Trust the Budtender: the unsung hero of the cannabis industry

Show Notes:

This episode of The Potcast with Ross Rebagliati is dedicated to the folks on the front lines of recreational cannabis retail: Budtenders.

What is a Budtender? Advertising and promotion restrictions in the Cannabis Act make it difficult for cannabis brands to connect with consumers outside of age gated environments, meaning many consumers walk into a store with very little knowledge about the products on the shelves. This lack of experience could lead to choosing the wrong product and having a bad experience. That’s where the Budtender comes in. By tapping into their deep product knowledge, Budtenders help consumers sift through the saturated world of cannabis retail to find the products that meet their needs.

In this episode, Ross sits down with passionate Budtender Cameron Csaszar of London, Ontario, and Jaime Lipowitz, founder of High Buds Club, a private club for Budtenders focused on cannabis product education, career development, and camaraderie. Listen in to find out more about the essential role Budtenders play and how they build the knowledge they need to give you a solid recommendation.

About High Buds Club https://www.highbudsclub.com

Founded in 2020, High Buds Club was created to give Budtenders and cannabis retailers a safe place to share honest opinions, sharpen their skills on the floor, and connect over their love for the culture.

HBC members receive access to the HBC Feed – a private social network where they can chat openly and honestly about anything cannabis related. No risk of being flagged or deleted here!

Members also have access to exclusive product sampling opportunities, deep product education, selling tips, and certification programs that can help blast their cannabis career into the stratosphere.

About Ross

Ross Rebagliati is a Canadian snowboarder who won a gold medal in the men’s giant slalom event at the 1998 Winter Olympics. A failed drug test for cannabis use led the International Olympic Committee to strip him of his medal, but the decision was overruled in appeals court two days later, resulting in Ross’ medal being restored.

Since then, Ross has become an outspoken cannabis advocate and entrepreneur. He was featured in the July 14, 2008 edition of Sports Illustrated, which profiled his life since his Olympic win.

About Ripco Processing https://www.ripco.pro

Ripco Processing is at the forefront of medical and recreational cannabis innovation with a focus on CBD and THC products.

Humans have been consuming cannabis for thousands of years. While traditional methods of consumption will always stand the test of time, Ripco is continuously developing new and innovative ways to enjoy Canada’s favourite herb for a more consistent, convenient and enjoyable experience.

The Ripco Processing family of brands includes Stick It, a clean burning, innovative stick that infuses pre-rolls with cannabinoids; Strip It, an edible cannabis product similar to a breath strip that dissolves quickly on the tongue; Ross’ Gold premium cannabis and pre-rolls; and Ovation topical cannabis products.

Ripco Processing operates a licensed micro processing facility in Calgary, Alberta.

Potcast Credits

Hosts: Ross Rebagilati & Don Shafer

Guests: Cameron Czaszar (Budtender), Jaime Lipowitz (Founder, High Buds Club)

Producer: John Masecar

Writer: Jessica Grajczyk

#budtenders #cannabisretail #dispensaries

#podcast #education

The Aqua Culture

In this episode of the Potcast, we dive into the world of sustainable farming and cannabis: aquaponics. Combining hydroponics and aquaculture, aquaponics uses aquatic animals like fish to create nutrient-rich fertilizer for plants to grow in an environment without soil. It’s an inland, symbiotic farming system that yields two products. Host Ross Rebagliati speaks to Rudi Schiebel and Justin Henry, a couple of guys behind Habitat Life, a craft cannabis producer from Chase, British Columbia that uses decoupled aquaponics to grow both healthy coho salmon and really good cannabis.

This circular, closed-loop system is sustainable and natural, reducing the need for chemical fertilizer and minimizing water waste and pollution.

Innovators in the cannabis space do it because they have a real passion for it. There’s science involved, but growing cannabis is an art.

About Habitat Life (https://www.habitat.life/)

Human beings are not separate from nature or somehow outside of the natural world. We are members of a global ecosystem and share our habitat with an estimated 8.7 million different species of organisms.

