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Canna Connect Show
The Canna Connect Show introduces you to the people building Minnesota cannabis. Hosted by Canna Connect founder Stephen Eigenmann, each episode brings together growers, operators, entrepreneurs, advocates, professionals, and community members for real conversations about the work, challenges, ideas, and stories shaping Minnesota's emerging cannabis industry.
Canna Connect Show
Season 2, Episode 12 | Davis Tiburzi of CannaZip: Building Better Cannabis Brands Through Packaging
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Packaging is more than a container. It influences perceived value, protects product quality and can determine whether a cannabis brand is prepared when harvest or production arrives.
Davis Tiburzi, Founder and CEO of CannaZip Packaging, joins Stephen Eigenmann to explain when operators should begin planning their packaging, why CannaZip emphasizes U.S.-made products and short lead times, and how emerging brands can balance compliance, creativity and cost.
Davis also shares how nearly a decade in commercial printing led him to identify gaps in the packaging industry and launch Custom Flex Packaging and its cannabis-focused brand, CannaZip. The conversation explores Minnesota’s developing market, low minimum order quantities, the importance of customer service, and how federal legalization could reshape cannabis culture and competition.
CannaZip is the official packaging partner of Canna Connect.
Learn more at https://www.cannazip.com or contact orders@cannazipbags.com.
Become Part of the Canna Connect Community Network
Every episode, Community Spotlight, and partner profile helps connect Minnesota's cannabis industry. Visit CannaConnectMN.com to explore interviews, resources, events, and the trusted organizations helping shape the future of cannabis in Minnesota.
Why packaging shapes product perception
SPEAKER_00Hey man, do you remember on the when you guys had me on the Northern Lights Podcast? You and Tanner Barris. It was Lucky Leaf 2024. 25. Early 25. Yes, it was early.
SPEAKER_02Lucky Leaf is uh has the last two years it's always been early. Lucky Leaf after party coming soon, February 2027. So we were doing the Northern Lights podcast. Yep. And you were hanging out on the show with Tanner Barris and Stephen Eigental. Yeah, sure was. And we started using the phrase brought to you by Ziploc. Yep. Because according to Tanner, they couldn't do anything about it if you said brought to you by not misrepresenting the brand because technically the bag of weed that may or may not have been inside the Minneapolis Convention Center was a Ziploc bag.
SPEAKER_00Literally. Yeah. So it's not there's no sponsorship dollars in exchange.
SPEAKER_02Right. But if you think about that day, like Ziploc played a role in that day. 100% did. Fast forward to June of 2026, and we're hanging out with Davis from CanadaZip Packaging at the Canacon after party at Earl Giles. Yep. And now they're the official packaging partner of Canacon. Here we are. Because they provide compliant, child safe, US made with short lead times. Yep. And Ziploc just can't match. Can't compare. They can they tend to not on the hometown turf. They may not even want to be compared. Maybe not. But this is the regulated Minnesota cannabis industry, and you need CannaZip. So reach out to CannaZip Bags today, and you'll get what you need. Compliant, child safe, and US made packaging.
SPEAKER_03And one of the examples that I often tell people is if I had, you know, a $10,000 bottle of wine in a glass and I had, you know, some box wine, right? Well, if I can't touch, taste, or smell it, right? And I'm just looking at two glasses of wine, how do you know which is the premium product and how do you know which is not, right? But if that $10,000 bottle of wine looks like that, yeah, right. And then I'm looking at box wine, that gives you an idea of product quality or factory. Exactly, right. Now, now conversely though, if I were to flip that, right, and I put a $10,000 wine in a box, right? Yeah. And you know, box wine in a beautiful bottle, yeah. What does that do for your um your perception of the quality of that product, right? It could be an absolute terrible product, but in great packaging, you're still gonna have a higher likelihood of purchasing it than an amazing product in poor packaging, right?
