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March 29, 2024

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Former Sun-Rype chairman helms now public Speakeasy Cannabis Club (EASY.C)

There was a time when, if you wanted a beer in Canada, you were drinking a Molson’s product.

Then we got smart and realized we didn’t have to drink swill, that there were brewmasters out there who cared about their product, and we could even brew our own product if the feeling swept over us – one that was based on quality rather than quantity, that tasted more like nature intended and less like someone had trained a cat to stand over the bottle.

The marijuana industry in Canada is hitting that point quickly, as every weed pitch I’ve heard recently has been less about building a million square feet of cannabis grow space, and more about finding the best growers, and putting them in manageable, low cost spaces where they can thrive, build a following, and focus on what they do best.

This is the smoker end of town, where an enthusiastic consumer market is thought to be likely to pay more for better end products.

Artisan products.

Products that will do what you ask of them and won’t disappoint.

To be interested in that as an investment, you’re going to be the kind of person who feels the market will pay a premium for a brand that people recognize, or that builds a dedicated audience, and that the Molson’s of the world will come looking for those before they will the bulk brands.

In short, you believe your multiple will come not from construction, but from acquisition.

I am one of those people.

Speakeasy Cannabis Club (EASY.C) is not a name most of you will recognize, but that’s mainly a symptom of having gone public, like, today. In fact, it’s such a hidden treasure, so sparkly and new, the website hasn’t been indexed by Google yet (find it at www.speakeasygrowers.com).

But this isn’t some tiny urban shed with hipsters mollycoddling four plants under LED death rays, nor a fly by night market guy creation.

Speakeasy sits on 290 hectares of prime Okanagan agricultural land, the sort that has given the world some of the best wines, cheeses, and apples for generations. Previously, this land gave birth to Sun-Rype, a national juice brand that started as a collective of local growers and blossomed into a major Canadian industry, that feeds every kid in the country.

Speakeasy is looking to take that model and incorporate it into the world of BC Bud which, if you think about it, remains the greatest weed brand the world has ever known.

Ain’t nobody asking around at the club for that ‘primo Maritime ganja’. BC Bud was a brand name before brand names were legal. It brought a premium price tag, so much so that a lot of the time when you bought it, it would turn out it wasn’t from BC after all.

BC Bud gave smokers across North America an education that the stuff they were huffing behind the bike shed was, in fact, local ditchweed, and that something better existed in the world.

Most of that came from the Okanagan, so much so that early Health Canada machinations were rumoured to have penalized the applications of growers from southern BC because they assumed any operation out of that region would be crooked.

Today, it’s swung the other way. The success of DOJA/HIKU Brands (HIKU.C) has pointed a spotlight at BC’s fertile farm country and the gates are swinging open.

Soon to go public listing Greentec Technologies (GTEC) has amassed a collection of artisan grower brands from across the country, but the Okanagan is where they’re based. HIKU is right up the road. Down on Harvey Avenue, cannabis lounges and dispensaries have populated and flourished.

Kelowna is becoming Canada’s Colorado. If you’re a good grower, it’s ground zero.

And Speakeasy’s plan is to build the sort of facility that they can all share, building not just a brand, but many brands, and lowering costs by taking advantage of the Okanagan sun, shared resources, shared marketing, and soil that ranks among Canada’s holiest.

Currently, the company has constructed over 10,000 square feet of grow, and has presented Health Canada with its evidence package; the final step before cultivation license granting.

There was a time when that would be just another step in a long and much delayed process. There was a time when a company saying they’d sent in their package was met with a shrug, because that could be followed by years of silence.

Not anymore. The average wait for a license from this stage is around 20 days. The end license, if everything is in order, is less a crap shoot and more a formality. From what I understand, Health Canada only had ten questions that needed answering, which speaks to a strong likelihood of smooth transition.

When that license drops, phase II of their facility – an 80,000 sq. ft. expansion – comes next. The plan is to include an extraction lab, genetics lab, and a facility capable of producing 10,000 kg of product annually.

This may not be a struggle. These growers have produced before.

In fact, there’s twelve years of marijuana production under the old rules among this team, and ten times that in general farming for generations prior.

Experience is a key asset, but it extends to beyond the fields in this instance. Speakeasy Chairman Merv Geen is a former Chairman of Sun-Rype Brands, having taken it from IPO to $94 million takeout when Jim Pattison turned it private. He was also Director of the British Columbia Fruit Growers Association, BC Tree Fruits Ltd, and BC Fruit Packers.

