such like the Benny Blunto I always think of. Like, who is Benny Blunto, you know, is it like this person? I always think of my head.

Speaker 2: 5:19

He's a man down from Scarborough.

Speaker 1: 5:21

Yeah like the Scarborough zigzag man. That's kind of what I think.

Speaker 3: 5:27

I was just high one day smoking a joint and you know Zach calls me. He's like hey, what do you think we should call this? And I think I was watching Carlitos Way. Oh no shit. And Benny Blanco from the Bronx, and I'm like, why don't I just make it simple, Call it Benny Blanco, so you know what it is the minute the name comes, and then have a brown bag and just everything told you is a blunt and it's a little story behind that. But I was really high when I made that decision.

Speaker 2: 5:50

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: 5:59

I really like that one. Sean Penn, isn't he in that? No Al.

Speaker 3: 6:02

Pacino no Al.

Speaker 1: 6:03

Pacino. Sorry, I'm thinking of another Carlito's way, I thought he was the lawyer Sean Penn. He might be.

Speaker 2: 6:08

It might be his brother. I think he's the sketchy, it might be his brother.

Speaker 3: 6:11

I haven't seen it for a minute. It's Chris Penn. I haven't seen it for a minute.

Speaker 2: 6:13

Chris Penn, yeah, Anyway, he you came to be, but I really wanted to touch on a couple of topics just because there was a lot of spice that was going around in the in the industry this week. I would say Um, but data, um, you know, we heard about a big retailer kind of getting smoked by the regular regulator.

Speaker 1: 6:39

I don't know, charlie, I guess just a quick background, I feel like you kind of just was cannabis expresses the name of the retailer, yeah, and they got hit with a two hundred thousand dollar regulatory. 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: 6:56

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 of sat back and just were like hmm Well, it's kind of interesting, Like I wonder what's the difference between why they're going after him.

Speaker 1: 7:12

Is it just because they can nail him to the wall, Like I was? Like, really, Cannon Cabana and Value Buds are like they don't really hide it.

Speaker 3: 7:19

I think you know, maybe certain players are very aggressive of approaching licensed producers.

Speaker 1: 7:26

OK.

Speaker 3: 7:27

And you've got to remember, like a lot of the licensed producers, you know where they start and when they bring out a brand. Sure, we want distribution in all 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 of thousands of dollars. The minute you come out, by the time you get to the market, you're already in debt, right? So you're going to see a lot of brands like the Lao Plug. You know we don't have certain distribution and I don't want to name names but at all in certain very big chains that were not there and we'd love to obviously get their business. But overall, you know, I think you know it's a known fact that it goes on in the industry and there is no policing it and nobody has really done anything up to now. I mean, there's no way you tell me that AGCO does not know what's going on, you know, and whether it's now or whether even three years ago, I'm sure they knew what was happening three years ago.

Speaker 1: 8:29

See, that seems crazy to me too, because, as a retailer and somebody that sells your products, I think that they're missing out, because I would call some of your products, I would say, like a hero SKU or like a really a core assortment item that like people come in specifically and ask me for some of your things. Ex. A core assortment item that like people come in specifically and ask me for some of your things. Exotic gas I am a staple. I've done creative things.

Speaker 3: 8:48

So when, for example, in 2021, january 15th, when we first started, we started, you know, from co-packing, just making pre-rolls, even though in the legacy market I was a grower and so that was gave us a segue to bring some revenue in Right, and so that gave us a segue to bring some revenue in Right. So, as you know, and we continued that coal packing kind of tradition to bring profits to our company in order to do what we can do, like what will we do today packing. We have worked with companies like One Plant right where we procure their flour and, you know, just kind of provide them with the pre-rolls kind of white labeling, white labeling service yeah, that's the only thing that Loud Plug has done.

Speaker 3: 9:37

You know where we get. You know, obviously, distribution through that, but other than that, we've never played in any kind of play to play or anything like that, and I think because we grew so fast and so organically I think that's the way I see our brand go I mean, and we're not. You know, as I said, we're now we're becoming one of the leading brands in Canada and we got here like, without doing these pay to play.

Speaker 1: 10:03

So Are you so? I know you were just on a plane from British Columbia. Was it their kind out there Is that 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 they did out there it?

Speaker 3: 10:16

was the first one.

