We’re on the forefront of innovation in the cannabis industry: GTi Founder & CEO

Ben Kovler, Green Thumb Industries Founder & CEO joins the Yahoo Finance Live panel to discuss GTI’s latest earnings.

Video Transcript

EMILY MCCORMICK: Welcome back to Yahoo Finance Live. Green Thumb Industries reported first quarter sales that easily topped estimates. Revenue of $194.4 million was up 90% over last year. And earlier this month, the company also agreed to acquire Dharma Pharmaceuticals in a move to expand into the cannabis market in Virginia. Joining us now is Ben Kovler, Green Thumb Industries founder and CEO. Ben, thank you so much for joining us. I wanted to ask first about your expansion via that recently announced acquisition. Of course, in Virginia, adult use marijuana will be legal as of July. But this is also just one of a number of states that Green Thumb will be in on the East Coast. What do you see in the opportunity, specifically in Virginia and especially through Dharma Pharmaceuticals?

BEN KOVLER: Sure, yeah, thanks for having me back. Happy to discuss it. We're very excited about what's going on in Virginia. But we see quite simply is 8 and 1/2 million people and a well thought out regulatory structure where there are five licenses. And this is what we've done before. And we're excited as cannabis comes to the south, really, for the first time, and happy to be a part of it.

ZACK GUZMAN: There's also, I mean, expansion plans in a lot of different states right now. New York is a big one. That's the county everyone's got their eyes on that prize there, as that gets off the ground. I mean, how quickly do you see, turning around from operating in these states in a small capacity to really turning that on and growing quickly once you can there?

BEN KOVLER: Yeah, you're right. We've been a part of the medical to adult use transition in many states, including Massachusetts, Nevada, most recently, Illinois. They went from a small medical market to a really booming adult use market that really hasn't matured yet, and it's still going. So we see that coming all across the East Coast, New York the biggest. There's 20 million people that live in the state. It's coming. We think it starts on or around January 1, 2023. And we're hustling to get going.

I think all the operators are and all the new entrepreneurs that are going to be in the space. But it's also coming to New Jersey, and we see it coming to Virginia. And so we've talked about the tidal wave coming across the country. And it's really amazing to see it come true. And it's really exciting for American consumers because they're going to have access to cannabis products to be able to choose well-being. So it's pretty awesome.

EMILY MCCORMICK: Ben I also wanted to ask, just when it comes to your latest quarterly results, what kinds of products, what form factors have really taken off over the course of the past quarter and the past year? And are you seeing any new trends when it comes to the types of consumables that your customers are looking for?

BEN KOVLER: Sure, I mean, it's a lot of the same story. There's innovation happening. And we're on the forefront of that. But for example, flower, rhythm. Find your rhythm is taking off, high quality indoor premium flower-- it's no surprise. Dog walkers, pre-rolls, these are pre-rolled joints ready to smoke. But also gummies and vape and everything else are going well. Where there's innovation, where things are changing is maybe in beverage, ready to consume. We see the country really as an off-prem if you take alcohol, where it's off premises consumption of cannabis to have your experience slowly coming on-prem. And having ready-to-consume, socially dosed safe product for consumers is pretty awesome.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, you know, when you look at the growth there for beverages, obviously a lot of people starting to lean in there, even your competition there in CuraLeaf out with their Select Squeeze, kind of squeezable, into drinks everywhere, too. Talk to me about what you plan on doing with that Cann partnership to roll out beverages. Because right now, it's available in Illinois, but what else do you see playing out there in the next kind of markets there in the timeline?

BEN KOVLER: Yeah, Cann is an awesome exciting leading cannabis beverage out of California that we've partnered with to bring to adult use markets across the country, really. So we started in Illinois. We launched it on 4/20. These are consumers that are looking for an alternative to alcohol. They may not be marijuana consumers necessarily, but nobody's a fan of a hangover. And here's a healthy alternative with no hangover. So we see it coming to places like New York and New Jersey. It's already in Massachusetts. So we'll see that scaling up over time.

EMILY MCCORMICK: And then, Ben, I also wanted to ask about channel. How are people buying your products? Because it seemed like opening more retail locations really helped Green Thumb in this latest quarter. Going forward, is it still really that in-person footprint that matters when it comes to picking up new customers? Or are there other channels that may start to pick up steam?

BEN KOVLER: Well, the real growth driver of our business or the branded consumer products, it's more dog walkers, it's more incredibles, it's more rhythm for more American consumers. That is the core business. We really-- we opened four or five stores towards the end of the quarter. That didn't really drive the first quarter. You'll see that come in the second quarter. But what's happening is more Americans are lining up for more products. And we are in the right place at the right time and making a lot more of those products to feed the demand.