Canopy Growth CEO interview on partnering with Corona parent company

A
budtender pours marijuana from a jar at Perennial Holistic
Wellness Center medical marijuana dispensary.
David McNew/Getty

• Canopy
  Growth Corporation is the largest publicly-traded marijuana
  company.
• Canopy CEO Bruce Linton recently sat down with Business
  Insider to talk about growing the company from a startup into a
  $6 billion behemoth.
• The company recently got a $191 million investment from
  the brand behind famous beers like Corona and Modelo — a
  partnership Linton says he was eager to pin down.
• 
  Follow
  Canopy Growth’s stock price in real-time
  here. 
  

Constellation Brands — the $41 billion giant behind beers like
Corona and Modelo — made waves earlier this year when it
announced a $191 million investment in Canopy
Growth Corporation, a the world’s largest publicly-traded
marijuana company.

The investment was one of the first by traditional beverage
makers into the nascent industry of legal cannabis —
and Canopy
Growth’s CEO, Bruce Linton, recently told Business Insider that
other beverage makers are now playing catch up.

“We believe people should have a choice in how they wish to
improve or alter their socialization,” Linton said in an
interview earlier this month.

“Why are you having a beverage on a Friday night? It’s about a
social lubricant. I think they didn’t view themselves as a
beverage company so much as an entity that provides those
occasions with some kind of lift if you will — and that’s an easy
way to look at cannabis, not as a threat, but as an alternative
or additional.”

Linton continued: “They get it and are on it, and that’s caused
every other beer wine and spirits provider to have a headache.”

As for why Canopy chose to work with Constellation and not
another major alcohol distributor like AB InBev, Linton said it
all comes down to values. “Part of the reason we like them isn’t
just because they’re a diversified beverage maker — meaning they
do beer, wine, and spirits — but because they’re actually
entrepreneurial,” he said. 

Cannabis-infused drinks are also planned for Canopy’s arsenal as
well, in addition to chewables and oil for cooking or vaping,
Linton said. 

“We will definitely be making beverages, but since there is
no alcohol there will be no calories, which means the pounding on
your liver is effectively nil,” he said.

“The idea that you get access to the biggest wallets with a
virtue of no calories yet feeling a bit upbeat and positive is a
pretty compelling argument.”

You can read the full interview with Linton about how
he’s grown Canopy from startup to word’s largest legal marijuana
company here.