CANNAINVESTOR Magazine U.S. Privately Held September 2018 | Page 38

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Consumers are in Charge, NOT Growers

And then there is the issue of taste. Once again, early adopters and mass markets have very different ideas about taste. Pot aficionados will argue that they adore the taste and bouquet of cannabis and that is part of the experience of eating cannabis products. Good for you and, yes, your demand will be met and it should be! But most people who will use cannabis in the next decade will not use it daily. They will use it within social settings as the do now with a glass of wine or a bottle of beer from time to time and when they do, most of them will demand a product where most of the pungent strong flavours are masked or removed.

There is a huge difference in the strategies of companies currently serving the edibles markets in the state-legal environments in the U.S. and the still theoretical edibles market in Canada. Some members of the cannabis community have already declared their intention to produce cannabis edibles product that taste like cannabis – they will not produce fruity-tasting lemonades and so on. That works for that segment of the market who want to experience the “unwashed feet” flavour of weed!

WHEN GIVEN THE CHOICE, most consumers tend to prefer beer to cognac; burgers to pate’; and so on. And since consumer choice is what this is all about, other companies in other industries have long ago learned that when a consumer wants a chardonnay it is no use trying to sell them a pino grigio. With this in mind, Lexaria’s technology that removes the strong flavours of cannabinoids and terpenes without altering the original underlying flavours in a food or beverage actually allow consumers to enjoy the pilsner beer they enjoy (dealcoholized to comply with most regulations) with the effect of cannabis but not the flavour of weed.