An Oro-Medonte cannabis company cleaned up at a recent industry awards event.
Carmel Cannabis has been operating for only a year as of this month, but it still won four kind Awards during a celebration in Toronto.
Kind is Canada’s largest cannabis magazine, which is available in retail cannabis stores.
Carmel won Brand of the Year, Craft Brand of the Year, Best Indica Flower and Best Sativa Pre-roll.
“It’s pretty nice to get this recognition,” said Chris Marmion, Carmel’s head of sales and marketing. “We felt we could do things well and get some recognition, and there’s no better recognition than this.”
Winning both Craft Brand of the Year and Brand of the Year was “exciting,” he added.
“I think you’re going to see craft producers play a larger role. That’s where the growth is,” he said.
Also making the wins special was the fact they were voted on by “budtenders” — those selling to customers in store.
“To have the budtenders vote for us is paramount,” Marmion said.
Brand awareness is a high priority for Carmel, he said, and those efforts couldn’t have hurt heading into the awards.
“A big part of us building our brand is having people to our facility to meet the team,” Marmion said, adding that includes giving tours of the operation. “It’s been a huge asset being in the central location that we are.”
The awards were presented at the kind Winter Fair at Rebel nightclub. A news release from kind stated, “Canada’s largest weed culture party brought a tripped-out funhouse to life in Toronto, complete with circus performances and a recreation of Alice in Wonderland.”
Miss Jones, which has a store in Orillia, won Retailer of the Year and Innovation in Cannabis Advertising.
