Powering Cannabis Retail with Gus Sevastos of Dutchie

Cannabis markets move fast.

One year ago, Minnesota was still asking basic questions about supply, access, and who would enter the space. Today, the conversation is evolving into something more complex.

In this episode of The Canna Connect Show, recorded live at Lucky Leaf Expo, Gus Sevastos from Dutchie shares a grounded perspective on what happens after a market launches and begins to mature.

Gus has worked across multiple cannabis markets and brings insight from both emerging and established states. He breaks down how early-stage chaos turns into structured operations, and why having the right systems in place becomes critical as competition grows.

We also explore how Dutchie is helping operators manage everything from compliance and inventory tracking to e-commerce and customer engagement, all within one connected platform.

Along the way, we talk about product shortages, pricing shifts, and the importance of strong community in building a sustainable cannabis industry.

If you’re operating in cannabis or preparing to enter the space, this episode offers a real-world look at what it takes to build for the long term.

Listen in and stay connected with the community.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

The thoughts, views, and opinions expressed on the Canic Connect Show belong solely to the individuals and do not reflect those of Canaconnect and its affiliates, sponsors, or partners. Can a Connect does not promote or facilitate any activity that violates state or federal regulations. Everything you hear here is strictly for educational and entertainment purposes. It is not legal advice. It is not financial guidance, and it's definitely not medical direction. Seriously, don't take our word for it. Even if someone on the mic sounds like they know what they're talking about, and they're probably crazy smart too. Regardless of how legit our guests may be, you should always do your own homework, consult with your attorney, and understand the risk you're taking before you do anything when it comes to cannabis. Our intention is to keep it real. If you've got a problem with anything we've said, take us to court.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

They biggest us up last year. We did monthly events with Gus Savastos, Quaku, and Jake Gleason, who was just sitting down with us. I love it. Dutchy is a point of sale company. They are able to offer you loyalty, marketing, e-comm, delivery. Dutchy is a behemoth of a company, but they're also the right fit for a lot of brands. They they carry or they're in, they've got more rooftops than anybody else in the point of sale e-com tech, cannabis tech space. So shout out to Dutchie. Uh, we love working with Gus and Dutchie. Welcome back to the Canada Connect Show. I'm your host, Stephen Eigenman, and today I am back for the very fourth time with Gus Savastos from Dutchy. Gus, welcome back to Minnesota. Good to be back, Steven. Always love coming to visit and just have a great time here. So you are neck and neck with Spencer Plusle for the covenant green jacket on the Canon Connect show. Hey, I brought my own. I brought my own. This guy is in it to win it. He's in it to win it. Um, how much has changed in a year since Lucky Leaf 2025 as it relates to the Minnesota cannabis market?

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Yeah, I think, you know, it's I've been talking about that a little bit already today. And it's one thing that you brought up is like a year ago we didn't even know each other. So you know, like we didn't even know each other, we hadn't even met, like we hadn't been doing other things that we've been doing together. But I think, you know, even then, like the conversations I've been having today compared to the conversations of last year, where last year was, you know, questions of like, hey, who's got this or who's got, you know, supply, or even just the casual folks walking in, like, who's got product right now? Right. Yep. Like all those questions. And now we're at a place where the market's not only live, but it's starting to get to that point where, like, you know, we had an explosion last summer where a bunch of people started to get live and we've had a more steady drip as like time has gone on. And I think that now we're starting to see us get to an apex where it's not just like, hey, we're trying to be first, it's also people coming in from all sides. Like, I've talked to a ton of cultivators today, like not just like retailers. And so I think that you know, we're getting ready for another phase of the market where we're out of that initial, like, hey, everything's just now we're getting stuff open, to actually like having it where the market is becoming more established, and we're starting to see, you know, these folks like are known, like these brands are like on the rise.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Starting to exactly now we're a couple hours into Lucky Leaf. Who's here? Like who, like you you kind of mentioned, but tell me, because I'm just behind the camera. Yeah. Cultivators?