Speaker 3: 10:17

It was amazing. I thought Josh and the Kind team did an amazing job. You know, vancouver is a very different kind of landscape as far as retail goes right, so you don't have the big chains. You know there's a limit to eight stores or now they're becoming 12. So it was the first time us kind of going down there and just meeting a lot of mom and pop shops or people that own only a few stores and, being from Ontario, you know obviously from Scarborough going out there. It was just at a perfect time.

Speaker 3: 10:52

Up to November of last year people knew the Loud Plug as a blunt company per se, because we only had Guava Biscotti, benny Bluntos Right and right after November, when we dropped our ounces, literally overnight we became one of the top selling, you know, cannabis companies in BC, being from Scarborough, and I think one of the things me and you were earlier chatting about is we resonated very well with the BC you know crowd and the consumers and the bartenders and that tremendously helped and that comes from being consistent, being able to as a bartender or owner, to being able to trust the brand, knowing that every case you buy, hey, you're not just throwing away another three, four hundred bucks. So it was really nice to see from my team to honestly to go there and get so much love. That's cool man.

Speaker 3: 11:42

Me and Rihanna, a few other team members went up there and I think we saw almost 1,400 butt tenders, which was amazing to see, and it was great to see the brand from Scarborough. My early days, literally, I would have never pictured ourself, you know, taking a team and put up a big stage. If you would have told me this 10 years ago, I would have said what?

Speaker 1: 12:03

are you crazy? What this? 10 years ago I would have said what 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 some serious 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, from Scarborough. 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 you know, we moved into Scarborough. Chester Lee and my little brother and sister went to Chester Lee Elementary School and I ended up going to Lamarue and yeah, so I lived there for a very long time and I started growing, by the way, in Scarborough in 2010. Oh yeah, at the current location that we're currently in, no way.

Speaker 3: 12:57

Under MMA. That's awesome. Yeah, Nice show there going. That's awesome. Yeah, Nice show they're going. And you know, just as the regulation changed, stayed at home. Scarborough, and you know kind of Maybe I'll get into another 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 and just show ourself and the history behind it. And I think that it's nice to have that history, you know, just to be able to kind of showcase what you've done and people kind of see your experience and what you do. And I think really that's at our core, yeah.

Speaker 1: 13:36

You nailed it on the head You're a cannabis success story and also a first-generation immigrant success story, which is also amazing too, you know, and what you've built at the Loud Plug is really special, man, thank you. I think the Loud Plug too, I've always like thought about it. It's like yeah, if I recall, I guess it is like I. I've always thought about it as like yeah, if I recall, I guess it is like I remember that term. He said like you know, like call who's your loudest plug, or like who's got the you know. So it always kind of resonated with 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 headbands now in the legal market.

Speaker 1: 14:13

I love his headband. You're right, that is a classic strain 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 MMAR program in Vaughan and then the last place we opened up, which I never thought much of it because of, I don't know why, but just it was a little bit on the smaller scale and it was Scarborough and all the other places ended up, you know, going down one way or another.

Speaker 1: 14:49

Scarborough always held strong. Is that why you have that deep connection to?

Speaker 3: 14:52

Scarborough. That was one facility. Because of its size, I would have said, you know, you know, maybe it wouldn't have a good chance of converting to the legal side because they were looking for all these big, big facilities, right, yeah, but that 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 those years back when you were growing in those MMMR and like before legalization actually happened, that you know, did you see yourself 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 registers and network and retailers, then provincial bodies and submissions, 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 part of the world where you're from. But why come to Canada and, you know, make a life for yourself here with your family, and then yeah, 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 saying this 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 this older 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 imagine and I know Iranian culture is not as like I would what forgiving of cannabis or, you know, welcoming of the culture I was.

Speaker 3: 16:38

That's the problem, right, that's why I? Love Canada. I mean we get to do what we love 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 Canadian clinical 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 lot different than today. Um, when we started, we started with a whole bunch of debt and you know, uh, personal, uh, like we, we brought no investors. We started this from, literally from scratch. So a few things. I think I want to make sure that you know I can kind of pay back all the mortgages I took and everything else to stabilize my life. But you know, fast forward to today.

Speaker 3: 17:32

You know we have over a hundred employees, a lot of dedicated staff that wear so many different hats, and that's why we even punch above our weight with the staff that we have. I want them to do better. It's the same as myself, I, you know they become family and the only reason I'm here because I have a great team. You know, I mean, sure, I get into a lot of different departments, but the heavy lifting now these days is with a lot of my team members that they're doing an amazing job and when I go across the country and I come back home and I see how much they do compared to some of the counterparts, I hope I can repay them by making their lives better. And honestly, I'm not just saying 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 what we started. As long as we put the love into it, we're going to get everything we want 10 times in return.

