Editor's Note: Download the audio version below and click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
This week, Matt Hutchinson, chief product officer at LeafLink, joins the Cannabis Equipment News podcast to discuss why he is creating a healthier ecosystem for cannabis buyers and sellers.
Matt Hutchinson has been in the cannabis industry for about five years. With a professional background as a supply chain software consultant, Hutchinson has held roles at major retailers, including Amazon and Walmart. At Amazon, he learned best practices for connecting the supply chain using technology and while at Walmart, he started looking at the cannabis industry. Hutchinson was living in New York and started having conversations with LeafLink executives.
Five years ago, the cannabis supply chain was still pretty immature. For example, sales reps were driving to various retail locations, making door-to-door deliveries—which, frankly, still happens a lot and comes with a ton of risk.
While Hutchinson didn't anticipate the industry's many nuances, navigating them has provided him an opportunity to lay the groundwork for the future.
LeafLink is a B2B wholesale commerce platform that empowers retailers to buy the right products at the right time and gives suppliers the best exposure possible. The company has recently made some big moves. In July, LeafLink acquired a cannabis banking platform from Dama Financial and yesterday, the company announced Payment on Sell Through (PoST), a new payment option for cannabis wholesale that guarantees payments to suppliers.
Jump around:
- Frustrating cannabis industry nuances. (3:12)
- Regulatory hurdles and ongoing fragmentation. (4:17)
- What is LeafLink? (9:21)
- Creating a healthier ecosystem for cannabis buyers and sellers. (10:53)
- The current state of wholesale e-commerce. (21:48)
- Creating actionable insights based on market conditions. (28:28)
- When to rationalize SKUs. (33:47)
- Why cannabis is better today than at any point in the last few years. (35:04)
- What it is going to take to be a $50 billion market by 2030. (41:44)
Please make sure to like, subscribe and share the podcast. You could also help us out by giving the podcast a positive review. Finally, to email the podcast or suggest a potential guest, you can reach David Mantey at [email protected].
