Ben Kaplan: Your award was chosen by Canada's budtenders from around the country. What does that mean to you and what role do the budtenders play in our industry?
Alex Rumi: To be chosen for a kind award by the Canadian budtender community is one of the highest honours we can imagine. Budtenders are the gatekeepers for quality weed and concentrates and their knowledge and influence is at the core of what makes this community great.
Tyler Rumi: From day one we set out to create great weed for great people and to see that resonating is the best reward. We’re motivated now more than ever to hone our craft and keep producing top-shelf weed and concentrates from our family farm on Salt Spring Island, BC.
BK: You won best concentrate, what is it about your brand that's resonating so well?
AR: We focus on always being authentic, and we think that’s something that resonates with the cannabis community. We’re a family-run company that was built on passion and pretty humble beginnings, having started out of the back of Tyler’s van. With that in mind, the best promotion we can get is offering products that people want to talk about.
TR: We’re thrilled for the recognition to date, and we’re already working hard to build on that reputation. We’re excited for all the quality improvements in our upcoming flower and concentrate launches.
BK: Brands are having a tough time connecting, but not you—what do you think that accounts for?
AR: We’ve really put a focus on engaging directly with weed smokers across Canada. Whether it’s behind-the-scenes shots of the facility or Instagram Live Q & As with our CEO Tyler, we’re very open to sharing what we’re about. We’ve found that resonates with customers who are used to more polished, corporate cannabis brands.
TR: We also don’t take ourselves too seriously which helps us create genuine content that people want to engage with. We’re very grateful for the amazing response we’ve gotten from the public and want to keep building on that in the years to come.
BK: The legal industry was originally best by complaints about quality, but clearly informed voters are resonating with your product. How important is quality to your brand?
AR: Quality is everything to us. When Tyler first set out to build GOOD BUDS, he wanted to grow buds that he would be excited to smoke as a chronic smoker himself.
TR: While THC is great, we’re not just looking to pump out high THC cultivars and call them premium. Instead, we focus on highlighting more distinct quality marks like the flavour, nug density, cure, stickiness and effect, since these are more meaningful to the experience than THC. We keep this in mind with everything from our Flower to our Hash and Rosin products. For example, we had a recent batch of our Salty God Flower Rosin that tested just under 60% THC, which seems a little low on the surface, but it had close to 10% THCV and 12% CBG. The strain averages more than 8% terps as a rosin too, so it makes for a really interesting final product and experience. We believe that offering products with these alternative cannabinoids appeals to those quality conscious customers who are hunting for something new and more unique.
AR: We also really value customer feedback on products. It’s something we do to make adjustments where needed to keep improving our offerings. Ultimately, it's our customers that pay our bills and keep us in business, so we pay a lot of attention to what they want from us and do our best to pivot fast to try and continually exceed their expectations.
BK: We've seen the Cannabis Act pass and we've seen Cannabis 2.0 products introduced in our legal marketplace. What's new on your horizon for 2021?
TR: We’re excited for what the new year brings. In October we finished our second outdoor harvest on the island. We’re going to have some great new products coming from that. We also just entered a few new provinces, and are working hard to build awareness around our brand in the provinces where GOOD BUDS products are available.
AR: On the industry level, I think 2021 will be the year of craft growers. People are demanding more craft weed in the legal market, so it’ll be fun to watch this trend continue in the new year.
BK: Lastly, 2020 was obviously hard on lots of us, in and out of the cannabis community. What's one random act of kindness that restores your faith in humanity both for this holiday and for the year to come? Who, or what, makes you feel good?
AR: Without a doubt 2020 has been a tough year all around. The big thing that’s been keeping us going at GOOD BUDS has been family. Welcoming my firstborn into the world recently has been a motivator for me personally. The silver lining of working from home during COVID has been that I’ve been able to spend quality time with Rafi and my wife, Monica. It can be difficult to balance work and a newborn at times, but it’s so nice to have family around in these crazy times.
TR: The feeling is mutual with the team on site. They’ve been working extra hard throughout the year and have really come together as a community. We want to carry that community mentality into 2021, especially with so much uncertainty.
