Top cannabis brands on display at the Hall of Flowers Toronto

BY SEAN SEURATTAN

In the Cannabis industry, constant and regular connection between its different segments is crucial for a vibrant marketplace. The Hall of Flowers is a trade show that sets a unique example for how this kind of connection can be successfully executed. Even though this is only the 2^nd annual event in Canada, the HoF team used their experience from doing shows in both California and Nevada to make the Toronto event spectacular.

Hall of Flowers is a business-to-business convention that allows for cannabis producers and retailers to meet and interact. With over 670 cannabis producers and retailers making their way to the two-day event, they represent more than 1,475 nationwide stores and approximately 70% of the Ontario market. By creating an environment that supports meaningful connection between these parties over just simple sales transactions, it has proven to be a much more accurate reflection of the industry’s essence.

With the nature of commerce being rooted in numbers and the government’s desire to keep cannabis clinical, it’s easy for fun to be lost. Hall of Flowers makes a concerted effort to give their show a more pleasant, social atmosphere. Extremely unique to Hall of Flowers is their focus on consumption, which was illustrated through a massive consumption patio outside their venue, the EnerCare Centre on the CNE grounds. Here, conversation could veer away from the monotony of business to casual topics that created better connections and understanding. Also, it gave retailers and buyers a chance to actually try the products they are selling to the public, which is sadly much less common than most would believe.

The vast array of cannabis products and paraphernalia available to the Canadian public was on display. From cannabis flower to concentrates to edibles to topicals, all could be viewed and, in many cases, sampled. In Ontario, retailers are forced to buy their product from the province’s Crown Corporation, the OCS. The process is highly automated and very impersonal as most ordering is done through their online system. After speaking with many exhibitors, the general consensus was that giving retailers the opportunity to ask questions and giving producers a chance to answer them in person goes a long way to creating better experiences for the end user.

A unique perspective came from the people at High North Labs, a company that does laboratory testing for many brands currently on the market. Being an unbiased, third party gives them an objective view of the industry. Their role is extremely important because they ensure safety and integrity in a still burgeoning cannabis environment. Making their services available to everyone from large, commercial producers to small, home growers is helping to normalize cannabis through safety and quality.

Amongst the many exhibitors trying to garner attention through various types of spectacles, I found myself most interested in brands who spent more resources on their product instead of their marketing. While the cost for taking part in this event might surpass what some companies could financially justify, several smaller brands were present via an Equity Grant funded by the OCS. This is a conscious effort to ensure that large corporations with relatively endless capital funds are not able to monopolize the market by saturating it with only their products.

One such recipient was an up and coming brand; Kronic Relief. Being the only Black owned licensed producer currently listed on the OCS for purchase, having them present at the show could easily have never happened. Getting to speak to the brands CEO, Steven Conville was a delight. Coming from a financial background, Steven used his business acumen and passion for good cannabis to create a highly desired product. This was proven by the several retailers who innocently interrupted our short chat to inform Steven how much they and their customers love his product. It was truly inspiring to see someone who I could directly relate to being successful in an environment where NO ONE looked like me. Stay tuned in for a more in-depth article about Kronic Relief coming soon!

Steps must take place long before a product makes its way onto shelves at your local dispensary, and events like Hall of Flowers providing transparency to previously unseen interactions illuminate the way to a brighter future for cannabis!