SPEAKER_02 3:22

Yeah. Cultivators, retailers, but I mean, also like I've had, I think I've talked to more folks who are on the cultivation and brand side than on the retail side today, because it's just, you know, I think we the biggest challenge right now in the market is there's a shortage of product around. Like it's hard for people to keep stock, or it's hard for people to like, you know, when things come in, they leave just as quickly. And so I think, you know, we're now we're seeing that need go from, hey, we need retailers that are open so that like people have places to go and shop to now we need to have like enough of like the gross space like open and working that there's not just product for people to pick from, but like a diversity of product for people to choose from, you know, so that there's more options. And then two, like, you know, I think there's operators already that have a signature out on the market, but we'll we'll get to see who like more of the players in the space are, right? Like who is that new up-and-coming grant?

SPEAKER_01 4:14

I mean, let's be fair. Like it the bulk of the product right now is coming from larger operators in the space. Um, when it comes to cultivation at large, how does Dutchie serve cultivators?

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Yeah, that's a great question. So, cultivation, we serve them really well. So we'll be able to take everything from that initial like seedling that they're gonna start into hey, now we're gonna break this out into, let's just say, for example, like 10 different, like, you know, tag plants, right? So we'll start to telemetric, okay, this mother plant has now become these 10 plants. It's tags one through 11, right? Like, kind of like tracking all that. And then as they're making those changes in the stages, as those plants are growing, we can track the nutrients that they're adding to those plants. We can track, you know, hey, this is like we could keep a journal of this is, you know, perform well. This needs to be watched, like this needs to be moved to a different area, right? Like all those different things finally through to the harvested like product. And then let's convert this into either bulk flour or pre-mang flour, or and then even you know, a step further, we also have something for the folks on manufacturing and processing where now we can take that like you know, raw flour and turn that into vapes, turn that into edibles, turn that into pre-rolls, like all these different ways that we can take that plant and turn it into all the things of it conks.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

Right. Now, one of the last times I saw you, we were doing the Canada Connect with Metric event. Let's talk a little bit about how Dutchy uh integrates seamlessly with metric.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

Yeah, so I would say that when we talk about the metric integration with Dutchy, you know, they've been a great partner of ours for a long time. And, you know, now at this point, I would say they're the dominant state tracking system across the country, right? They've done a lot of things like uh retail ID, which is to simplify like the labeling process from cultivation all the way through retail instead of operators having to constantly relabel something, you know, when they receive it. Now they can just scan that label. And then, you know, the folks who are getting that product can take it home, scan that label, see all the test results on it, get to learn the plant a little bit better. That's a huge part of their retail ID. Yeah, it's a huge part of it. And then, you know, every movement that somebody is making, the OCM and metric need to know about it. Dutchie's reporting that. So it's not just like, hey, we sold one quantity of this to, you know, Susan Smith. It's also this was in the Bolt room, now it's on the sales floor. This was in the, you know, this was in the manifest, now it's part of the inventory. Like all those inventory movements that they're doing, all those sales reportings they need to do. Yeah. Dutchy is working lockstep with metric to make sure everything's reported over the system, so there's no gaps on the compliance side.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Seed to sale tracking, compliance, the requirements within the cannabis industry. How different is that than the college textbooks industry?

SPEAKER_02 6:56

Well, I mean, I think it's, you know, it's funny because uh I have a friend that is uh looking like at our company, and he and I started in college textbooks together. And he asked me, he said, How would you say this even like parallels? And I'm like, great question, right? So uh it's funny because you know, you could be talking with somebody who's your champion, you know, in the school district, so that like head of like the English department, right? They love the textbook that you're showing them, they are ready to go for it, but oh no, we have to talk to, you know, the curriculum director, right? So in the same way that you can have a GM that's like super enthusiastic about the program of the process, it doesn't matter until the director of retail or the owner or you know, these people have signed off on it. So it's just kind of knowing, you know, what everybody's roles are and then also really being able to identify like what people's processes are because it's you know, I think we have a mix of, hey, like I've you know, got experience in this market or working for this dispensary in town or this and that. And then some people are just hey, like this is all completely new to me, you know, like I have no idea what any of this is. Metric, you mean like what the Europeans measure with, right? Like, so I think uh there's a lot that there, you know, there's a lot out there that there can be, and I think folks are just starting to get familiar with Everton.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