SPEAKER_02I'm
Marketing and personal vendor support
SPEAKER_02excited to talk to you today about email marketing. For sure. I'm excited to talk to you about one-on-one vendor support, how you're able to serve your clients. Because the um the personal approach, the personal touch is so needed. Oh yeah. Once once folks are already on their way and and and they're distracted because they're working on their business. It's not they're not still waiting on their license. Right. They either have their license, they're working on their license, or they don't know where they're at with uh fundraising, and that's keeping them out of the game. Yeah. And if and if they're not in the game, then they're not gonna be reaching out to Canasip yet. Right, right, right. Um and so we have to utilize email marketing, we have to utilize personal outreach in order to get in front of the potential customers. For sure, yeah. And um there's just a lot of strategies that don't work anymore. I would say uh using Instagram to market your event. Unless you're really putting thought and attention behind the videos and the text of the copy. Are you advertising it or is it just uh organic algorithm? Right, right. Those types of things I think are overlooked from event companies. Yep. And you end up finding rooms that aren't super full, aren't busy, aren't providing the ROI that your company is working for, for sure. And and you and many others here today. So for us, what's next for us is is Canna Connect Brainerd on July 30th, right? And then Canna Connect Duluth on October 15th, which we're billing as a cultivation celebration because all this flower will have been grown by the end of October. Yep, yep. Much better uh supply opportunities, and then Duluth hasn't had a Canna Connect event, right? So instead of coming in and being like, here's our agenda, here's here's the thought leadership, here's the brands, what if we worked with the local community? What if we did a lot of outreach to understand what what they're missing so that it's circle peg, circle hole, right, and not square peg, round hole. Right, right, right. Uh not rinse repeat.
What CannaZip offers cannabis brands
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Now, when it comes to your brand, people want consistency, they want deliverability, they want short lead times. Tell me a little bit about who you are and what your brand does.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so um CanadaZip is one of the nation's leading suppliers of custom cannabis packaging. Uh, we work with some of the largest brands in the space. Uh and it's because we have a very niche and fine-tuned offering uh that really plugs the holes and the gaps within packaging as a whole. You know, we see um lack of flexibility, poor customer service, poor product quality betting, long lead times, right? Things like that. And so when we uh created the Can Zip strategy, that was centered around, you know, good, excellent customer service, excellent product quality, you know, quick lead times, right? Uh catering to the needs of the businesses to prevent inventory shortfalls, inventory gaps, um, you know, anything that would affect the supply chain or the the total overall functioning of the business, right? Um, we we want our business owners to focus on what's important and that's running the business while everything else they should support the business should almost feel like it's on autopilot. Right. And that that's gonna be uh a pivotal tool to them so that they can really uh curate customers and um you know answer the needs of the market, look for those product opportunities. And so if they're stuck in the weeds, you know, essentially uh trying to support the business rather than directing, you know, the boat and steering the ship, right? Um, that that's gonna prevent their growth. And so we want to take that off their plate. We want to provide them with a rock solid, reliable solution uh that allows them to scale uh effortlessly, right, while you know, making sure that they're meeting the needs of their customers, if not exceeding.
When to begin planning packaging
SPEAKER_02When do you think manufacturers and product producers should be reaching out to a packaging partner as it relates to the product life cycle and developing products, growing, growing your cannabis?
SPEAKER_03Well, I guess let me ask you to revise your question. At what point um in the business cycle are we kind of discussing, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so you know it's June 2026. We're sitting down with David Taburzi from Caniset Packaging, Caniset Pack. We have this month alone, we have 14 cultivators that are licensed now as of June 2026 in Minnesota. 14 new cultivators. Okay, so you're a new cultivator, you just got licensed. Yep. You certainly have plans to grow, but you haven't started growing your yet. Now, when this product when this podcast comes out, they'll have started their grow.
SPEAKER_03Right. Yep. Okay, yeah. And that makes a little more sense, right? Because we sell nationwide. So it's at what point, you know, or what sort of position are we discussing? Now, specific to the Minnesota market. Um, you know, I think it's important for uh these cultivators, growers, anybody really who would let's say have a need for these products.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Uh now you primarily like to work with manufacturers.