Speaker 1: 18:32

I think you nailed it on the head about building a team, and I think as you scale a business or in my experience as an entrepreneur, you really like start to realize just how important that is and to kind of grow into your leadership style, and I'm sure you agree too it's. It must be crazy to think you probably started with how many employees and now you have over a hundred and you built it by yourself, like you said, and that's something.

Speaker 3: 18:55

I also think stories like us needs to be told. We have so much bad stories coming out of. You know our industry. When I first started, it was a lot of. There was too many facilities, there was way too much weed being grown out of subpar quality, and we saw in the past few years years a lot of facilities shut down. So now you're starting to see a balance between, you know, supply and demand for the first time. In Canada, a lot of growers have got improved and a lot of people like myself from BC, like people like Logan from Dunn Cannabis or Dylan from Pistol and Paris we all have crossed over and we're putting our lives into this. I mean we have done it and we'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 or the weed is not as good. Now those things are not true. You're getting the best weed in the world and and and also the best variety in the world uh, from so many different companies.

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 know that you guys are all trying to do better and uh, aren't we all and and and really really shows, especially with the producers you just mentioned. So I totally agree with that thought.

Speaker 2: 20:18

No, and I appreciate your energy because it certainly there's a lot of cynicism and you're right, like lots of negativity in the industry and at the end of the day, there is definitely some, some headwinds and some challenges.

Speaker 3: 20:30

We experience that, but we do it, we do it together, right For sure, and whatever has to happen, I think, for bad or good it has to be we have to clean up. If a facility has to close, then it has to to clean itself out, and I think our industry now is coming out of that dark side, as they say. I mean, if you look at, let's say, publicly traded companies, I don't think it can go any lower. 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, many different companies and they're working hard as anyone, and sometimes I think certain companies don't get their credit due 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. But so, anyways, just wanted to mention that.

Speaker 2: 21:22

No, that's legit. What advice would you, would you give for those trying to, you know, find success and build something in this industry?

Speaker 3: 21:32

I think you know advice. I mean, I don't think of myself as anyone that you know should give advice, but I'll try. I think really you've got to really know your craft. It doesn't matter what you do, especially in this industry, being so new, it leaves no room for error, even if you know what you're doing. A lot of times it comes down to finances. That maybe also is stacked against you, and never mind Health Canada and CRA and the good folks at the Canada Revenue Agency. So you really just got to really know your craft. You got to know every part of it.

Speaker 3: 22:11

I think even you know you look at titles and I don't really believe in titles in companies. That's why we wear a lot of different hats. But the old guards or the first generation of LPs that you know the CEO or you know the CFO, can only figure out numbers and didn't understand anything about the business. Those days are long gone. There is guys, you know leaders in this industry, like Nick from Canara that is a CFO but he can 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 going to get into a ring with someone that you know knows every aspect of 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 the people behind the brands that we're seeing that are having success are ones that are consumers or at least understand consumers, and I think that is because they are experts in their field and they do consume, and I think the days of the people in alcohol bad trying to get into cannabis are hopefully coming to an end. But hey, all good, we'll see. I guess I do. I agree with you that, like you know, the loud plug always kind of creates like we have this relationship where we can count on quality to be there. Like, what do you guys do to always ensure that that quality assurance is there and are you involved in that process?

Speaker 3: 23:36

Yeah, absolutely, me and my partner Zach, and we're especially in that aspect of it when it becomes about the product and release of products and how we're going to imagine our future SKUs are involved in every aspect of it.

Speaker 3: 23:55

We have currently four farms that we work with.

Speaker 3: 24:01

If anybody is coming in our network now that our supply chain is getting bigger, whether it's on extraction side, whether it's on the flower side, we put them through the wringer, to be honest, because we know what it means to put that flower and put a loud plug logo in front of it.

Speaker 3: 24:20

So we go through a stinging process of understanding the grower, what they're doing, what they can do with the genetics, and then, beyond that, to be consistent, you could maybe hit a 30% and you see from time to time, 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 work with, we believe they're one of the best, if not the best, in the country in what they do and they're super consistent. Man, like, every time we see the flower, it smells the same THC, the cure is amazing and and that's how we make our family bigger now, you know, by making sure that these team members, either we grow with them and if, if there's somebody that, as I said, it's a, it's a newcomer to the team, then you know it's a long process. At this point you know where we really 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, it shows.