And as it relates to Dutchy in in 2026, as we sit here and at the end of February, what's rolling out, what's coming up, what's new with Dutchie in Q1 and Q2 of 2026?

SPEAKER_02 8:25

Yeah, so I would say the biggest thing that we have coming immediately, and we kind of touched on this last time, is Connect and Nexus. So Connect being something that retailers can use to connect with the brands that they're selling, you know, get better information from them. So in the same way, of like, hey, if a brand, you know, spends time calling operators to say, hey, you're calling our product this, it's actually called this, or you're putting this like our logo there, but we have images of the product for you. Yeah, we have a connection for them that's connect, where they can just like push it through and pull that into their system, you know, because the brands are controlling this is what we want our brand identity to be. This is how we'd like it to be, like, you know, kind of like set. Okay, and then operators just have the ability to click a button, pull it in, and then it's part of their system. Um, there's more for the brands they can do, and then there's some stuff that I can't like talk about, but there's cool stuff that's like coming that's gonna make things even easier. Is that what Jake does? No, so Jake, Jake does the fun stuff of like having to make sure that like all the uh all the I's are dotted, the T's are crossed, and you know, all that fun stuff. I would say I good thing he speaks English. Yeah, yeah, no, thank God.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Yeah, so um Ohio, I saw a billion dollars in salon dollars. Is that annual sales or tomato sales?

SPEAKER_02 9:41

So that was annual, like so you know, I think it's something when you think about you think about like Minnesota, right? And how quickly can we get there? You know, the first full year that Ohio had wrecked was really only four months. It was August 2024 till December 2024. And yeah, we did a good chunk of money, but yeah, last year, billion dollar state, which it's something that I, you know, I never in my wildest dreams did I think, wow, like we had the ability to go toe-to-toe with a Colorado, with uh Michigan, where we're in the same amount. And you know, let's be fair, you would go toe-to-toe with Michigan any day of the week. Well, that's that's just because I'm born in Ohio, yeah. Like I think it's just especially like right after Thanksgiving, usually. Uh, but I think like it's one of those things where, you know, it's any state can do it if they focus on the right things, you know, and the right things are a strong community, okay, strong operator, strong product, you know, and then also one thing Ohio's done really well is you know, uh price compression is I think like the biggest challenge in the market where, hey, right now in Minnesota, we can sell for X amount of price. Well, exactly. At the store. And now, you know, you think about other markets where that's maybe like 15 or, you know, in some cases, even 10, right? Because they've been around so long and everything's so established that people are like, oh, how's it a pretty good job? Well, every market develops differently. Exactly. Oh, how's it a pretty good job of keeping their like price compression pretty low? Whereas like I would say that it's still at a price where you know the brands can feel good about what they're charging, but also like as a as a patient, as a consumer, like, you know, it's nice to go and like actually have deals and be able to go, oh, like I might stretch and get just a little bit more because that is actually, it's not like uh, oh, it's you know$30 for a thing of edibles. It's now it's$15. Now it's, you know, so it's there's a lot more options that people are getting to and being able to try versus just looking for what's the most bang for my buck that I can get. Whereas, like, you know, a couple of years ago, an ounce was, you know, uh a few hundred dollars. And now, like, you know, depending on where you go, depending on things you could get, you could get ounces for 100 to 150. And like the quality is still very good. So great.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Do you notice uh do you have a hard time sometimes inside the Minnesota market, given that you're an Ohio medical patient and that the medical program is uh one of the reasons why you guys were able to come up to speed so quickly? Um the medical market here is uh not as robust, right? Limit much more limited in products and per, you know, as as you well are well aware, but like comparing and contrasting, I mean, this market is not the same as Ohio.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

