Tony Giorgi, CEO of Canada-based Sensi Manufacturers Inc., discusses the corporate’s progress and techniques in an interview with Eugenio Garcia, founder and CEO of Hashish Now. Launched in January of 2020, Sensi Manufacturers has achieved important success with modern merchandise like multi-pack and infused pre-rolls, resulting in a big market penetration in Canada. The corporate operates 5 distribution paths, together with wholesale distribution, CPG manufacturers distribution, medical hashish clinic, nationwide medical hashish market, and a retail farm gate retailer. Regardless of market challenges, Sensi Manufacturers lately acquired a state-of-the-art facility able to producing 110,000 kilos yearly, aiming for world enlargement, notably within the U.S., EU and AUS markets.
As we kick off 2026, Giorgi gives enterprise recommendation to fellow entrepreneurs and delves into the Sensi Manufacturers work tradition, together with the corporate’s large targets for the longer term.
Eugenio Garcia: To start out, inform us about your background as an entrepreneur.
Tony Giorgi: I’ve earned a little bit of a popularity right here in Canada for being a serial startup specialist, taking corporations actually from ideation to full manufacturing and business operations. I’ve constructed six corporations over the past 30 years. The primary 4 have been in know-how. The most important transaction was an organization known as Q9 Networks, the place we constructed extremely safe and system-redundant information facilities housing the computing infrastructure and information for the likes of banks and authorities, supporting their mission-critical information functions. That firm bought to Bell Canada in 2012 for $1.2 billion.
Publish that, I co-founded a digital transformation firm known as K2 Digital focusing on the monetary providers vertical. I obtained launched to the senior management staff of MedReleaf. MedReleaf was one among Canada’s first medical hashish corporations…I had met them in 2015, and by 2016 the grasp grower had resigned his function and we began up what grew to become the Flowr Company out of Kelowna, BC.
And so, the Flwr Company was my first foray into hashish. We constructed the most important indoor facility within the nation. It rapidly grew to become famend for being one of many best-quality services within the nation. I took the corporate public in September of 2018 and at that time I stepped right down to go deal with constructing what now’s right this moment often known as Sensi Manufacturers.
EG: And what’s been your strategy to constructing Sensi Manufacturers?
TG: Sensi Manufacturers began off in 2020. We took a really distinctive strategy to the market as a result of, when you recall, everyone that obtained into the hashish trade—whether or not it was south of the border or whether or not it was in Canada—everyone took the strategy of eager to turn into the most important cultivator or the most important extractor. The instance that we all the time give is that we’d be sitting right here in our workplaces, and the following licensed producer would go on LinkedIn and say, “Woo hoo. We simply obtained our license, and we’re launching a soccer mother model.” And we went to take a look at what a soccer mother model is, they usually have been underpinning it with a 22% indica pressure that might put a soccer mother by the soccer car parking zone. There’s a complete evolution and technique and course of to creating a model. And sadly, within the hashish trade, all the course of was utterly orphaned. Individuals have been simply making stuff up, and their manufacturers have been failing. There have been no actual manufacturers that have been gaining market share, or any kind of loyalty to the model due to the poor execution of these manufacturers.
So we launched Station Home, our first model. We pioneered the primary multi-pack pre-roll in Canada that was supplied in 6, 12, 18 and 24 pack configurations. After we launched, no person on the time was doing multi-packs. In actual fact, the vast majority of licensed producers have been utilizing undesirable product or oversupply for the needs of placing up KPI numbers for yields, which might then inevitably be both destroyed, burnt or can be milled and used for pre-rolls.
EG: What’s it that makes these pre-rolls so compelling for shoppers?
TG: We took a really severe strategy to pre-rolls, perfecting how you can make them. Not one of the automation tools, even to today, scales appropriately to be cost-effective on making pre-rolls. We’ve examined a overwhelming majority of the pre-roll automation know-how and realized that we would have liked to give you our personal automation course of. We imagine we make the very best pre-rolls right this moment. However not solely that, we use the very best paper. We solely use single-strain complete flower. We don’t mix heaps. We don’t use trim or some other waste materials. It’s all high-quality, single-strain flower that we then mill to a number of specs in order that we all know that the granular mill inputs match a lot tighter collectively, which provides us a greater burn. And on high of all that, every little thing is high quality assured and hand-finished by our workers. You’re getting the highest quality burning pre-roll underpinned with the highest quality hashish enter. With that technique and launching it right into a multi-pack, we in a short time grew to become the primary multi-pack participant within the nation.
EG: Nicely, you appear like a person who needs to be smiling, and in addition a person who’s been working actually exhausting at one thing actually particular, with a crackerjack staff. Earlier than you have been a serial entrepreneur, the place did you get your basis for enterprise? Did it come naturally? Did you will have a mentor? Was it education?
TG: Truthfully, my household. I might say that my enterprise acumen is all grassroots road smarts, negotiation. I’ve been working since I used to be 13 years outdated—obtained my first paper route at 10, you already know, I did the entire McDonald’s and Burger King and quick meals, nevertheless it was simply all the time hustling, all the time negotiating.
I’m a salesman at coronary heart. So after I began constructing my first firm, it was actually by a sales-driven lens. After which, after all, over the past 30 years, I’ve been capable of actually sharpen my abilities by way of enterprise acumen and studying how you can run a really efficient enterprise.
EG: Is there a secret sauce to all of it?