Speaker 2: 25:19

Agreed. I think you have a great positive outlook on where we're going at least where you're going, so it's great to forge that path. I'm definitely interested to get your thoughts on. You know kind of where you see this 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 and subscribe. Please. I do also have a great question from our listener, george but we'll hit that back when we come back.

Speaker 1: 25:52

We'll be right back with Cyrus from Canadian Clinical Cannabinoids Love, love. We'll be right back with Cyrus from 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 really want to ask this question. It's our very last rip tip. Somehow we still have them. We got the big fat one, uh, our boy, jorge George, uh, george Kish, yeah, homie, uh, and this will you know, we'll let everyone answer on this one, but, uh, have you noticed any trends or change in public perception regarding the union or intersection of cannabis culture and wellness practices, and how do you see those two relating in the future?

Speaker 3: 26:58

okay, yeah, I definitely. I mean you're seeing, uh you know, a lot more nhp products and natural health products thank you, I think so and um, at least being more carried. I think the consumer is definitely there. Back in 2010, a friend of mine, Brad Stott, that is an old friend of mine he got diagnosed with prostate cancer. Oh, no.

Speaker 3: 27:27

And he approached me. You know, he knew I had an MMR and he was looking for purple kush at the time. This man ended up spending a quarter of a million dollars in his lab Wow, and with a friend of his, colin Jennison, who was a prof at the University of Ryerson chemistry prof they started formulating this oil that they were talking about CBD way before Sanjay Gupta and CNN and all that you know we're talking about 2010. All the other information for cannabinoids and terpenes was coming out to the masses in 2012, 2013. Not that, you know, he formulated a magic pill by any means. He alkalined his body and by alkalining his body and taking certain supplements throughout his 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 research in the University of Madrid, 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 with Brad. So interesting that you brought it up.

Speaker 1: 28:48

So I wouldn't touch on your medical background because I was going to ask that at one point. Like the MMR experience, and obviously you have this deep passion for cannabis, it must be from that kind of wellness or you've seen what it can do for people, 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 best headbands in the city and you know the back in the day when we were growing out of Scarborough. But at the root of it, with Brad, we always dreamed of the day that we could put certain you know some of the Brad's formulation Obviously, with claims and Health Canada, you've got to be very careful, or you've got to go through long processes of years of clinical trials, that by the time we get this product on the market, which is really, you know, a natural product, it shouldn't take 10 years. But anyways, all I'm trying to say that, as far as natural health products goes, I think this industry has a lot to give to it and I think definitely the Laplug 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 about this and I really appreciate your answer there. I think that's cool. You kind of I don't know enough about, like, I guess, the medical side of it to speak to that. But certainly, like wellness and perception is changing. People are definitely more open to different types of products that are providing them some type of relief or some type of therapeutic effects.

Speaker 2: 30:26

When it comes to actually selling and dealing with them, this is where I kind of have a problem, because it's very difficult in the way that we're supposed to speak to them and even in the way it's set up and again, I don't know enough about the medical side. It feels very disjointed and I'll always have this and I think we probably agree on this. There's like this dark shadow cast from pharmaceuticals right, because at the end of the day, they don't want this to succeed in the way that it is proven in a lot of instances and not enough research, but I think that it does have um effects that really do help people a lot when it comes to wellness.

Speaker 3: 31:05

For sure, Um, you know. Another thing maybe I should mention is, uh, recently, uh, we brought on a brand called you feel 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 really needed a licensed producer that knows how to execute and just really be able to have their products on the shelves all the time, because you know, since they came out they were doing really good. I think they just ran into some instances where you know obviously they couldn't fulfill the POs, into some instances where you know obviously they couldn't fulfill the POs. But by end of May of this year you're going to see a brand new portfolio from Ufele is going to come out and I can tell all the retailers that at this time they're not going to run out. We're going to make sure that they're fully supported with all their SKUs and any POs that we're going to get from Ontario is going to be fulfilled immediately.