No, because I think when you look at it like compared to Ohio, it's like you said, like our rec market was our med market because we had a lot, so there's not a lot of like net new like operators who have gotten up and running because whether they were cultivators, whether they were retailers, like they had some connection to the medical market that allows them just turn right over. It was easier transition, exactly. Okay, because it and also too, you know, some states can do it where hey, like you cannot sell the medical products to the rec customers and vice versa, right? Right, right. Whereas Ohio is just, yeah, it's one license type now. You get like you can get your medical, and some folks in some cities, you know, did not allow like recs, so like the folks that are just medical, some stay medical, but for the most part, everybody did like both, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:11

Um I've got a fun exercise that I want to go through with you. Yeah. I'm going to debut the menu for weed and wagyu with you on the show right now. I love this. I want to go through what what your potential order is tonight from Earl Giles at the bar. I'm excited. We have a 36-inch by 48-inch full life-size menu board. Okay. That we are. Look at this thing. Look at this thing. So, starting with our appetizers today, Wagyu meatballs. Three meatballs with red sauce and fresh mozzarella. You see that price? Yeah. That's a good price. For wagyu, yeah. Meatballs not your thing? We got two empanadas. I don't know how to pronounce it. You're more of a foodie. Chihuahua? Yeah, yeah. Hopefully it's not the of the dog type.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

No, no, no. I think it's the I think it's the state. And I don't I don't know that I would want uh I don't know that I would want that, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

Uh I'm looking to share some loaded Wagyu fries with you today.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

Just, you know, you take your side, I'll take my side, we'll sit at a high top.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Yeah, exactly. And then like just, you know, anybody else is like, ooh, can I have no, this is this is for us.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

We are sharing this. Where's your where's your two bucks? Where's your couple? Three. You know, there's there's there's there's cost in in waiting in line for this as well. Like if we're if we're at the Supreme shop in New York, yeah, and we waited in line for the shoes, there is or or the shirts and the hoodies, there's a premium that is placed upon the product on the resale market. Right. We are if we are reselling Wagyu fries tonight, and they are at least three dollars for a bite. Yeah, for a bite, for sure. Yeah, two bites. I'll share the mini burgers with you as well, and we get the prize and the mini burgers. I think this is all local Wagyu. This is mixed with do-rock pork. Now, we wouldn't be able to get away with these prices if we weren't blending Wagyu beef with do-rock pork. It's it's uh it's a Wag Rock. Think of it in cannabis terms as a hybrid. Yeah. It's not an indicator sativa, it's like a little bit of both. Yeah, yeah. It's a hybrid Wagyu. I love that. Now, this is where this is where we call Jake in for the company car.

unknown 15:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

Beef tartar using 100% Wagyu tar uh trit. I think that's gonna be that's got his name written all over. He, you know, Quaku, Jake, like Munir. Yeah, the whole crew. Like, I I'm sorry to take a little break there. We got some time to kill. Yeah. I know you're excited about this main this menu tonight. I'm excited that I like to say, and this is this goes back to our relationship with Duchy. I like to have partners that row with us. Exactly. And Earl Giles is a venue, and more than a venue, they're a they're a company and an organization that supports the cannabis industry. And and have from like day one. Right. They're they're coming up on year, they're in year three of the Canna Club, which is their Wednesday night happy hour. Every Wednesday from five to nine, you can find somebody in the cannabis industry.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

