Workers sort plants at an orchid-growing operation at Bevo Farms in Leduc, Alta. on Tuesday, October 10, 2023.
When Miguel Martin first visited Bevo Agtech Inc.’s Langley, B.C., greenhouse, he saw potential bursting from every corner.
Hundreds of trays of tomato seedlings stretched away under the glow of LED lights. Baskets of blossoming flowers hung from the rafters. And the company was convinced it already had its next big product line: orchids.
Martin is CEO of Aurora Cannabis Inc. and may have seemed like an unlikely buyer for Bevo, an agriculture stalwart still run by the Dutch family that founded it in 1986. But it was a good match: the Edmonton-based pot giant already had the hulking, temperature-controlled greenhouses Bevo needed to expand, while for Aurora, Bevo’s stability would provide some reprieve from the volatile weed industry.
“It’s a company that makes money. It’s a company that’s growing,” Martin saidin a September interview, a year after Aurora bought a 50.1 per cent stake in Bevo for $45 million.
“It’s a company that’s not broken. It doesn’t need us to do everything for them.”
In the cannabis world, where facility closures, layoffs and multimillion-dollar writedowns have become the norm, “growing” and “not broken” are crucial elements for survival.
Over the five years since cannabis was legalized in Canada, pot companies have been constrained by the strength of the illicit market, packaging and tax rules they see as too restrictive and U.S. regulators that have been slow to make national changes.
As the industry continues its slow crawl toward profitability, many are now heavily focusing on other parts of their companies to protect themselves from further upheaval.
For example, Village Farms International Inc., the Vancouver-based owner of cannabis companies Pure Sunfarms, Leli Holland and ROSE LifeScience, has a subsidiary growing tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.
SNDL Inc., the Calgary-based firm behind the pot shops Value Buds, Spiritleaf and Superette, owns hundreds of liquor stores across Western Canada.
“A lot of cannabis companies have evolved and are different than maybe what they were before,” said Martin.
That’s certainly true at Tilray Brands Inc., a Leamington, Ont.-based company whose chief executive, Irwin Simon, joked, “I have four children — beer, cannabis, medical cannabis, Manitoba Harvest — and love them all equally.”
Tilray began as a pure-play cannabis firm, but shortly after legalization it dropped $277.5 million on Manitoba Harvest, a purveyor of hemp-based foods, oils, and supplements with a history dating back to 1998.
As its buying spree continued, alcohol became Tilray’s new focus.
It first obtained exposure to beer through its merger with cannabis company Aphria Inc. in 2021. Aphria had paid US$300 million in 2020 for SweetWater Brewing Co., an Atlanta brewer best known for its “420” beer that smells like weed but contains no pot.
Then, Tilray bought Colorado-based whiskey and spirits producer Breckenridge Distillery as well as California’s Green Flash Brewing Co. and Alpine Beer Co. in 2021, followed by New York’s Montauk Brewing Co. in 2022.
And it wasn’t finished. Over the summer, Tilray announced a deal with Anheuser-Busch Cos. that would see its beverage portfolio gain eight more brands — Shock Top, Breckenridge Brewery, Blue Point Brewing Co., 10 Barrel Brewing Co., Redhook Brewery, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Square Mile Cider Co., and HiBall Energy.
“Most of these eight brands were declining somewhat and we are glutton for punishment. We like a challenge,” said Simon. “We felt, ‘Hey, we can turn these around.’”
The deal put Tilray on track to become the fifth-largest craft beer operation in the United States and gave the company a sizable share of a multi-billion-dollar industry Simon said has “got a little stale.”
He’s confident Tilray can “make craft beer cool again,” but admits part of the reason why the company is even interested in the task is because other markets that were expected to welcome cannabis haven’t done so.
“The reason we’re diversifying, ultimately, is … the U.S. markets and the European markets,” said Simon.
“We don’t see legalization from a recreational (standpoint) happening in the U.S. any time soon.”
Canadian cannabis companies were hopeful the U.S. would move forward with national legalization after President Joe Biden revealed he would review the status of pot as a Schedule 1 substance in 2022.
Schedule 1 controlled substances are considered to have a high risk of abuse and no accepted medical use. The group includes harder drugs such as heroin and LSD.
While the U.S. has moved toward easing federal financing restrictions for pot companies, national legalization is not on the immediate horizon, leaving Canadian companies that had poured cash into American weed prospects to look elsewhere for opportunities.
But Peter Simeon, co-leader of law firm Gowling WLG’s cannabis division, warned diversification doesn’t always work out.
“Look at BioSteel and Canopy. That’s a failure,” he said, referencing Canopy Growth Corp.’s foray into the sports drink business, which recently wound up with BioSteel Sports Nutrition Inc. filing for creditor protection and in debt to teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, even after Canopy advanced $366 million to keep the firm going.
“To go to other industries can be challenging, I think,” said Simeon.
Yet executives like Aurora’s Martin are willing to take the risk.
When Aurora bought its stake in Bevo, its 800,000 square foot, high-technology greenhouse Aurora Sky was slated for closure. Instead, Bevo moved in, delivering big savings.
“To have a facility that could keep an orchid at that exact humidity and temperature (needed) would have been wildly expensive,” said Martin.
“If you wanted to build it from ground up, it probably wouldn’t have made a lot of sense.”
The facility near Edmonton International Airport, which previously grew weed destined for flower, pre-rolls, oils and edibles, could handle an orchid’s 18-month growing cycle. Its close proximity to the U.S. border allowed the company access to a new market.