SPEAKER_03So I would say like our key and target customers, uh, less on the dispensary end, although we do service the dispensaries. Um, they just have a little bit more of a niche offering because a lot of the products that they're getting, they're already pre-branding, right? So we're a little bit more upstream on that. So we're we're focusing on cultivators, processors, you know, brands themselves, manufacturers, white labelers, right? The guys that um upstream are actually taking raw material and raw product, uh, and then they have to package that, obviously, to then go to distribution and retail sale. Um, now going back to what you're saying as far as when they should be really kind of looking at those options. Um, I always recommend the customers start at the end, right? And then let's backtrack a little bit, right? So you've identified, okay, hey, we have our license, we have, you know, we're gonna get plants in the ground soon. When do we start looking at packaging, supply chain, things like that? Um, well, let's say, okay, well, when do you want to harvest, right? Are we doing an indoor harvest? Are we doing a sea of green? Are we doing something that is every, you know, two weeks, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, right? On a harvest cycle. Uh huh. Are we looking at um, because that will have a little bit of a different viewpoint than if we're doing, let's say, an outdoor grow where we're gonna have primarily one, you know, grand harvest at the end of the year, right? So let's start with with the latter and say, let's say it's an outdoor grow, right? They want to harvest mid-September, October, right? For most companies, um, a lot of them are doing import. We built the the business on USA made. Yes, right. And so our lead times are super quick. You know, it we're positioned as a one-stop shop. So we offer pretty much everything they would need from a packaging perspective, uh, stateside, right? And so our turn times are the fastest in the industry. Um, from the day that they sign the proofs and approve that artwork and have their deposit in, um, we're looking at five to 15 business days for 95% of the products that we offer, right? Yeah, so that gives them responsiveness um and the ability to pivot or uh get that product quickly, right? Which is super important.
Fast lead times and compliance responsibilities
SPEAKER_02When we talk about packaging, flour comes to mind, but tell me uh, tell me all the different products that you've packaged.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. And before I do want to go on that, I just do I do want to provide that information so that you know your viewers can have uh a good milestone, right? Yeah. Um, so if they're doing an outdoor harvest though, uh I would say, let's say it's mid-September, right? Let's backtrack about four weeks, right? If it's their first launch, right? That's when they want to have that order in solidified so that we have those 15 business days to produce, which is on the longer end of our window, right? Um, and then they'll have about a week to ship depending on where they are in the country. Okay. Um, and then they'll want to build in about two to four weeks, depending on how intricate their artwork is or how new they are to the process, right? We want to uh build in time for that learning curve. They may have additional revisions, they may have things that they want to fine-tune, right? And so if we don't allow for that, they could be in a time crunch and then if they got it too close.
SPEAKER_02You have state-by-state compliance measures that you have to be aware of as well.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. We do we because we sell nationwide, we would need like a full legal team, especially with the ever-changing regulatory climate. Uh, it's really difficult to keep up in that sense. So we do have to put the onus on the customers to make sure that you know, whatever we're putting together for them is compliant before they go to sale. Now, that said though, uh, we are aware of the nuances and you know the general framework of that. So yeah, we can implement it, you know, whatever they need, but it is important for them to be aware and and they should, right? If they're running their own brand, it's it's extremely important.
SPEAKER_02It's on it's on the customer at the end of the day to ensure that their product is compliant.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and we do have tools and resources though. Like we do partner with uh certain compliance uh staff and and companies, right, that we can direct them to that will give them that good toolkit, you know, if they had trouble finding that themselves, they they're you know, or or they don't want to rely on, let's say, just Google searching their state compliant and leaving it up to their own interpretation. That's a recipe for a disaster. Absolutely, right? So it's good to have an experienced professional in that space who can put the sample of approval on it and you know, really make sure that they're good to go.
SPEAKER_02How much have you had to learn about metric as it relates to the cannabis industry?
SPEAKER_03I'll be honest, uh, we don't have to learn a ton, right? Because that's more of like a secondary labeling sort of thing that you know uh suppliers will have to do on site. Sure. I said we do have to be aware of it. Um the general nuances of it, right? Uh, I think if you're if you don't, you kind of do both yourself and then your customers a disservice, right? Yeah. So yeah, you want to have a good at least general understanding with it.
Davis’s path from commercial printing to CannaZip
SPEAKER_02Okay. And what what led you into packaging?
SPEAKER_03Uh so I used to sell the commercial, excuse me, I used to sell the commercial print equipment. So that uh for about you know almost 10 years, um, you know, big six, seven-figure pieces of equipment, 40, 50, 100 feet long, right? And so that gave me a very good understanding of the general uh manufacturing processes, and um, you have to really know everything from in chemistries, print technologies, film compositions, manufacturing do's and don'ts, the nuances, the workflow, right? And so that that's actually what gave me a good understanding and uh ability to identify what's wrong with packaging as a whole, right? And those are the gaps that we uh set to fill as uh we crafted you know the strategy of Canada Canada Zip and uh how we would kind of take on the parking there.