The fact we are a part of this natural system is becoming more difficult to ignore as the effects of human caused climate change continue to increase in severity and frequency.

Being a farmer means balancing environmental stewardship with profitability. In rethinking aquaponics technology, Habitat has combined the production of salmon with the cultivation of plants in a way that achieves both.

Habitat has identified aquaponics as a farming approach that, through nutrient and waste recycling, can aid in protecting these resources and meet the sustainable development goals of food production. Habitat’s proprietary know-how and technology connects aquaculture waste streams to integrated hydroponic greenhouse infrastructure inputs resulting in an environmentally sustainable and economically profitable aquaponics system

About Ross.

A Canadian snowboarder who won a gold medal in the men's giant slalom event at the 1998 Winter Olympics. The International Olympic Committee initially stripped him of the medal due to a failed drug test for cannabis use, but was overruled by an appeals court two days later, resulting in the medal being restored.

Since the 1998 Olympics, Rebagliati has become an outspoken advocate and entrepreneur for cannabis. Rebagliati was the subject of full-page coverage in the July 14, 2008, edition of Sports Illustrated, which profiled his life since his Olympic win.

About Ripco Processing.

An innovative company that makes novel, fun and potent cannabis products for medical and recreational users of CBD and THC therapies. Cannabis Innovation. Cannabis has been with humans a very long time. There are some very traditional ways to enjoy it that really can’t be beat. But – they can be matched and even enhanced – in ways that are safer, more discrete, predictable and enjoyable. Ripco is continuously creating new ways to enjoy Canada’s favorite herb – ways that consumers want; ones that can quickly become staples for any type of enthusiast. Ripco Processing has acquired Craft Botanicals, which operates a licensed 1100 square foot Micro Processing facility in Calgary, Alberta. This is a GPP level facility that will be upgraded to GMP, and is Health Canada Licensed.

Our Brands

Stick It - Ripco holds the Canadian rights to this patented product. It infuses pre-rolls with intense cannabinoids and reduces the amount of smoke inhaled. Clean burning and easy to use.

STRIPIT - An amazing thin film product like a breath strip. Dissolves quickly to deliver discrete, rapid effects.

Ross’ Gold - Ripco fully controls the brand of Ross’ Gold products

• Prerolls

• Premium Cannabis

Ovation - RipCo Processing has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Ovation Science Inc., and will be responsible for all regulatory, manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution activities for Ovation’s formulations throughout Canada.

Hosts: Ross Rebagliati & Don Shafer

Guests: Rudi Schiebel (CEO and Founder of Habitat Life), Justin Henry (Aquaculture Advisor, Habitat Life)

Producer: John Masecar
Writer: Jordan Wong

#grow #organic #sustainableliving

The Aqua Culture

In this episode of the Potcast, we dive into the world of sustainable farming and cannabis: aquaponics. Combining hydroponics and aquaculture, aquaponics uses aquatic animals like fish to create nutrient-rich fertilizer for plants to grow in an environment without soil. It’s an inland, symbiotic farming system that yields two products. Host Ross Rebagliati speaks to Rudi Schiebel and Justin Henry, a couple of guys behind Habitat Life, a craft cannabis producer from Chase, British Columbia that uses decoupled aquaponics to grow both healthy coho salmon and really good cannabis.

This circular, closed-loop system is sustainable and natural, reducing the need for chemical fertilizer and minimizing water waste and pollution.

Innovators in the cannabis space do it because they have a real passion for it. There’s science involved, but growing cannabis is an art.

About Habitat Life (https://www.habitat.life/)

Human beings are not separate from nature or somehow outside of the natural world. We are members of a global ecosystem and share our habitat with an estimated 8.7 million different species of organisms.

The fact we are a part of this natural system is becoming more difficult to ignore as the effects of human caused climate change continue to increase in severity and frequency.

Being a farmer means balancing environmental stewardship with profitability. In rethinking aquaponics technology, Habitat has combined the production of salmon with the cultivation of plants in a way that achieves both.