These buyers would have typically been served by growers in Southeast Asia, from where the bulk of North American orchids are shipped on ocean freighters, revitalized and then sent out to stores.
The delivery process from western Canada was far quicker when Bevo made its first sale of orchids a few weeks ago, and Martin is hopeful that will continue as successive rounds of the delicate flowers reach maturation.
Though he’s pleased with how Bevo has progressed, he insists Aurora’s core focus hasn’t shifted.
“We are first and foremost a Canadian-based medical cannabis company. That’s the vast majority of our profitability,” he said.
“It’s the vast majority of our revenue. It’s what we spend the most amount of time on.”
Most job search advice is cookie-cutter. The advice you’re following is almost certainly the same advice other job seekers follow, making you just another candidate following the same script.
In today’s hyper-competitive job market, standing out is critical, a challenge most job seekers struggle with. Instead of relying on generic questions recommended by self-proclaimed career coaches, which often lead to a forgettable interview, ask unique, thought-provoking questions that’ll spark engaging conversations and leave a lasting impression.
Your level of interest in the company and the role.
Contributing to your employer’s success is essential.
You desire a cultural fit.
Here are the top four questions experts recommend candidates ask; hence, they’ve become cliché questions you should avoid asking:
“What are the key responsibilities of this position?”
Most likely, the job description answers this question. Therefore, asking this question indicates you didn’t read the job description. If you require clarification, ask, “How many outbound calls will I be required to make daily?” “What will be my monthly revenue target?”
“What does a typical day look like?”
Although it’s important to understand day-to-day expectations, this question tends to elicit vague responses and rarely leads to a deeper conversation. Don’t focus on what your day will look like; instead, focus on being clear on the results you need to deliver. Nobody I know has ever been fired for not following a “typical day.” However, I know several people who were fired for failing to meet expectations. Before accepting a job offer, ensure you’re capable of meeting the employer’s expectations.
“How would you describe the company culture?”
Asking this question screams, “I read somewhere to ask this question.” There are much better ways to research a company’s culture, such as speaking to current and former employees, reading online reviews and news articles. Furthermore, since your interviewer works for the company, they’re presumably comfortable with the culture. Do you expect your interviewer to give you the brutal truth? “Be careful of Craig; get on his bad side, and he’ll make your life miserable.” “Bob is close to retirement. I give him lots of slack, which the rest of the team needs to pick up.”
Truism: No matter how much due diligence you do, only when you start working for the employer will you experience and, therefore, know their culture firsthand.
“What opportunities are there for professional development?”
When asked this question, I immediately think the candidate cares more about gaining than contributing, a showstopper. Managing your career is your responsibility, not your employer’s.
Cliché questions don’t impress hiring managers, nor will they differentiate you from your competition. To transform your interaction with your interviewer from a Q&A session into a dynamic discussion, ask unique, insightful questions.
Here are my four go-to questions—I have many more—to accomplish this:
“Describe your management style. How will you manage me?”
This question gives your interviewer the opportunity to talk about themselves, which we all love doing. As well, being in sync with my boss is extremely important to me. The management style of who’ll be my boss is a determining factor in whether or not I’ll accept the job.
“What is the one thing I should never do that’ll piss you off and possibly damage our working relationship beyond repair?”
This question also allows me to determine whether I and my to-be boss would be in sync. Sometimes I ask, “What are your pet peeves?”
“When I join the team, what would be the most important contribution you’d want to see from me in the first six months?”
Setting myself up for failure is the last thing I want. As I mentioned, focus on the results you need to produce and timelines. How realistic are the expectations? It’s never about the question; it’s about what you want to know. It’s important to know whether you’ll be able to meet or even exceed your new boss’s expectations.
“If I wanted to sell you on an idea or suggestion, what do you need to know?”
Years ago, a candidate asked me this question. I was impressed he wasn’t looking just to put in time; he was looking for how he could be a contributing employee. Every time I ask this question, it leads to an in-depth discussion.
Other questions I’ve asked:
“What keeps you up at night?”
“If you were to leave this company, who would follow?”
“How do you handle an employee making a mistake?”
“If you were to give a Ted Talk, what topic would you talk about?”
“What are three highly valued skills at [company] that I should master to advance?”
“What are the informal expectations of the role?”
“What is one misconception people have about you [or the company]?”
Your questions reveal a great deal about your motivations, drive to make a meaningful impact on the business, and a chance to morph the questioning into a conversation. Cliché questions don’t lead to meaningful discussions, whereas unique, thought-provoking questions do and, in turn, make you memorable.
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.
CALGARY – Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. reported a third-quarter profit of $2.27 billion, down from $2.34 billion in the same quarter last year.
The company says the profit amounted to $1.06 per diluted share for the quarter that ended Sept. 30 compared with $1.06 per diluted share a year earlier.
Product sales totalled $10.40 billion, down from $11.76 billion in the same quarter last year.
Daily production for the quarter averaged 1,363,086 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 1,393,614 a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, Canadian Natural says it earned 97 cents per diluted share for the quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $1.30 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 90 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.
CALGARY – Cenovus Energy Inc. reported its third-quarter profit fell compared with a year as its revenue edged lower.
The company says it earned $820 million or 42 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down from $1.86 billion or 97 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $14.25 billion, down from $14.58 billion in the same quarter last year.
Total upstream production in the quarter amounted to 771,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 797,000 a year earlier.
Total downstream throughput was 642,900 barrels per day compared with 664,300 in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Cenovus says its funds flow amounted to $1.05 per diluted share in its latest quarter, down from adjusted funds flow of $1.81 per diluted share a year earlier.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.