SPEAKER_02So so there's a lot of custom aspects of of packaging, and that's probably what led to the the original name, right? Okay, and so the you can really create anything, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. I mean, if a customer comes to us with, hey, uh, you know, I want to call my brand Dink Nuggets, right? Or whatever, right? Uh, that's all we really need, you know, from there, um, you know, as long as we know what state they're going in and the general like product that it is, whether it be gummies, chocolates, topicals, flour, pre-rolls, what have you, you know, concentrates.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, we just need to know, hey, you know, what what is it, what what product are we going to package, right? What do we want the uh vision to look like, the product presentation? Do we want it to be trappy and edgy? Do we want it to be clean and almost pharmaceutical style? Do we want to be somewhere in the middle, right? Um, you know, something maybe more progressive or forward thinking, right? That's uh we want to get a good understanding of how they want that brand presentation to be, yeah, right. And then from there we'll kind of craft that for them, come up with ideations of you know how how it will look and present itself, and then really fine-tune as far as you know, what what they want to present their products, right?
Building packaging that helps products sell
SPEAKER_02So tell me a little bit about your team that supports uh Canasip and and the customers that you have.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. So we we train all of our staff with um the manufacturing uh do's and don'ts and that knowledge, right? Because anybody can sell packaging, right? Um, but to really work with an experienced uh professional and expert in the space, you have to know all the back end outside of just the product specs, right? And that's what's gonna allow you to leverage certain um design details or like uh manipulate characteristics of materials to get certain effects, right? And if you're just taking artwork and slapping it on a package, you're missing out on the whole um additional uh you know, sort of uh aspect that you could be, you know, implementing in your packaging to take it from, hey, here's just a bag to wow, that is an incredible product that I want to buy, right? It's it's 80% of a consumer's decision is that product packaging. Wow. So, and one of the examples that I often tell people is if I had you know a $10,000, you know, bottle of wine in a glass and I had you know some box wine, right? Well, if I can't touch, taste, or smell it, right? And I'm just looking at two glasses of wine, how do you know which is the premium product and how do you know which is not, right? But if that ten thousand dollar bottle of wine looks like that, yeah, right, and then I'm looking at box wine, that gives you an idea of product quality or form factor. Exactly, right. Now, now conversely though, if I were to flip that, right, and I put a ten thousand dollar wine in a box, right? Yeah, and you know, box wine in a beautiful bottle, yeah. What does that do for your um your perception of the quality of that product, right? It could be an absolute terrible product, but in great packaging, you're still gonna have a higher likelihood of purchasing it than an amazing product in poor packaging, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Now you've worked with some customers in Minnesota. Yeah. Is there are there any that you can uh speak to as far as examples?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. So um I do, I do I am bound by NDA analytics.
SPEAKER_02You do have some NDAs. Okay.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah, oh yeah. Our our largest accounts, they all require that.
SPEAKER_02Um okay, instead of talking brands, like talk about size of clock customers.
SPEAKER_03You can serve small customers, and I know I know we provide um the largest SSO within Minnesota. There are um a number of MSOs that are present in other states that we also provide the packaging for. I mean, we're seeing the Minnesota market really just in its infancy and start to take off, right? And so we've been priming this market for the last three years. Great. Um, you know, getting a good presence in there and it's uh paid off very well for us. Wow. So yeah, we plan to continue to do that both in this state as well as other emerging states as markets open up.
SPEAKER_02How many states are you able to provide solutions for?
SPEAKER_03I think we've sold in all fits of states. Wow. Yeah, and we actually sell internationally as well. We have customers in South America, Canada, um, Mexico, and Latin America. Uh we sold out in Hawaii, you know, we've actually sold into Europe as well. So um, I would say, you know, at this point we're pretty much an international brand.
SPEAKER_02Wow. And in general, what do folks like working with Canada Zip on the most?
Service, low minimums and one-stop support
SPEAKER_02Like what stands out as far as your brand goes?
SPEAKER_03I think a cornerstone of our business model is service, right? Um, you know, you could have the best pricing in the game, but if nobody is replying to you or, you know, you can't um, you know, bob and weave with the time requirements of the market, right? You can miss entire opportunities, right? And so that's a complete asset to our customers to be able to have good impromp service or excellent impromptu service. Um, and then also, you know, excellent product quality to pair with it and excellent lead times to really give them the tools to succeed.