Speaker 1: 31:56

Those seem to be that's a really strong up and coming wellness brand. I would say you feel, yeah, I think we carry their focus drops, which is like the CBG. I try those. I'm CBD formulation with the cannabis derived, only terpenes, I think, added for obviously a little bonus effect there, but it seems I've heard it's a very effective product and kind of fits right into that kind of consumer. So we're kind of happy to carry it and that's cool.

Speaker 2: 32:23

I didn't know they were, you know. Do you have anything to add to Jorge's question there, Sean?

Speaker 1: 32:27

Yeah, I think you touched on it.

Speaker 1: 32:29

I think that stigma has kind of changed a little bit and there's a huge segment that are looking to cannabis for wellness and recovery, especially like the amount of times we, even on Queen West, like so many people like they're coming from the gym, you can tell right away I'll take the CBD beverage I want the muscle rub and give me some of those you know gummies for later maybe that have like a low dose THC with it, with a nice head of CBD as well. And I think, as that, people kind of know that micro dosing and cannabis can kind of like just bring you a lot of benefit and I think people are starting to realize that and that's why I think it is fitting in more with that wellness segment. I hope that answers your question, george.

Speaker 3: 33:14

Hey, you know what? One more thing I wanted to just add to this is that, again, even good products on NHB starts with good flour, good turfs, good cannabinoids. So when I was talking to you about that headband right and some of our genetics, we, just over the years, we perfect what we did, whether it was from the growing sides and all the way to the cure and then the final products.

Speaker 1: 33:38

No one's done a really good headband. I'd love to see you bring that cut.

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 legendary strain and we talk about how important those nostalgic kind of strains are, and I think that'd probably do pretty well. Yeah, so strains are, and I think that probably do pretty well. Yeah, so I think you should look 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 up on the market. Kind of interested to know. I mean, your experience has probably been similar to many dealing with the OCS or, I guess, other provincial retail retailers or wholesalers rather How's that been different, like where, where? Where can people find you, I guess across the country, and what's been some of the challenges? You know, getting the loud plug out 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 a national 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 and another one coming, but that's something that is out of our hand 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 some more, maybe, maybe soon, right, I'm sure that has something to do with it, right?

Speaker 3: 35:00

But everywhere else, you know, across the country we have many SKUs from BC to you know Newfoundland and yeah, you can find us at any retailer across 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 the first week of June and we are thinking of Third, but Sorry, the third technically, but the Saturday, and we have a great location. We're keeping it a secret, but it is close to the shop that is cannabis-friendly and we're wondering if the Loud Plug wants to be a part of that. Damn, I'd love to. I'm going to put you on the spot.

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 people in the community and make sure they get to try some of your fantastic 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 some killer weed. Stay tuned for that and keep your your calendar open for that first weekend of June. Stay tuned for more details from our orbit.

Speaker 2: 36:06

We got 420 coming up. I know it too. Probably this will air well after 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 ones that usually put the party or involved with a lot of retailers right. So it's a busy time just working 24-7 for now, but that's good. I mean we like to be busy, to be 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 big event? Are you going to be around? You're supporting some retailers.

Speaker 3: 36:46

Yeah, we're just supporting retailers and basically we just had the big one right in Vancouver Awesome.

Speaker 1: 36:51

No, I hear you're tired. I forgot. You're just getting off, just catching my breath. You're just getting off, you're interested, 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 answer this coy but what do you guys got cooking up over there? Anything exciting? There's always new stuff Like. I'm always impressed at the number 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 on innovation?

Speaker 3: 37:19

Yeah, I think our industry. Every three months you got to kind 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 put our best foot forward. You know, kind of really look at the products, but personally I always want to see, like you know, new genetics, new flavors, and then take that flavor and then bring out, let's say, you want to infuse it. Sure, you want to bring it in a live resin cart like exotic gas, what we did. But we're always constantly working on, you know, hey, what's a good flavor to bring out for the loud plug, and then from there, you know, just kind of 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, obviously the Laplug is our, you know, biggest success, you know, nationally. But recently you know we brought out two more brands, which is the Turb Crusher and the Republic, right, right, and we're going to expand on those and we're pretty busy, you know. As I said, we're lucky enough now to be able to support two shifts with the loud plug. A lot of times I went to such a hard time a year ago, two years ago, where you know we would be co-packing for someone and then over a few cents they would cut us off because obviously they want to make more margins and we were looking forward to a day that we can be independent, right, and now that we can support those two shifts and Loud Plug being 90% of that, you know we can also come out now with some creative ideas under the Terp Crusher and the Republic and again, you know you can trust the same team that you have so far with the Loudplug to innovate in those kind 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 probably gravitate 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, it was the poppers, right, but we have live resin now under a Turp Gusher, you know, and other products that they're coming out specifically for a Turp Gusher.

