Marc LeHouillier and his cannabis journey from budtender to BOAZ Craft Cannabis Cultivator

Last week we had the opportunity to tour the BOAZ Cultivator and sit down to talk to Marc LeHouillier, Head of Marketing and Sales at BOAZ Craft Cannabis in Calgary, Alberta.

Marc’s cannabis journey began as a budtender in the cannabis retail space before transitioning over to the BOAZ cultivation team.

Since the BOAZ team is so small, operating at less than 35 employees, Marc, like his coworkers wears many hats in the organization to help things run smoothly.

David Isaak - CEO of BOAZ
photo creds: CBC

The BOAZ Craft Cannabis way

Marc explained to us how much the BOAZ team values old-school growing methods by taking the grassroots approach when looking after their cannabis plants. Whether it is drying the plants, cloning, watering, trimming, curing, or packaging, everything is done by hand at BOAZ. Marc expressed how valuable the human touch is to nurturing a cannabis plant. Going in the grow and handling the plants every day allows for the BOAZ team to keep a close watch on how they can best serve the plants so they can grow in their set environment. Marc says you have to work with the plant in such a way that it wants to thrive.

What are the most significant marketing challenges you face?

What stood out to Marc as one of the biggest marketing challenges he experiences is having to work around regulations. We were not surprised by this answer as regulations tend to be the common number one challenge for those working in the cannabis industry. Marc gave us some insight on the regulation challenges he endures around packaging. For example, if the box that holds your product is not the correct size and doesn’t fit on the shelf, it cannot be used. Marc also talked about the visual design limitations on packaging such as the colors and logo sizing. These regulations make it difficult to stand out as a cultivator in a competitive market.

What do love most about the cannabis community?

What Marc loves most about the cannabis community is the passion the industry possesses for the plant. He believes cannabis is more than just a commodity and the passion and grassroots approach will be what takes cannabis to the next level to understand the capabilities of the plant. He believes the industry is still very much in its infancy stage but the future of cannabis is bright.

Not only did we learn a lot about what it takes to operate a cultivator, the marketing challenges cultivators to face, and get reminded why being a part of the cannabis community is so great, but it was also nice to meet the faces of the people producing such great products. We can’t wait to see what happens next for the BOAZ team and where they will take their product next.