SPEAKER_02So I also like that you offer low minimum order quantities.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. So initially when we started the business, there was no minimum order quantities. No minimums. Great, yeah. But we had to get a lot of business and you know, take what we could get. But now, I mean, we've we've got an incredibly strong foundation um of customers and things like that. And, you know, so we we do have some products with no minimums, which is a great tool for these small and emerging businesses to get their foot in the door and then grow. I mean, you don't really know uh from a distribution of customers, right, in new markets, it it's hard to really know right up front who's gonna be your winners and who will be your losers, right? And we do often see uh market consolidation and price compression after the market does mature. Right. Um, but yeah, so we still have low minimums across the board though, and it allows things like prototype runs or limited releases or things like that. That um if we didn't have that, right, we you know, we might not get that business.
SPEAKER_02So and you're able to offer boxes and cartons to serve the beverage industry, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, boxes and cartons drinks are uh an incredibly fast growing segment. Yeah. Um, we're really seeing that, you know, nationwide. I mean, now you see um even the hemp drive stuff, yeah, um, which is still you know uh a component of the cannabis market, right? Right. But we're seeing that being sold in Target's and Walmarts and corner stores. Um, so we're starting to see that maturing of cannabis uh and the removal of that stigma as a whole as people look at it for alcohol alternatives and things like that. But we we are positioned as a one-stop shop. So we offer bags, boxes, labels, string sleeve, containers, vape hardware, um, label application services, in-house design. Yeah. Uh so customers can really come here with just about any packaging need they have. Really? Uh, and yeah, and they'll they'll be uh you know, hitting hitting the ground running.
SPEAKER_02So
What Minnesota can learn from other markets
SPEAKER_02okay. What's had what stood out to you thus far over the last couple of years with Minnesota's cannabis market?
SPEAKER_03Um, it's a good question. I think my beef with the uh the you know, this is more of a personal gripe, but um just with emerging markets as a whole, I think every state tries to reinvent the wheel. Right, you know, and it would make too much sense, right, to look at what states that have already launched have done right, emulate that, and what states have done wrong, and don't do that, right? But uh, you know, in classic government fashion, everyone wants to, you know, create their own framework and uh gives them a job. It does, yeah, you know, but it creates um gives you a headache. It does, it does, yeah. And well, and also it disrupts, you know, a functioning market, right? I mean, I'm a big believer in uh allowing business to to do its thing, you know, with a uh a general, you know, respect. You know, obviously there are certain things you have to you know watch out for and and set regulations for, but um really the market principles, general market principles should uh in my mind, you know, really kind of guide that whole process. Yeah. Um, so with the Minnesota market specifically, I think um it's been you know pretty solid, you know, over will out. You know, I think um we'll really start to see the effects of how uh it was structured really in the next, you know, one, two, three years. Like for example, in New York, uh initially we had too many producers and not enough sales outlets, right? So then you had too much supply, not enough ways to sell the product, and a lot of those farms are struggling. Then it got flipped, right? Where it became um too much uh retail, and then but the suppliers already went under, right? So then so then it was a you know it was a very weird dynamic, but not balanced, yeah, exactly. And that's ultimately what we want to see is a balanced market um and good opportunities for you know businesses to
Balancing compliance with creative design
SPEAKER_03thrive.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02How do you balance compliance and creativity? You know, that's kind of a kind of an interesting question for your business, and one we run into quite a bit, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, I would say what we always have to be careful and mindful of is you know, these are regulated and age-gated products, right? The last thing we want to do is entice kids with misleading things and you know, making, for example, bootleg skittles or yeah, bootleg skittles, great example. Yeah, you know, it's important that this is a mature and adult product that we want to um make sure stays that way, right? And so, but we still want to uh you know have the allure of of good, you know, enticing designs and things like that. I I think a good parallel for this is like the craft beer market, right? Yeah, um, a little bit more of a mature market, um, and and still also an age-gated product, but uh there's a little bit more flexibility there, I notice, right? Sure. And cannabis, I think just being new and you know, the chance to really regulate, right, is created uh a little bit uh over overcompliant, yeah, over regulation. Yeah, yeah. Just some things are just you know, they're not necessarily needed, it's a little bit too much.
SPEAKER_02Do you dabble in craft beer packaging?