And it's a lot of the same faces like every time I show up, which means it's got like staying power, you know, because people want to see the other people in the community. Right. We want to know what's going on, and like, you know, right now we're moving fast. Yeah, you know, and so it's just I think the cool thing that I've started to see too. We talked about what's different from a year ago, is now you have people within the industry who are resources for folks within the industry as well. Now, like it's not just, hey, we're all in this together. It's like you were saying, for like, you know, the rowing together, it's almost like, hey, I can show you how to take a tree and turn it into a boat. You know, uh-huh. I can show you how to like make a paddle out of the sticks you find.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

You know, I think of uh Carol Moss, we just had her on stage. She is uh a lawyer for Helmuth and Johnson. She's doing tremendous work on both the hemp side and the cannabis side. After our interview today, we have Corey Lake, great rep, great uh resource for insurance in the cannabis and hemp space. Um, you know, I think about people want to go uh where everybody knows your name. Yeah. And that's where Earl Giles is. That's what Earl Giles has created for the Minnesota cannabis industry. I agree with that. When it comes to shows and TV, what are you watching these days?

SPEAKER_02 17:21

Oh man, so uh I just I just started watching uh first off, R.I.P. The Smiling Friends. Uh they just like announced the creators just announced that they're done after like two more episodes, which but also you know what? Better to better to like go out on your own terms than fade away and have other people go like I don't like this anymore. Either either live life. A little bit of that, a little bit of the chair company. White.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

Where are these shows? I uh uh HBO. I gotta get HBO.

SPEAKER_02 17:50

Yeah, no, it's that and then I mean I'm trying to catch up on all the Oscar movies before March. Yeah and uh have you seen Marty Supreme? I've seen I've seen it and like I need to see it again. It's long. It's I love a Safety Brothers movie though. Yeah, like it's it's weird that they both made movies separately this year. I've heard that they're they've they've set a very different, yeah, it's very different like vibes because like I don't know, Smashing Machine was I think Josh's, and like you know, Rock is trying to get his Oscar movie and it's okay, but it's also you know, like but then like I I really enjoyed like because when I think about the Sapti brothers, like I love Good Time, I love Uncut Gems, right? Like I love their movies that give me this sense of like I'm watching somebody make horrible choices and I'm powerless to like tell them.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

It really raises my anxiety.

SPEAKER_02 18:41

Sapti movies should come with some C BD gummies, they should come with some C BD gummies, they should also come with like a weighted blanket, maybe like you get the home DVD like copy of it. But yeah, Marty Supreme like definitely fell into that legacy. I think for me, like the biggest like surprise of all of the movie was probably uh Mr. Wonderful. Oh, as like you know, the rich Mac where I'm just like I don't know that that's Mr. Wonderful. Then you know, the the paddling scene that everybody will talk about when they talk about Marty Supreme, it's one of those things where it's like, oh no, that's the same guy that yells at people on Shark Tank. Shark Tank. Yeah, I enjoyed Gwyneth Baltro in Marty Supreme. Yeah, I did. It's hard, it's hard to not enjoy Gwyneth Baltro. Like, I feel like, you know, her like, you know, personal business aside, you can feel about that however you want to feel about that. But like I feel like, you know, I've never seen her in something where I'm like, she's the worst part of this screen actress. And what I like about the Safety brothers too is they find they find stars and they use them in ways that you don't always expect, or like in just like taking the colors of them that you already know and just getting slightly different shades with it, like they did with Grand Paltra or like Julia Fox. Yeah, like just being able to find somebody who nobody knows and turn them into a star because of like they are just great, and like it's also people that are in their community most of the time. Like, I mean, most of the people in Mardi Supreme, I would say, are somehow connected to the New York City lights. Otherwise, they're just fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

Authentic. The Safety brothers really, I mean, they're over the top and they stress me out, but they are going for a level of authenticity.

SPEAKER_02 20:17

It's a real world, and that's why it stresses you out so much, I think, because they built like a real world versus like, you know, I'm watching science fiction and I'm nervous because it's a monster. It's like, no, like it's just it's the same thing as you're watching a friend make bad decisions and you want to be like, stop, you want to shake them, you know, but you just you gotta sit there.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

And so it's it's part of what I like to do with the Canada Connect show as well, like be real and have real conversations. Like, I'm sure you watched the Olympics this year, yeah, to some degree. I felt like Bobsledding was on the entire the entire time.