TG: Look, we’re immigrants—we like to work. We don’t know something completely different. And so we work exhausting, lengthy days. On the finish of the day, it’s simply studying these talent units and how you can run a enterprise over time. There are three pillars that I might extremely encourage any enterprise individual throughout any enterprise and trade to deal with. All of it comes down to a few issues: Innovate. Just be sure you’ve obtained the very best merchandise that you just’re proud to face behind, that might be extremely desired. Automate. Just be sure you automate the shit out of every little thing, so that you just cut back your price buildings as little as you probably can, and outshine everyone. And lastly, you execute. I’ve form of lived by these three pillars, and that’s form of what’s made Sensi Manufacturers, in my view, probably the greatest standing hashish corporations in Canada right this moment.
EG: You’ve talked concerning the lengthy days it takes to construct an organization at this scale—what sort of tradition have you ever constructed at Sensi Manufacturers, and the way do you retain your staff energized and invested?
TG: We’ve constructed an unimaginable tradition—tradition’s every little thing. This whole firm is made up of household and pals. The idea was, “How cool would it not be if I might construct an organization that attracted folks that I genuinely like spending time with o that after I stroll into the workplace daily I get a giant smile on my face as a result of I’m working with the folks that I genuinely love, that genuinely make me giggle, and are enjoying on the high of their recreation of their respective self-discipline. The corporate is made up of trusted people who find themselves enjoying on the high of their recreation and are close to and pricey to me.
EG: Love that. What are you smoking on there? And the way necessary is it so that you can really perceive the product that you just’re producing? As a result of, fairly frankly, lots of people in your place, and it’s not a adverse, however they don’t perceive the product, they usually don’t eat the product.
TG: Oh, my God, I like the query. What a terrific query. I’m a giant, large believer that it’s good to eat your individual pet food. Years in the past, I used to be an experimental weed smoker. Once I launched the Flwr Company, I went all in. So I’m a licensed hashish sommelier—I’ve obtained my degree one and degree two sommelier certification. Immediately, I eat each day—wherever from 4 to eight joints a day. I intimately perceive what the product does, and fairly frankly, I don’t understand how any CEO may very well be efficient in any trade in the event that they’re not consuming and understanding and experimenting with their very own product. Our total senior management staff is licensed as hashish sommeliers. We’re all energetic shoppers. All of us eat our personal pet food.
And to reply your query, I’m religiously loyal to Amnesia Haze, Ghost Prepare Haze—it’s my favourite pressure. I solely smoke sativas. I discover by my expertise in smoking that indica’s to me are very medical targeted and really sedative experiences the place a sativa that I’m having proper now I can operate and it really evokes me and offers me power. I’m all in to creating positive that I perceive our product as effectively or as higher, than some other CEO within the trade, which I believe provides us a aggressive benefit, as a result of I’m the one main our discussions within the R&D room, and we’re innovating issues as a result of I do know precisely what the product’s going to do. We at present distribute have 365+ SKUS throughout Canada, and I’ve formulated each single product, from our pre-rolls and the way we infuse them and the way we coat them, to all of the formulations for all of our vapes, to being personally answerable for launching one of many world’s first THC oral pouch. All of that I’ve finished alone, and I might not have been capable of do any of that with out being a client and a sommelier and anyone who’s skilled with the product.
EG: I do know that Canada has very severe restrictions on packaging, on promoting. How have you ever guys transcended that impediment and successfully marketed your merchandise to have the success that you just’ve had in retail?
TG: I believe it comes right down to, once more, innovating merchandise that resonate with shoppers. By way of advertising, we’re very restricted by HealthCanada Laws, so we are inclined to lean on the standard of product. We’ve additionally finished an unimaginable job in all of our commerce advertising supplies, digital promotions, in addition to executing on the main commerce conferences.
EG: You talked about the huge export enterprise you will have with Australia. How large is the worldwide potential and focus for you guys?
TG: So, couple issues: One, we’ve got been working with a tolling accomplice over the previous couple of years, and been distributing and promoting product into Australia. Now that we’ve got our personal EU GMP (European Union Good Manufacturing Follow) license, we at the moment are capable of promote immediately into worldwide markers. We lately signed a $5 million deal right this moment for product going into Germany. The EU markets are sizable with enlargement into UK, Poland, Spain with France across the nook. The EU market is very large, and we expect with the standard of our provide, we should always be capable to promote effectively into these markets.
We’re trying to enter the US market. I don’t wish to say an excessive amount of extra on that, as a result of I wish to get additional down into the method earlier than we expose. However we’re positively focusing on the US, coming into with our manufacturers Station Home and Potluck.
Eugenio Garcia: Within the subsequent three to 5 years, the place do you see Sensi Manufacturers touchdown—and the way do you view the broader world hashish panorama: accelerating alternative or continued pushback?
TG: The place we’re going to be is difficult to inform. However the purpose is that we’re going to be one of many previous couple of standing. I believe we constructed up an unimaginable firm. Our pipeline of latest merchandise is in depth, and we’re excited for a few of the new merchandise that we’re launching. I believe the partitions are going to come back right down to the US. It appears to be like like Mr. Trump intimated that he’s beginning to take away these limitations. And I believe as soon as the US opens, it’s going to create an enormous alternative for all the hashish trade as complete to which I hope that Sensi Manufacturers and our manufacturers will take part in, so enormous expectations with the US alternative and similar goes for the European markets and worldwide markets.
Sooner or later, I believe there’s going to be loads of consolidation. It’s already taking place…We hope to be one of many corporations that has a significant market share and acknowledged as a world and trusted model of hashish merchandise.
Our dream and purpose is to have the ability to stroll right into a German dispensary or an Australian dispensary, or a Spain dispensary and see Potluck and Station Home merchandise out there on the market and being promoted in these markets specifically.