The origin of Custom Flex and CannaZip
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah. We do. Yeah. I mean, so we have uh we we have a ton of non-cannabis customers as well. Um, we have actually so Canada Zip is a DBA for Custom Flex packaging, which is our overall entity, and that is um like our non cannabis sort of uh side of the business, right? And we have Canada Zip, but there are some crossover there. Sure. Yeah, yeah. But we do we do cater to pretty much all companies.
SPEAKER_02And when did you launch Custom Flex business?
SPEAKER_03That was in Uh 2021.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. We launched in July of 2021. Uh, we were officially selling by I think December. Uh, we launched at MJ Viscon. You know, that that was a very good move for us.
SPEAKER_02Um, great years, great year to launch.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, oh, it was. It was. I mean, that was like the heydays of cannabis.
SPEAKER_02There was some money in that, there was money flowing in the market.
SPEAKER_03It was great, yeah. And you know, it's been a very challenging market uh since then. Um, you know, we've seen like a lot of consolidation in certain markets, price compression. It's been good though that new states are opening up as other markets are consolidating, so it does buffer that a little bit. So we've kind of shifted our strategy in that way to just recently.
SPEAKER_02Virginia got some good news this week, and um I pay attention and and Pennsylvania could could come could soon, and and Pennsylvania is a large state within the between the Midwest and the East Coast that people pay attention to. It's it's a large state. Yeah, existing medical programs. The um opportunity for cannabis to move to Schedule Three,
Rescheduling, 280E and federal legalization
SPEAKER_02I think that benefits both of our businesses. Yeah. And allows for additional uh costs to be uh not to be able to be written off from a tax standpoint.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the 280 is definitely, I mean, it's incredibly difficult for businesses to not be able to write off exercises. I mean, that's just it's kind of asset. Yeah, yeah. Um, I mean, these are, you know, at the state level, completely legal businesses. Right. Right.
SPEAKER_02You and I are able to write off uh expenses on like we have an advantage in that respect versus businesses that aren't, you know, plant touching.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. Yeah, they just get screwed, frankly. Um, so we do hope to see that you know that changes uh as soon as possible, just for the health of the industry as a whole. Right. Um, but as far as um I think it's a little bit of a misnomer in terms of federal deregulation, right? Or uh legality rather. Okay. Um, reason I say that is because there's there's a lot of money out there outside of cannabis, right? Sure. And a lot of people chomping at the bit to um, you know, find another market to sell into and you know become profitable in. Um, and so what I do think is kind of the elephant in the room is when you have, you know, players like alcohol and tobacco or pharmaceutical or what have you, right? Uh once, in my mind, once it becomes federally legal, right? I really think we're we're gonna see a uh dissolving of the classic culture of cannabis as larger money comes in and influences the vertical. Yeah. So we will inevitably see a changing of the space as a whole. I'm not really sure it'll be great for a lot of these smaller operators who you know are getting into the space. I mean, some will sell them, maybe they'll be profitable, but I think ultimately, you know, there's economies of scale at play that um they just frankly don't have and unfortunately will probably touch out. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Personally speaking, as a user, I start to uh consider myself more of a medical cannabinoid patient, and yeah, really how I how I consume and how I prefer to consume is on my own terms, in my own space, consistently um supplementing my endocannabinoid system with C B D, CBG, CBN. For sure. Uh I took a C B D, CBG, CBN gummy before this. Yeah. I had a I had a great for cup of espresso, and then I had a CBD, CBG gummy to give me even a little bit more pep in my step.
Ethics, reputation and supporting customers
SPEAKER_03Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02You know, I have to say thank you for supporting the Canaconnect brand and the Canaconnect after party at the at the Earl Giles.
SPEAKER_03Oh, it was a great time. We did a great job hosting that. I loved it.