SPEAKER_02 20:47

I for me, like I like what I like most about the Winter Olympics, my favorite one, and I don't know that they did it this year, but it's the biathlon. Okay, yeah where it's just it combines two things that I don't know how they go together cross-country skiing and shooting a gun. And shooting with it. Yeah, and it's just it's like I think of like, okay, like if you made it where I had to run from like station to station, like you know, in like a like a building like we're in right now. Yeah. And you're like, okay, you run from station to station, you do like the carnival shootout at each one, right? By the third one, I'm like, can I just can I just stop? You know, so the fact that somebody's like, okay, all right, here we go. Boom, boom, boom. Okay, all right, here we go.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

And then of course, curling, which there's a lot of curling drama. You know, I well, I'm not gonna dox myself, but I'll I'll tell you, I live right by a curling club. Okay. Yeah. And so I see these, I mean, there's a passionate community of curlers in Minnesota, actually, yeah, a handful of Olympians from from Minnesota. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Well, it's just I think it's one of those things, though, that is that is the only Olympic sport that I watch. And I'm like, I could do that. You know, like everything else, I'm like, oh god, no way. That's the only one where I'm like, you give me enough time, you give me decent knee pads, I could, I could probably be uh I could be the guy doing the, you know, maybe as maybe.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Some team building uh in our future. We could we could go to the curling club and and learn it learn a thing or two, exactly. Yeah, yeah. The uh the last thing I want to bug you about, we got we got Olympics, we got Marty Supreme. Did you have Sam Darnold winning the Super Bowl on your bingo card this year?

SPEAKER_02 22:15

Who did? Who did?

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Not Kevin O'Connell or uh Quay Adolfo Menso. Definitely not Quasey.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

Yeah, no. I mean it's it's the thing of it's like Sam Sam Darnold, like the the New York Jets draft? New York. What? And it's I think as bad as you guys might feel about letting him go, my god, if you're a Jets fan, uh, how terrible you must feel. Only up from there. Yeah, but I mean it's also like look, it's the the Cleveland Browns, you could say the same thing, right? People get out of there and they tend to do pretty well.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Do Jets and Browns fans tend to seek solace in one another?

SPEAKER_02 22:50

I think it's one of those things where, you know, when people complain about like the pain their sports base has endured, like uh, you know, for example, like Quake, who is a Boston sports guy, right? So they've they have such a challenging time winning. I mean, it's I have several colleagues of mine that work in the Boston area or Boston sports bands, like, it was a really hard year last year. We didn't make the playoffs. And I'm and I'm like, we've made the playoffs three times since I've been alive. Like, we've made the playoffs three times since I've been alive. I'm 34 years old. I've got killed. Once every decade in my life we've gone to the playoffs, and it's just yeah, it's a good time. When you haven't been to the Super Bowl, yeah, when you don't even know what this what the Super Bowl is like, because the Browns technically have championships, and I think uh they changed the records around where the NFL championships count, and now we're like one of the top tier franchises, but also it's like no Super Bowls all before 1964, you know?

SPEAKER_01 23:45

So you like the University of Minnesota football had some great years during World War II.

SPEAKER_02 23:50

Yeah, but also like you know, it's easy to have great years during World War II when your best and brightest are probably over there, you know.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

So uh our best and brightest are heading to the after party tonight. And I'll be there so much for supporting.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

Thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks. Uh it's again, it's a pleasure to do this up with you. Love our continued partnership. And like, again, it's just always fun to sit down with you.

SPEAKER_01 24:08

Thanks to Dutchie. If folks want to get in touch, reach out to Gus Savastos on LinkedIn. Search Dutchy, happy to give a referral. Reach out to Canna Connect, and we'll see you out there.