Extraction Is The Future Of Cannabis Industry With Lincoln Johnson, EnCann Solutions (Podcast)

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Summary

Lincoln Johnson is founder and CEO of EnCann Solutions, a high volume cannabis and hemp oil extraction company.
Lincoln joins the show today to discuss why cannabis is a once-in-a-lifetime market opportunity and the unique extraction method EnCann brings to the market.
We also talk about why EnCann doesn’t want to go public, the fear of US going legal, and why he thinks CBD will soon dwarf the THC market.

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By Rena Sherbill

Today, I am happy to be joined by Lincoln Johnson, founder and CEO of EnCann Solutions, a high volume cannabis and hemp oil extraction company. Lincoln is a Mechanical Engineer, with experience in startups, sales, analytics, consulting, and other fields.

Topics covered:

1:05 – How Lincoln got to the cannabis sector. Viable opportunity in Canada – saw a market need and decided to fill it. At the time, there were no other companies operating purely in the extraction space. Didn’t want to regret missing this once-in-a-lifetime market opportunity.
3:04 – How far away EnCann is from releasing their products to the public. Patent pending technology, expect to be operational and fully licensed under the Cannabis Act in Canada by year end.
4:00 – How Lincoln’s background has served him in the cannabis industry. Many problems in cannabis sector have been solved by other industries, especially in the oil & gas fields. Last major startup was in analytics field – gave structure and taught him that optimizing things and making them better is the goal. Strong analogs on production and manufacturing side from oil and gas, pharma, perfumes. Pulling from those industries makes it possible to accelerate things. No need to reinvent the wheel – how did other sectors build their wheels?
6:41 – The difficulties of navigating the ever-changing regulations in the cannabis industry. Have had to majorly revise company plans due to quickly changing laws and regulations. Also an advantage – some companies are waiting until the regulations and laws are solid, but the opportunity to build a billion dollar business in a brand new industry means taking risk.
8:50 – What EnCann brings that’s unique to the market. Primer on extraction methods – specifically alcohol extraction, which is EnCann’s focus. Many companies that focus on extraction do it at Cryo temperatures, which requires a lot of equipment and labor. EnCann does ethanol extraction at room temperature, which allows it to save money on CapEx, OpEx. Validation testing showed EnCann can reduce operational expenditures by 80%. Operating on an industrial scale as primarily a B2B operator.
16:34 – EnCann’s goals going forward. Currently, only focused on Canada to make sure execution is at a high level. But also in discussions to take the technology international. High volume, low cost operations makes sense to do in equatorial regions. Interested in finding strong partners for joint ventures.
19:27 – Background of EnCann’s staff. Founding team brings electric and mechanical engineering expertise. CSO has extensive background as pharmacist. Also have PhDs on staff and those with experience in oil & gas sector. Goal is to be largest player in the Canadian market and to expand globally. Not currently looking to go public.
26:08 – Canadian regulations – proposed packaging regulations are overkill, single serving doses in single packages – there’s a packaging problem in this industry. Expect that to change. Market development in Canada – once concentrates are legal, they should be 50% of the market and increase over time based on other developed markets. Expansion of industrial scale operators in Canada because of regulatory requirements. Automation will start to change the industry. Big prediction: CBD market will dwarf the THC market. In 5-10 years, CBD market will be 10 times or greater than THC market. Once US legalizes federally, it will put Canadian companies at a disadvantage. Biggest fear is that US legalizes tomorrow.
30:30 – Words of wisdom for cannabis investors: flower will always be popular, but extraction and standardization of pharma grade products will be larger share of market in medium-long term. Key to normalization.