SPEAKER_02David was there, Davis was there. Uh really a great group, and what we're building is a network, and yeah, and we see you as our packaging partner, and we think there's a tremendous amount of opportunity for us to support each other. Yeah, how do you reach new customers? And what's tell me a little bit about your marketing approach?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. So I would say so. Last year we won the Better Business Uh Bureau Awards for Ethics, right? I think what's unfortunately commonplace in Can in Canvas, right, is we had a lot of legacy participants, which no, they were breaking the law back in the day. I mean, yeah, yeah, I was probably part of that in some way or other, right? I'm sure a lot of people were, right? But um, as far as uh, you know, as a result, there's not as much of an adherence, let's say, to legal frameworks, right? And so there's some shady actors in the space, which makes it very challenging. Um, we try to always put our best put best foot forward in terms of good and sound business practices, ethics, standing behind what we say. Um, you know, you can't buy a reputation, right? And so it's important to let your reputation speak for you. And so if we're always trying to take care of our customers, treat their businesses as if they're our own business, yeah, right, because when they succeed, they buy more packaging and we succeed, right? And so it's a whole ecosystem and a whole feedback loop that we want to support. And so we always, always, always try to make sure that our customers are supported in that sense.
SPEAKER_02Um and you've shown up year in and year out inside the Minnesota market. And Minnesota's not the only market you've done this, but you're you're as I called you, as I told you on the phone, uh, you're willing to show up. Like oh, you have to. You know, I call I said on, I said grinder on the phone. I don't want to give the wrong like you show up professionally, your brand's here, your partner's here, your team's here, and I think you've been at this is your third Canacon, if it if not the third year that you've been in this Minnesota.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, just a Minnesota. We've done the Canacons for a long time, as well as uh, you know, we probably do 25 plus trade shows a year nationwide. Wow.
SPEAKER_02Talk about the talk about what you see at these shows and and where
The state of the cannabis industry
SPEAKER_02are we at as a as an industry right now?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I think um going back to what we were saying, you know, consolidation in some areas, price compression, growing of a market in others, right? Um there's still opportunity out there for sure that we should all be capitalizing on. There is, you know, but um it's important that good and sound business practices are a cornerstone of that. Um and you know, also taking care of the consumer, putting out quality products, right? I hope to see, you know, things continue to grow. I hope that there's a regulatory framework that's conducive to growth that isn't over-regulated or hampering on businesses. Um, ultimately, everyone wants to succeed at the end of the day, right? And I I think it's important that you know legislators and you know um realize that there's American families and businesses that are you know ultimately backing these companies, right? And so yeah, and we we need to make sure that we're creating a structure that will be conducive to that.
SPEAKER_02We really do. We need we need to come together as an industry in Minnesota and and and provide common sense recommendations to the legislature and really take some of the burden off of the licensed operators when it comes to concentrate concentrates, for example, you have to produce and provide 22 grams of concentrate before testing in order to get your concentrate approved. I mean, that that slows down folks' ability to create good dabs, and it also increases the price of those products, which then paired with taxation creates very expensive cost prohibitive products, right, which ultimately slow down Canasip and they slow down the producers as well. And it slows down the entire industry. Meanwhile, the testing lab has to figure out how they're gonna keep 22 grams of product cold inside their yeah.
SPEAKER_03It's a it's a great, great boink. You know, it's again, you know, um sorts of regulation without you know basis, right? What where where do they come up with this amount, right? You know, I know I we work with testing labs all the time. We've had our products, like our the effectiveness of our packaging tested. Oh, interesting, you know, yeah, for freshness and things like that. That matters, of course, yeah, absolutely. I mean, you don't want to put it in, you know, the wrong packaging and then have uh your product be stout or scale, exactly, right? And for consumer safety as well, right? But yes, I think um, yeah, I really wish that we would see a little bit of a rollback, you know, focus more on safety, but less on undue or burdensome regulations because ultimately that's just gonna trickle down to the consumer, affect the overall market, affect the success of businesses and thus the economy as a whole. I mean, I think we all want to see a bustling economy, right?
SPEAKER_02Um jobs are we trying to build? Uh compliance officers or entrepreneurs?
SPEAKER_03Right, exactly. And I mean ultimate, ultimately entrepreneurs are the backbone. You know, small business is the backbone of America, right? And so um let's make it easy for them.
SPEAKER_02Right, absolutely. Well, I look forward to making it easy for our collective network to find your business and attend Canaconnect events. Yeah. I look forward to developing more Canaconnect products. Yep. We're
Plant medicine and the future of wellness
SPEAKER_02really interested in the high milligram gummy space with the full spectrum of cannabinoids and and leaning into wellness products because we think as descheduling continues to make its way through Washington and Virginia, that there are going to be more and more folks looking for wellness-based products.