Speaker 1: 39:39

Oh, very cool. I look forward to checking those out.

Speaker 2: 39:42

I think, regardless, like you said, there's always products that you or me or some things don't speak to certain people, but it's still innovative.

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 give Cyrus 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 traveled across the country and kind of highlighting the fact that some of the community might be missing out in some of these other areas, um, whether it be Edmonton or or not Edmonton specifically, but Alberta, let's say um, what do you think can help fill that gap for people you know across the country?

Speaker 3: 40:33

I. I think by connecting the dots you know where, wherever that is, whether it's, uh, red deer, alberta or, you know, chiloac bc, I think wherever we can kind of connect is a good thing and network. A lot of people can get educated by just not knowing things and being able to have a source of information that you can go to that comes from the cannabis community across the nation and I think maybe that's the evolution of just. You know us as a community now coming closer and closer together, just like a lot of other industries or other networks, except that till now you know we have to hide because we would do some serious jail time if they catch us talking yeah, fair Over cannabis. What's the biggest takeaway, man?

Speaker 1: 41:21

from like I guess your first product to now, what has been like your biggest learning curve and what was like something that didn't work and something that obviously benny blunto is probably like your biggest success, but like is there anything you've learned along 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, right for CCC as a whole, as my team, right to be able to say we're one of the top 10 revenue companies in Canada for a private company out of. Scarborough, you know, with 7,500 square feet, somebody's. You know the team. As I said, you guys got to come there 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 that moniker of like a top 10 LP and you're working with such a small canopy. That's really impressive, man. Yeah, that's awesome. And obviously Underdog story. I love that. Shout out to the whole team at the 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 our episode with her If you haven't before, yeah and her story about 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 these challenges. How do you get to be this point where and I could be wrong and overstepping my boundary here but 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 company it was profitable From the month one, january 15, 2021. It was very small but I would meet my demand of making, as I said, from pre-rolls till now. And it's because we're disciplined. We know what pricings work, what quality consumers are looking for across the nation. Again, it came from 10, 12 years of experience of actually being on the other side and seeing the difference between consumers and I think we just need again a lot of us to speak up and just kind of right the you know, write the ship now and make our own stories and let go of the kind of the bad past that maybe sometimes is, you know, haunting us.

Speaker 2: 43:59

That's remarkable dude, even in any business to be. You know, in that territory day one is a feat. But like in this industry, I know 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 like closing the joints. You know like, uh, it was maybe 13 of us Right and just started from there. You know just, uh, it never ran a uh organization this large ever and I was learning fast and had a good team. 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 that you have a history in real estate as well, too, don't you? Yes, yes, I think for like a long time, like 13 years or something like that well, quite a long time yeah and was? Were you always, like, still involved 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 good question for you.

Speaker 1: 44:55

I got a question for you then in that relation. Did you find it was hard to like? Do you have to keep it separated your cannabis business and your real estate business or 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 really large stigma around cannabis, like he just you know, even if he had a dad's soccer practice how people would view somebody who was a grower versus, you know, engineer or something like that you know. So it's nice to see now we finally can actually say what we do and be proud of it. It's funny enough, but Right yeah.

Speaker 1: 45:30

Interesting. No, I just thought I'd ask you that question.

Speaker 3: 45:32

And yeah, I just find sometimes you have to keep it close to the chest about you know, depending on who the client is, who you're going to share that information with Listen at the end of the day, it was something that, whether it was the landlords that used to gouge people like us that you know, or there was, you know, somebody that has a vendetta against someone they could literally ruin your life by you telling everybody what you're doing. You know, this is, you know, in a kind of a gray zone. So by the time, actually, I'll tell you another thing I saw retailers open, right. I thought they were fucking crazy.

Speaker 3: 46:09

And it's like, you know, I've had friends come in.

Speaker 1: 46:10

I thought they were fucking crazy, and it's like you know I've had friends come in the deals they were taking. You mean like, is that a real estate deal?

Speaker 3: 46:13

I would never even bring my neck out, you know, growing under the MMR in a facility that had no signs. Right Now you're opening up on middle of Queen Street, seeing open and buy your cannabis here. So so it's a different kind of risk, 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 like financial stuff and we don't need to get too into it, but I'm very curious, especially since it was news, in a sense of today the Canadian uh budget was released, um, but there is no plan to change excise tax no excise tax reform.

