Q&A: Sensi Brands CEO Tony Giorgi on Leadership, Culture and Global Expansion

Tony Giorgi, CEO of Canada-based Sensi Brands Inc., discusses the company’s growth and strategies in an interview with Eugenio Garcia, founder and CEO of Cannabis Now. Launched in January of 2020, Sensi Brands has achieved significant success with innovative products like multi-pack and infused pre-rolls, leading to a significant market penetration in Canada. The company operates five distribution paths, including wholesale distribution, CPG brands distribution, medical cannabis clinic, national medical cannabis marketplace, and a retail farm gate store. Despite market challenges, Sensi Brands recently acquired a state-of-the-art facility capable of producing 110,000 kilos annually, aiming for global expansion, particularly in the U.S., EU and AUS markets.

As we kick off 2026, Giorgi offers business advice to fellow entrepreneurs and delves into the Sensi Brands work culture, along with the company’s big goals for the future.

Eugenio Garcia: To start, tell us about your background as an entrepreneur.

Tony Giorgi: I’ve earned a bit of a reputation here in Canada for being a serial startup specialist, taking companies literally from ideation to full production and commercial operations. I’ve built six companies over the last 30 years. The first four were in technology. The largest transaction was a company called Q9 Networks, where we built highly secure and system-redundant data centers housing the computing infrastructure and data for the likes of banks and government, supporting their mission-critical data applications. That company sold to Bell Canada in 2012 for $1.2 billion.

Post that, I co-founded a digital transformation company called K2 Digital targeting the financial services vertical. I got introduced to the senior leadership team of MedReleaf. MedReleaf was one of Canada’s first medical cannabis companies…I had met them in 2015, and by 2016 the master grower had resigned his role and we started up what became the Flowr Corporation out of Kelowna, BC.

And so, the Flwr Corporation was my first foray into cannabis. We built the largest indoor facility in the country. It quickly became renowned for being one of the best-quality facilities in the country. I took the company public in September of 2018 and at that point I stepped down to go focus on building what now is today known as Sensi Brands.

EG: And what’s been your approach to building Sensi Brands?

TG: Sensi Brands started off in 2020. We took a very unique approach to the market because, if you recall, everybody that got into the cannabis industry—whether it was south of the border or whether it was in Canada—everybody took the approach of wanting to become the largest cultivator or the largest extractor. The example that we always give is that we’d be sitting here in our offices, and the next licensed producer would go on LinkedIn and say, “Woo hoo. We just got our license, and we’re launching a soccer mom brand.” And we went to look at what a soccer mom brand is, and they were underpinning it with a 22% indica strain that would put a soccer mom through the soccer parking lot. There’s a whole evolution and strategy and process to developing a brand. And unfortunately, in the cannabis industry, the entire process was completely orphaned. People were just making stuff up, and their brands were failing. There were no real brands that were gaining market share, or any type of loyalty to the brand because of the poor execution of those brands.

So we launched Station House, our first brand. We pioneered the first multi-pack pre-roll in Canada that was offered in 6, 12, 18 and 24 pack configurations. When we launched, nobody at the time was doing multi-packs. In fact, the majority of licensed producers were using undesirable product or oversupply for the purposes of putting up KPI numbers for yields, which would then inevitably be either destroyed, burnt or would be milled and used for pre-rolls.

EG: What is it that makes those pre-rolls so compelling for consumers?

TG: We took a very serious approach to pre-rolls, perfecting how to make them. None of the automation equipment, even to this day, scales appropriately to be cost-effective on making pre-rolls. We’ve tested a vast majority of the pre-roll automation technology and realized that we needed to come up with our own automation process. We believe we make the best pre-rolls today. But not only that, we use the best paper. We only use single-strain whole flower. We don’t blend lots. We don’t use trim or any other waste material. It’s all high-quality, single-strain flower that we then mill to multiple specifications so that we know that the granular mill inputs fit much tighter together, which gives us a better burn. And on top of all that, everything is quality assured and hand-finished by our employees. You’re getting the best quality burning pre-roll underpinned with the best quality cannabis input. With that strategy and launching it into a multi-pack, we very quickly became the number one multi-pack player in the country.

EG: Well, you look like a man who should be smiling, and also a man who’s been working really hard at something really special, with a crackerjack team. Before you were a serial entrepreneur, where did you get your foundation for business? Did it come naturally? Did you have a mentor? Was it schooling?

TG: Honestly, my family. I would say that my business acumen is all grassroots street smarts, negotiation. I’ve been working since I was 13 years old—got my first paper route at 10, you know, I did the whole McDonald’s and Burger King and fast food, but it was just always hustling, always negotiating.

