KIND INTERVIEWS

Cannara CFO Nick Sosiak on the Never Ending Quest for Unreal Genetics to Conquer the World

BY BEN KAPLAN

Cannara Biotech is a vertically integrated licensed producer based in Montreal that understands the cannabis community because the company is being built with love and passion. Nicholas Sosiak, Chief Financial Officer, sets the pace, leading product and brand development for the powerhouse brands

Tribal, Nugz and Orchid CBD, in addition to handling the books. But it doesn’t stop there. Nick’s commitment to genetics is what’s creating such an impenetrable bond between Cannara and the cannabis consumer, driving his brands to become the fastest growing in Canadian weed.

Cannara currently has nine different genetics on the market, with two more on the way by year’s end, each phenotype hand-selected by Sosiak and grown by his counterpart CEO Zohar Krivorot.

“When pheno-hunting, I need to be able to identify the strain blindfolded to pass the test. That uniqueness offers consumers the opportunity to explore the potential of cannabis across our house of genetics.” Sosiak says his goal is to see Cannara release more than 20 different genetics over the next two years. To reach that extraordinary number, the company recently inked an exclusive long-term deal with 50-time US award-winning breeder Exotic Mike, the founder of Exotic Genetix. Based in Washington State, the bustling cannabis hotbed of fire trends, Exotic Genetix could have partnered with any Canadian producer. He chose Cannara, he says, because the partnership made sense: he wants to grow consistent fire with someone that understands scale. “I’ve met a lot of folks and have seen a lot of facilities across the globe. Cannara just gets what the culture is about and puts every bit of that into their product for their consumers,” says Mike. “Whether it be the CEO that gets his own hands dirty in the garden daily, or a CFO that cares more about the quality and experience of their products over all else, Cannara was the only choice for me to partner with exclusively in Canada.”

For Sosiak, who says that it can take up to eighteen months to bring a new genetic to market, the future lies in multiple mediums. Cannara, he told KIND, is the first company to release its genetics as dried flower, pre-roll, live resin, dabs and vape carts. “We’re first in both the legacy and the legal markets to offer consumers the opportunity to find genetics they love in whatever method they choose to enjoy their cannabis,” Sosiak says. “We invest so much in research and development because we know that when we make something unforgettable, it has to reach the largest number of consumers. That’s why we’re excited about our partnership with Exotic. It’s going to be an amazing summer and many more amazing years to come.”

Between the three different Cannara brands—Orchid CBD, for health & wellness; Nugz, which shows up like your old legacy dealer; and Tribal, which dedicates itself to unlocking the amazing uniqueness of cannabis genetics at fire prices—Sosiak says Cannara succeeds because it’s a passion project for all involved.

He uses his lungs daily, he says with a laugh, to ensure his company has the country’s best weed.

“I went through the journey on the legacy side because I’ve been consuming for 20 years and because I can only accept the very best at Cannara,” he says, adding that he’s producing upwards of 30,000 kilograms per year, with capacity to scale up to 120,000 kilograms when the timing is right. “Thus far, our growth has been all word of mouth and our product is like, ‘if you know, you know.’ As we continue to launch fire genetics and expand across Canada, we’re gunning to be the Coca-Cola of weed.”

To catch all the latest Cannara releases, follow @nikodank on Instagram.

IT WOULD BE HARD TO ARGUE THERE’S A more vital, conscientious, thoughtful entertainer in music today than Killer Mike, the Atlanta-based half of Run the Jewels dropping his solo record, Michael, this month. Thoughtful, hilarious and among America’s most influential activists—whether it’s in response to the police killing of George Floyd, legalising pot or stumping for Bernie Sanders—the 48-year-old high school dropout introduced to the world through Outkast always, always has something important to say.

“The protests in the streets after George Floyd made it difficult for me to be in upstate New York where we were recording Run the Jewels III—to be frank, it was hard to be around White folks,” says Mike over a Zoom call, smoking a joint and introducing KIND to his wife Shana, with whom he has four kids. “It wasn’t so much that I was mad at White people, but there was so much pain, agony and suffering that I didn’t want to give any un-worked things to my friends. I didn’t want to be rude, mean, cold or dismissive— but I had these deep feelings that I had to get out.”

The feelings drop like barbells on his autobiographical second solo record, an album that was made in—and sounds like—his beloved Atlanta. “I had a chance to not just be a caricature that you hear talked about on a Run the Jewels record, but to show up as a character in the life of the movie that you’re hearing of a young Black boy who grows up in a strong Black community in a Black enclave of the city in the middle of the deep south,” Mike says. “It’s a deeply personal look at what it’s like to wake as a man and the result of a 16-year-old girl allowing her mother to raise her boy and leaving him her record collection, including Curtis Mayfield, the Isley Brothers and George Clinton.”

Talking about music with Mike is an exploration into the sonic history of the last hundred years of funk. Of course he shouts out Outkast and Big Boi, who gave him his start, but also his close friend T.I., the Eagles, Chuck D, Bon Jovi, Black Sabbath, Whodini, Pink Floyd and Shawty Lo. “Music is something that connected me and my mom, and on Sundays—she used to have parties at her house, but by Sunday, the people would dissipate and we would listen to records together and dance,” says Mike, who not only took music from his mother but also both his biological and step father, each giving him an education in the power of rhythm, melody, lyrics and tone. “My mother taught me how to hold a girl’s hip and where to put your face, and we’d sit in her driveway and talk about art. My mother gave me culture through music—through music we had communication.”

Killer Mike, who hosts an interview show on PBS and owns a barbershop where he’s trained his staff to deal with the fog of men’s mental health, says he was raised with one primary objective: don’t embarrass the family. I asked him how he squares his cannabis activism with his lifelong north star. Can you be a leader in the Black community—a leader worldwide—and a cannabis activist at the same time?

“I’m a heavy believer in weed as a healer and a form of enjoyment and think every seed or herb bears fruit. My life is better for marijuana and the lives of others are better for it,” Mike explains. “I don’t smoke with random people. I’ll give you a joint, but my wife and I don’t smoke when we’re unhappy or unhappy with each other. We treat marijuana as an additional herb. I’m glad my mother, who was 16 years older than me, was progressive enough to explain it to me. Heavy indicas in particular help me when my brain gets anxious.”

Killer Mike’s been on a killer diet since COVID and it’s interesting how he’s been able to use cannabis along his quest to get healthy. Once again bucking lazy conventions, Mike beats to his own drum. “Listen,” he says, with his great Georgia accent, pulling on his joint and giving a laugh, “My doctor doesn’t let me eat sugar so I lost 47 pounds, but I’m still able to get stoned? I think it’s a fair trade.”

Run the Jewels will be touring this summer, including co-headlining dates with WuTang Clan, and Mike has acting gigs, charity appearances and television shows and more records he wants to make. After hanging up our Zoom call, taking one last puff—his wife was driving—he was heading out to a tasting at the restaurant he’s opening with Shana and T.I. in Atlanta, Bankhead Seafood. “Don’t you get tired, man?” I asked him. “You dropped a classic record. Don’t you want to take the summer off and just chill?”

“Shit,” he said. “I’m gonna hang around as long as Willie Nelson. I’m going to make hip hop proud.”

For tour dates, including the Apollo Theatre and Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, see killermike.com.