Habitat has identified aquaponics as a farming approach that, through nutrient and waste recycling, can aid in protecting these resources and meet the sustainable development goals of food production. Habitat’s proprietary know-how and technology connects aquaculture waste streams to integrated hydroponic greenhouse infrastructure inputs resulting in an environmentally sustainable and economically profitable aquaponics system

Habitat Life produces organic coho salmon, fresh organic produce, and premium organic cannabis.

About Ross Rebagliati

Winner of a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan, Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati is also an entrepreneur and advocate in the cannabis industry. He is the founder and CEO of Ross’ Gold, a medical marijuana business.

Hosts: Ross Rebagliati & Don Shafer

Guests: Rudi Schiebel (CEO and Founder of Habitat Life), Justin Henry (Aquaculture Advisor, Habitat Life)

Producer: John Masecar

Writer: Jordan Wong

Cannabis without borders

Ross is one of many growers who need to get their products to consumers, so how can he work well with distributors? Ross is talking to the guys from Herbal Dispatch to find out how he and other producers can get their cannabis to the market in the most effective way. Then we’re looking outward to the international cannabis trade. That trade has been suppressed by the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotics… but things are changing, so we’re going inside the UN with the only cannabis reporter at the organization to find out what the ambassadors there really think.

About Ross.

A Canadian snowboarder who won a gold medal in the men's giant slalom event at the 1998 Winter Olympics. The International Olympic Committee initially stripped him of the medal due to a failed drug test for cannabis use, but was overruled by an appeals court two days later, resulting in the medal being restored.

Since the 1998 Olympics, Rebagliati has become an outspoken advocate and entrepreneur for cannabis. Rebagliati was the subject of full-page coverage in the July 14, 2008, edition of Sports Illustrated, which profiled his life since his Olympic win.

About Ripco Processing.

An innovative company that makes novel, fun and potent cannabis products for medical and recreational users of CBD and THC therapies. Cannabis Innovation. Cannabis has been with humans a very long time. There are some very traditional ways to enjoy it that really can’t be beat. But – they can be matched and even enhanced – in ways that are safer, more discrete, predictable and enjoyable. Ripco is continuously creating new ways to enjoy Canada’s favourite herb – ways that consumers want; ones that can quickly become staples for any type of enthusiast. Ripco Processing has acquired Craft Botanicals, which operates a licensed 1100 square foot Micro Processing facility in Calgary, Alberta. This is a GPP level facility that will be upgraded to GMP, and is Health Canada Licensed.

Our Brands

Stick It - Ripco holds the Canadian rights to this patented product. It infuses pre-rolls with intense cannabinoids and reduces the amount of smoke inhaled. Clean burning and easy to use.

STRIPIT - An amazing thin film product like a breath strip. Dissolves quickly to deliver discrete, rapid effects.

Ross’ Gold - Ripco fully controls the brand of Ross’ Gold products

• Prerolls
• Premium Cannabis

Ovation - RipCo Processing has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Ovation Science Inc., and will be responsible for all regulatory, manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution activities for Ovation’s formulations throughout Canada.

#cannabis #education #plants

Ross is one of many growers who need to get their products to consumers, so how can he work well with distributors? Ross is talking to the guys from Herbal Dispatch to find out how he and other producers can get their cannabis to the market in the most effective way. Then we’re looking outward to the international cannabis trade. That trade has been suppressed by the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotics… but things are changing, so we’re going inside the UN with the only cannabis reporter at the organization to find out what the ambassadors there really think.

While growers are innovating with new strains of cannabis there are other innovators developing new ways to consume THC and CBD. It’s not easy in an industry as heavily regulated as cannabis, bit it’s easier than it was under prohibition. We’re exploring the new cannabis products on the market, speaking to the scientists behind them, and asking: “how do you innovate in a space so tightly controlled?”

Same plant, new products

While growers are innovating with new strains of cannabis there are other innovators developing new ways to consume THC and CBD. It’s not easy in an industry as heavily regulated as cannabis, bit it’s easier than it was under prohibition. We’re exploring the new cannabis products on the market, speaking to the scientists behind them, and asking: “how do you innovate in a space so tightly controlled?”