Speaker 2: 46:53

How big of an issue is that for you know? Ccc, for instance, like we hear about it all the time and a lot of complaining, and I you know to a degree I understand why. But like we have some success here, 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 you think it would be fair to kind of put forth a solution? Do you have you ever thought about it?

Speaker 3: 47:21

There's a lot of people say exercise is a flow through right, it's a tax, it's not your money. So I agree to a certain degree with that, but at the end of the day let's break down one of the most 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 the way to palletizing and delivering it. How much are we selling that wheat? Just think about it. It can't be more than a dollar something.

Speaker 3: 48:05

That is crazy Out of the $10 that the consumer is paying. So sure I could say, well, yeah, it's a flow through, but the consumer can't afford more than these prices anymore. We don't have like, whether it's your cannabis, your grocery stores, you're adding another 33% 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 one, because we worked hard and weather was minus 40 plus 40, we worked every day and we were profitable, I always made sure that, because I knew it could be such a big handicap and literally could cripple us, we were paying, you know, $10,000 a month. Sometimes, as we grew, we paid $120,000 and $500,000. And today, last month, I got my excise stamp and it was $1.7 million for March.

Speaker 3: 49:08

Wow, crazy, I mean it's a lot of sales we're doing as well, but again, to show you a person like me that doesn't have access to that money to pay you. Yeah, you could cripple me why the province doesn't pay me for up to 60 days, right? 60 days wow, the government wants their money in 30 days, but it's the same government and I'm dealing with just a different branch of you.

Speaker 3: 49:30

So why can't you guys together and you would help the industry so much if you give that cash flow back to the people that they're starting out now, nevermind the loud plug right, there's a lot of us that are starting today. They might be able to like, get a 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 of all, that this happened. I actually was talking to a friend of mine a couple of days ago and I was telling him I don't think they're going to do anything about it now and he said, no, I think there is going to be. And I was like, listen, they've gotten used to this money and at the end of the day, I think even the good folks at Health Canada that they're working hard, or Canada Revenue Agency the politicians are not doing enough because 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 in a community and your counselors and right Ultimately, I really think that if they change the excise tax and just gave more back to the producers, like you said, it would probably create more job security in our industry, which is something I've noticed is really tough. We're losing so many great people and I'm sure you agree too One in a hundred percent, a lot of great talent. Just feeling like I'm fed up with cannabis because it's all contracts.

Speaker 3: 50:47

Some of the companies are getting, for example, their revenue from OCS garnished up to 50%, up to 100%. Oh yeah, so you know, for that person that waited a few years to get that license, now it's just You're cut, you're cut. But you could fix it easily by just allowing that money, just like BC or just like Alberta does, within 15 days. Allowing that money just like BC or just like Alberta does, within 15 days. Again, you know, when you talk to OCS as well with David Lobo, I mean he's a good guy, but you know he knows that he has challenges again with people that run the AGCO, and it's limited how much you know you can go back and forth Because again, on the other hand, you've got a politician that is making decisions, business decisions, on our industry. That doesn't have to. Oh, no.

Speaker 3: 51:37

He's not a subject expert to make 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, like even just how long things they hold on to and how long before a Product expires, quote-unquote. And it would just be nice, I guess, like you said, to see some more alignment across that 160 days, when's net 30? Like right, it doesn't really make any sense, right? So, easier said than done, I guess.

Speaker 3: 52:10

Yeah. Or understood sometimes as a mistake.

Speaker 2: 52:12

It's going to be a slow process, like I've long been in the camp that they don't really care. So, like you know, we talk about 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 a bubble and sometimes I think it's like, hey, you guys have been 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 just participate. You know what I mean. We're here, we have relatively success 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 got a bunch of tricks up our sleeve. We'll kind of reveal those as we 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 to meet you and hear the story of the Loud Plugs. Cyrus Hambas, clinical Canadian cannabinoid. 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 will not regret it.

Speaker 3: 53:50

Matt, call me. I'm waiting for you 22 grams of sugar, 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 heaven right there. Until next time, guys, until next season Peace.

Speaker 3: 54:09

Take care everyone.

Speaker 1: 54:09

Peace.

Speaker 3: 54:17

Take care everyone Peace.