MJBizCon International Cannabis conference edition featuring Cannabis NB GM Lara Wood, Inner Spirit Holdings/Spirit Leaf Cannabis President & CEO Darren Bondar, and Kay Tamillow, Director of research

This episode is intended for listeners 21+ Held in Toronto in September 2019, the MJBizCon International brought together 2,500 Global Cannabis Executives To Learn, Grow & Connect. I took the opportunity to set up shop in their podcasting studio and interview three of the most interesting and influential participants starting off with Lara Wood, General Manager of Cannabis NB (my dad’s home province, New Brunswick). This is Lara’s third time on The Voice of Retail, so we catch up on developments over the summer, their innovative and ground breaking pop-up store, and what lies ahead for Cannabis 2.0 Next we meet Darren Bondar, President and CEO of Inner Spirit Holdings and Spirit Leaf Cannabis, one of Canada’s biggest cannabis retailers with 100 sites under development and dozens currently operating. We talk about the success of their franchise model, engagement in the community, and the important role of shop-in-shops and in-store merchandising partnerships. Lastly we explore the consumer mindset in the U.S., Canada and globally around CBD with Kay Kay Tamillow Director of Research, Brightfield Group based in Chicago. We deep dive into the rapidly evolving CBD market with expert analysis and package goods insight.