or a distillation license, and they monitor for
cross-contamination, separation of storage
materials and abide by strict standard oper-
ating procedures.
“This will place an undue burden on the
industry,” says Nicholson. “Canada has
world-class food allergen-control proce-
dures, and food and beverage manufactures
have operated under that process plan for
many years with no consequences. To layer
on a level of difficulty for manufacturers
would prohibit smaller players from being
competitive in that space. By layering on the
cost, these players will have trouble being
competitive, which drives consumers to
underground markets.”
Come October, consumer demand will be
high—according to a 2018 report by Deloitte,
31 per cent of potential consumers are inter-
ested in trying cannabis beverages, and a
positive experience is vital for retaining this
market. “Consumer experience is key,” says
Nicholson. “The experience consumers have
starts on the shelves and goes to consuming
the product. That’s why we are so concerned
about drawing consumers to the repeatable,
stable products you can depend on from a
legal beverage producer.”
Establishing guidelines will be an ongoing
basis. “We hope to mirror how alcohol came
from prohibition to legalization with history
of safe adoption as the guideposts; but in a
much more reduced timeframe,” says Nich-
olson.
JUNE 2019 | BUSINESS ELITE CANADA 7
