On March 27, 2019 Supreme Cannabis (FIRE.T) announced that its President and Founder, John Fowler has been named to High Times’ list of the 100 Most Influential People in Cannabis.
For tokers-of-a-certain-age, being named anything by High Times is a surreal jolt.
The magazine – founded in 1974 – was originally meant to be a joke: a single-issue lampoon of Playboy, substituting weed for sex. Like Playboy, each issue contained a centerfold photo – instead of a nude woman – featuring a cannabis plant.
It immediately found an audience.
At the peak of High Times’ popularity, it had a monthly circulation of 500,000 copies – rivaling Rolling Stone and National Lampoon, publishing original work by iconic American writers Truman Capote, Hunter S. Thompson, Charles Bukowski and William Burroughs.
One issue gave advice on how to use a recreational yacht to smuggle bales of marijuana.
For ten years, John Fowler toiled in the medical cannabis sector as a cultivator, influencer, patients-rights advocate and lawyer.
In 2013, Mr. Fowler founded Supreme Cannabis’ wholly-owned subsidiary 7ACRES with a clear vision: to create Canada’s leading premium cannabis flower brand and produce high quality cannabis on a commercial scale.
Mr. Fowler is also Vice Chair and Director of the Cannabis Council of Canada, the leading organization of Canada’s licensed producers of Cannabis under Health Canada’s federal Cannabis Act.
“John is a pioneer in the cannabis industry and fierce advocate for patients-rights,” stated Navdeep Dhaliwal, CEO of Supreme, “The success of this sector and the opportunities it has created for Canadian businesses and consumers would not have been possible without trailblazers like John.”
Watch Mr. Fowler’s journey to 100 Most Influential People in Cannabis here:
On March 22, 2019 Supreme announced that its oil products will be introduced to adult-use consumers in select Canadian markets starting April 2019, before expanding to additional provinces this summer.
Each bottle will contain a proprietary blend of highly-purified cannabis oils and terpenes derived from plants grown by 7ACRES.
“Premium oils require premium cannabis,” said Dhaliwal, “Our formulation will leverage super-critical CO2 technology to produce a high quality, purified cannabis oil which we re-formulate with the naturally occurring cannabis terpenes.”
Supreme’s portfolio includes a $10 million equity investment and long-term global distribution partnership with Lesotho-based Medigrow for the exporting of medical-grade cannabis oil.
Lesotho is an independent nation-state enclave within the Republic of South Africa. 95% Christian, 3.5% atheist, and 1.5% non-Christian, perched 2,161 meters above sea level, Lesotho has literacy rate of 85% for women and 67% for men. Lesotho invests 12% of its GDP in education – double Canada’s GDP-percent spend.
Supreme owns about 10% of Medigrow. The cannabis oil will be produced in Lesotho, exported to Canada and other international markets, “subject to all government, and international regulatory approvals.”
On March 21, 2019 Supreme announced that its 100%-owned subsidiary 7ACRES has obtained Health Canada approval for 6 additional flowering rooms totaling 60,000 sq ft of additional production space at its facility in Kincardine, Ontario.
“Today’s announcement is a major milestone, representing a 50% increase in our estimated annual production capacity” stated Fowler.
7ACRES’ hybrid greenhouse combines the best practices in indoor cannabis cultivation with the power of the sun. The result is indoor-quality buds with sun-grown characteristics.
Using a full-spectrum sun HVAC & C02 enrichment system, rather than the limited-spectrum lamps, has helped fuel FIRE’s reputation for growing the best weed on the planet.
The B2B model allows 7ACRES to grow its revenue through high value bulk sales while maintaining its focus on cultivation, without the expense of patient acquisition and retention or retail order fulfillment and logistics.
Q2 2019 Financial and Operational Highlights
- Revenue of $7.72 million, a 359% increase from Q2 2018 ($1.68 million) and a 50% increase from Q1 2019 ($5.14 million).
- Strengthened balance sheet by raising $100 million through a bought deal offering of 6% unsecured convertible debentures due 2021
- Made its first shipments of 7ACRES branded Cannabis to six of Canada’s provincially regulated adult-use channels.
- Contracted Medipharm Labs to facilitate the launch of cannabis oil products line.
- Partnered with Khalifa Kush Enterprises to launch premium cannabis products for the Canadian and international markets excluding the U.S.
- Net comprehensive loss of $1.55 million, compared to a net loss of $2.03 million in Q2 2018 and a net loss of $5.39 million in Q1 2019.
Saskatchewan and New Brunswick recently became 7ACRES’ seventh and eighth provincial partners alongside British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and PEI.
In 2019, High Times is thriving (4 million unique monthly users) with innovative eye-candy features like, “Female Icons: Modern Women in Weed Recreate History.”
It is no longer a “counter-culture” magazine. Ads for synthetic urine are being replaced by ads for CBD gummy bears.
Along with his fellow nominees, Mr. Fowler will be honored at the High Times 100 Gala Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles today, March 27, 2019.
Full Disclosure: Supreme Cannabis is an Equity Guru marketing client and we own the stock.