Tony Giorgi, CEO of Canada-based Sensi Manufacturers Inc., discusses the corporate’s development and methods in an interview with Eugenio Garcia, founder and CEO of Hashish Now. Launched in January of 2020, Sensi Manufacturers has achieved vital success with progressive 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 international 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 objectives 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 firms actually from ideation to full manufacturing and industrial operations. I’ve constructed six firms over the past 30 years. The primary 4 had 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 purposes. That firm offered 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 group of MedReleaf. MedReleaf was one among Canada’s first medical hashish firms…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 amenities within the nation. I took the corporate public in September of 2018 and at that time I stepped right down to go concentrate on constructing what now could be right now often known as Sensi Manufacturers.
EG: And what’s been your method to constructing Sensi Manufacturers?
TG: Sensi Manufacturers began off in 2020. We took a really distinctive method to the market as a result of, if you happen to recall, all people that obtained into the hashish business—whether or not it was south of the border or whether or not it was in Canada—all people took the method of desirous to turn into the most important cultivator or the most important extractor. The instance that we at all times give is that we’d be sitting right here in our places of work, and the subsequent 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 have a look at what a soccer mother model is, and so they had been underpinning it with a 22% indica pressure that may put a soccer mother by means of the soccer car parking zone. There’s a complete evolution and technique and course of to creating a model. And sadly, within the hashish business, the complete course of was utterly orphaned. Individuals had been simply making stuff up, and their manufacturers had been failing. There have been no actual manufacturers that had 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 provided in 6, 12, 18 and 24 pack configurations. Once we launched, no one on the time was doing multi-packs. Actually, the vast majority of licensed producers had 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 could be milled and used for pre-rolls.
EG: What’s it that makes these pre-rolls so compelling for customers?
TG: We took a really critical method to pre-rolls, perfecting methods to 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 provide you with our personal automation course of. We imagine we make one of the best pre-rolls right now. However not solely that, we use one of the best paper. We solely use single-strain entire 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 supplies us a greater burn. And on prime of all that, all the things is high quality assured and hand-finished by our staff. 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: Effectively, you appear to be a person who needs to be smiling, and likewise a person who’s been working actually arduous at one thing actually particular, with a crackerjack group. Earlier than you had been a serial entrepreneur, the place did you get your basis for enterprise? Did it come naturally? Did you could have a mentor? Was it education?
TG: Truthfully, my household. I’d 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 understand, I did the entire McDonald’s and Burger King and quick meals, but it surely was simply at all times hustling, at all times negotiating.
I’m a salesman at coronary heart. So after I began constructing my first firm, it was actually by means of a sales-driven lens. After which, in fact, over the past 30 years, I’ve been capable of actually sharpen my expertise by way of enterprise acumen and studying methods to 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 arduous, lengthy days. On the finish of the day, it’s simply studying these talent units and methods to run a enterprise over time. There are three pillars that I’d extremely encourage any enterprise particular person throughout any enterprise and business to concentrate on. All of it comes down to a few issues: Innovate. Just be sure you’ve obtained one of the best merchandise that you simply’re proud to face behind, that will likely be extremely desired. Automate. Just be sure you automate the shit out of all the things, so that you simply cut back your price buildings as little as you probably can, and outshine all people. And lastly, you execute. I’ve form of lived by these three pillars, and that’s form of what’s made Sensi Manufacturers, for my part, probably the greatest standing hashish firms in Canada right now.
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 group energized and invested?
TG: We’ve constructed an unimaginable tradition—tradition’s all the things. This whole firm is made up of household and pals. The idea was, “How cool wouldn’t it be if I may construct an organization that attracted people who I genuinely like spending time with o that after I stroll into the workplace every single day I get a giant smile on my face as a result of I’m working with the people who I genuinely love, that genuinely make me snort, and are enjoying on the prime of their recreation of their respective self-discipline. The corporate is made up of trusted people who find themselves enjoying on the prime of their recreation and are close to and pricey to me.
EG: Love that. What are you smoking on there? And the way vital is it so that you can really perceive the product that you simply’re producing? As a result of, fairly frankly, lots of people in your place, and it’s not a unfavourable, however they don’t perceive the product, and so they don’t eat the product.
TG: Oh, my God, I like the query. What an excellent query. I’m a giant, large believer that you should eat your personal 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—anyplace from 4 to eight joints a day. I intimately perceive what the product does, and fairly frankly, I don’t understand how any CEO might be efficient in any business in the event that they’re not consuming and understanding and experimenting with their very own product. Our total senior management group is licensed as hashish sommeliers. We’re all lively customers. 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 means of 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 conjures up me and offers me power. I’m all in to creating certain that I perceive our product as properly or as higher, than some other CEO within the business, which I believe offers 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 accountable for launching one of many world’s first THC oral pouch. All of that I’ve completed alone, and I’d not have been capable of do any of that with out being a client and a sommelier and any individual who’s skilled with the product.
EG: I do know that Canada has very critical restrictions on packaging, on promoting. How have you ever guys transcended that impediment and successfully marketed your merchandise to have the success that you simply’ve had in retail?
TG: I believe it comes right down to, once more, innovating merchandise that resonate with customers. When it comes to advertising, we’re very restricted by HealthCanada Rules, so we are likely to lean on the standard of product. We’ve additionally completed 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 large export enterprise you could have with Australia. How large is the worldwide potential and focus for you guys?
TG: So, couple issues: One, now we have been working with a tolling companion over the previous couple of years, and been distributing and promoting product into Australia. Now that now we have our personal EU GMP (European Union Good Manufacturing Follow) license, we at the moment are capable of promote instantly into worldwide markers. We lately signed a $5 million deal right now 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 huge, and we expect with the standard of our provide, we must always be capable of promote properly into these markets.
We’re seeking 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 disclose. 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 international hashish panorama: accelerating alternative or continued pushback?
TG: The place we’re going to be is difficult to inform. However the aim is that we’re going to be one of many previous few standing. I believe we constructed up an unimaginable firm. Our pipeline of latest merchandise is intensive, and we’re excited for a few of the new merchandise that we’re launching. I believe the partitions are going to return right down to the US. It appears 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 a large alternative for the complete hashish business as entire to which I hope that Sensi Manufacturers and our manufacturers will take part in, so big 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 firms that has a significant market share and acknowledged as a worldwide and trusted model of hashish merchandise.
Our dream and aim 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 accessible on the market and being promoted in these markets specifically.