What Merv Geen did with Sun-Rype, now-CEO and family member Marc Green has done with marijuana. He’s been active in the legal medical marijuana industry for a decade, having consulted with growers participating in the MMAR, MMPR, and ACMPR programs, helping them build their businesses and adhere to licensing needs.

The Okanagan has always had strength in the unity of its growers. From the rapid expansion of the wine industry to the way it integrates with local cheese and fruit and resort hotels, small growers have thrived out there and led the way for the agricultural industry Canada-wide.

That business model, of connecting smaller growers and giving them strength through a united front end and brand, is one that marijuana growers can learn from. With the licensee count now up to over 90, the ability for a smaller grower to build a national brand is limited. Making a living is one thing, but real success comes from consumers buying your product on a wide scale, and Geen has built such an entity before.

That this entity sits on an amount of land that is Canada’s largest single weed-based agricultural holding is worth noting. They’ve got a lot of growing to do.

— Chris Parry

FULL DISCLOSURE: Equity.Guru was paid a placement fee for this article.

 

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10 thoughts on “Former Sun-Rype chairman helms now public Speakeasy Cannabis Club (EASY.C)”

  1. Hi Chris, could you write about the current state of the marijuana sector as a whole now that the sell off has been ongoing. When will be a good time to start picking up some shares of companies you guys are holding?

    One thing I noticed today are the very micro weed stocks have bounced back, like TNY, but other major weed stocks are still correcting. Is this a sign that we are bottoming?

    Thanks

    1. Honestly, I cashed out of almost everything weed related in January and haven’t bought back in on much, outside of new issuers (GTEC, TGOD, EASY). We’re at the point in the weed space now where valuations:revenue metrics are beginning to be questioned, and with the govt distributors taking a big chunk of the retail marketplace, effectively capping earnings of the LPs and making it harder to pay back giant capital outlays, the top end will find it tough going.
      That said, I’m hearing there’s accelerated acquisition talk going on (which would be the next easiest way to keep market caps inflated), so keep your powder dry.
      I’ve been saying since 2014 that branding is going to be everything and that’s absolutely the case now. Until the govt locks in the next generation of rules though, the market will swirl.

  2. Hi Chris

    Now that Speak is pushing a 52 week low do you have any updates on it ? Buying opportunity or steer clear, your comments as a follow up to your article would be greatly appreciated ?

    Cheers and keep up the great articles.

  3. Hi chris/staff
    What is your take on the current state of affairs here at easy?
    Understanding the network that exists in Vancouver I will be diplomatic in language but you folks have been fair in calling out the charlatans.
    Media is abuzz these days with condemnation of bridgemark or anyone connected with them.
    Nothing new for paper people and those who have to deal with them and I can go from a to z in the Vancouver directory for others (start with ac….)
    Promoters are promoters and they do what they do but not fair to a new generation of investors.gamble at the casino.no lies there,simply taking your money over time and only the addicted don’t get it.
    Anyway,the plan for easy should be a chance for some underground folks to flourish and make use of a legacy farm in an area that could use the investment (not to say that the Greens literally have the right colour thumb) but some manure here has to be tilled before the smell gets riper.
    Back to these folks who just show up in a pp or on a board.
    Notwithstanding that one never shits where they eat,your help in calling out the assholes currently working the rounds would be appreciated.
    P.s.-if you have some pull at the cse,tell them to get their act together.such promise but can’t seem to get the mickey mouse hat off.deja vu for old farts.
    Anyway…..

    1. Hey, so we talked to EASY when they were about to go public. I liked the deal. It’d been floating around for a while. We agreed a deal with the promoters and wrote the intro piece, but never got paid and walked away.
      I’m not surprised to see what I’m now seeing about the group, to be honest. Promising to raise $4.5m for companies if they’ll spend $3.5m on you for promotion and give you free trading warrants is messed up. Also, it’s unnecessary. any company that agrees to that should be wound up and halted forever as being insanely negligent.
      I’m waiting to see what happens next before I go off on it, but it’s felt good to know we’re one of the few outfits in town to not end up sucked into this mess.

      1. Hey Chris you were high on Easy and the Sun Rype team history back in April. What do you mean by not sucked into this mess?

        1. We had an agreement to cover Speakeasy, that was reneged on. Thus, as our competitors are named in this scandal, we’re not.

  4. Maybe-just maybe some crooks get exposed.
    Kudos to bc regulator for naming names.enforcement/penalties will take forever of course but cra just got their rocks on.
    Not to mention all the other crooks in the world who just found out who has money they can’t report extorted/stolen.
    Thanx Chris and staff for helping to bring this particular band off thieves down.

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