SPEAKER_03I'm actually glad you mentioned that. Yeah, yeah. Because I think there's so many medicinal benefits to the plant. I mean, granted, obviously there's a whole other aspect of it as well. Yeah. And I think that will eventually wait. I mean, it's it's kind of like the shiny coin effect, right? You know, max dose, max dose. And that's ultimately sure, that's great, you know, and it's fun. Right. Right. But there's so much more to it, I think, functionally, that uh I hope to see grow in this space. Yeah. You know, like you said, the CBM, CBG, um, C B D, right? I mean, I use C B D creams all the time, you know, they're great for anxiety, depression, healing, right? You know, even just like on a cellular level.
SPEAKER_02And and microdose, microdoses of psilocybin as well. That's coming along in Minnesota.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, a lot of research on that for uh helping mental health. We can within, you know, um within you know certain constraints, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean you're seeing you're seeing you're seeing plant medicine being approved at the highest level in in in America, and that's you know, that's not products that Canasip is packaging, but like Iboga.
SPEAKER_03Well, I mean we do. We have customers in that space.
SPEAKER_02But Ibogaine, Ibogaine and very familiar, yeah. Okay, and so like to me, 10 milligrams, five milligrams, like if we start looking at that as more like a microdose, do a microdose, yeah, and not calling it hemp. Right. Right, because I think that term is relatively confusing. I don't think it's uh accepted nationwide, state by state. There's some hemp products that really uh compete in the in the regulated space, and that's a problem because these licenses are expensive.
SPEAKER_00For sure.
SPEAKER_02However, if we could find a beverage carve out and if we could create some low dose gummies and things like that and look at milligrams more on a spectrum. Yep. And then psilocybin is on the way, and Minnesota is is moving more with uh regulation there and and and science-based and studying. So I really think plant medicine is still on its way, and I hope that our administration can continue to create access so that CBD products, full spectrum products like that are more and more a part of the mainstream.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. I I'm a big believer in holistic medicine and healing, super big believer in that. Um, it's important to harmonize with your body, not pound symptoms, right? I mean, you're never really fixing the true root cause, right? Right. Um, you know, it's uh it's like putting fix a flat in your tire. Right. Sure. You know, you're not fixing the hole, but you're just getting the tire you run, right? Uh, and so, you know, plant healing and plant medicines are that holist those holistic building blocks that will synergize with your body's, you know, cellular functionality, right? And you know, hopefully heal you, right? And there's a lot of money in the alternative, right? And I think that's part of the problem. Sure, yeah. I do hope to see you know more of the holistic healing and synergizing, you know, and uh, you know, really take more note in uh society.
SPEAKER_02So
CannaZip’s message to Minnesota
SPEAKER_02and if there's one thing you'd like the Minnesota cannabis market to know about canis at packaging, like yeah, what would be your message, Davis?
SPEAKER_03Um, you know, I would say that we're here to support you. We're really here to make sure that you have the tools to succeed. Uh, we take more of a consultative approach when it comes to packaging, right? So uh what is your end goal? What's gonna be the path of least resistance to get you there in a way that's not gonna break your budget or cause, you know, undue burden on you? And so um ultimately, like we were saying earlier, uh your success is our success, right? And so if we don't do everything in our power to make sure that happens, yeah, what good are we really doing to help you, right? Um, we're not here to suck off of our customers or a siphon off of them, rather. You know, we're we're here to uh synergize and amplify, yes, right, so that they can become you know major players and key players in their markets.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_03Um, and they're ultimately achieve, you know, their dreams, right? And that's what we want to be a part of.
SPEAKER_02Yes. So absolutely. Yeah. Meet the market where it's at. If folks want to reach out to CannaZip, what's the best way to get in touch?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so they can visit us at www.canazip.com, cannazipags.com, they'll all go to the same place. Um, they can reach us by phone at 716-400-7005, or by email at orders, plural orders at canasipbags.com.
SPEAKER_02Great. And we'll include uh some more information in the show notes today.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and before we wrap up, Stephen, I want to say you've done a great job of Canna Connect. I really uh appreciate how you know you're trying to tie in the whole industry from a networking standpoint, really ensuring that overall uh community, right? Which ultimately we all have to work together to you know make this a bustling industry, right? And um, you know, having good players like yourself and uh good initiatives like that is is really foundational to it. So you've done a great job.
SPEAKER_02Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate you.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER_02We'll see you next time on the Canon Connect show.
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