I’m a salesman at heart. So when I started building my first company, it was really through a sales-driven lens. And then, of course, over the last 30 years, I’ve been able to really sharpen my skills in terms of business acumen and learning how to run a very effective business.

EG: Is there a secret sauce to it all?

TG: Look, we’re immigrants—we love to work. We don’t know anything different. And so we work hard, long days. At the end of the day, it’s just learning those skill sets and how to run a business over time. There are three pillars that I would highly encourage any business person across any business and industry to focus on. It all comes down to three things: Innovate. Make sure that you’ve got the best products that you’re proud to stand behind, that will be highly desired. Automate. Make sure that you automate the shit out of everything, so that you reduce your cost structures as low as you possibly can, and outshine everybody. And lastly, you execute. I’ve kind of lived by those three pillars, and that’s kind of what’s made Sensi Brands, in my opinion, one of the best standing cannabis companies in Canada today.

EG: You’ve talked about the long days it takes to build a company at this scale—what kind of culture have you built at Sensi Brands, and how do you keep your team energized and invested?

TG: We’ve built an incredible culture—culture’s everything. This entire company is made up of family and friends. The theory was, “How cool would it be if I could build a company that attracted people that I genuinely like spending time with o that when I walk into the office every day I get a big smile on my face because I’m working with the people that I genuinely love, that genuinely make me laugh, and are playing at the top of their game in their respective discipline. The company is made up of trusted people who are playing at the top of their game and are near and dear to me.

EG: Love that. What are you smoking on there? And how important is it for you to actually understand the product that you’re producing? Because, quite frankly, a lot of people in your position, and it’s not a negative, but they don’t understand the product, and they don’t consume the product.

TG: Oh, my God, I love the question. What a great question. I’m a big, big believer that you need to eat your own dog food. Years ago, I was an experimental weed smoker. When I launched the Flwr Corporation, I went all in. So I’m a certified cannabis sommelier—I’ve got my level one and level two sommelier certification. Today, I consume daily—anywhere from four to eight joints a day. I intimately understand what the product does, and quite frankly, I don’t know how any CEO could be effective in any industry if they’re not consuming and understanding and experimenting with their own product. Our entire senior leadership team is certified as cannabis sommeliers. We’re all active consumers. We all eat our own dog food.

And to answer your question, I am religiously loyal to Amnesia Haze, Ghost Train Haze—it’s my favorite strain. I only smoke sativas. I find through my experience in smoking that indica’s to me are very medical focused and very sedative experiences where a sativa that I’m having right now I can function and it actually inspires me and gives me energy. I’m all in to making sure that I understand our product as well or as better, than any other CEO in the industry, which I think gives us a competitive advantage, because I’m the one leading our discussions in the R&D room, and we are innovating things because I know exactly what the product’s going to do. We currently distribute have 365+ SKUS across Canada, and I have formulated every single product, from our pre-rolls and how we infuse them and how we coat them, to all the formulations for all of our vapes, to being personally responsible for launching one of the world’s first THC oral pouch. All of that I’ve done on my own, and I would not have been able to do any of that without being a consumer and a sommelier and somebody who’s experienced with the product.

EG: I know that Canada has very serious restrictions on packaging, on advertising. How have you guys transcended that obstacle and effectively marketed your products to have the success that you’ve had in retail?

TG: I think it comes down to, again, innovating products that resonate with consumers. In terms of marketing, we are very restricted by HealthCanada Regulations, so we tend to lean on the quality of product. We’ve also done an incredible job in all of our trade marketing materials, digital promotions, as well as executing at the major trade conferences.

EG: You mentioned the massive export business you have with Australia. How big is the international potential and focus for you guys?

TG:  So, couple things: One, we have been working with a tolling partner over the past couple of years, and been distributing and selling product into Australia. Now that we have our own EU GMP (European Union Good Manufacturing Practice) license, we are now able to sell directly into international markers. We recently signed a $5 million deal today for product going into Germany. The EU markets are sizable with expansion into UK, Poland, Spain with France around the corner. The EU market is massive, and we think with the quality of our supply, we should be able to sell well into those markets.

We’re looking to enter the US market. I don’t want to say too much more on that, because I want to get further down into the process before we divulge. But we are definitely targeting the US, entering with our brands Station House and Potluck.

Eugenio Garcia: In the next three to five years, where do you see Sensi Brands landing—and how do you view the broader global cannabis landscape: accelerating opportunity or continued pushback?

TG: Where we’re going to be is hard to tell. But the goal is that we’re going to be one of the last few standing. I think we built up an incredible company. Our pipeline of new products is extensive, and we’re excited for some of the new products that we’re launching. I think the walls are going to come down to the US. It looks like Mr. Trump intimated that he’s starting to remove those barriers. And I think once the US opens, it’s going to create a massive opportunity for the entire cannabis industry as whole to which I hope that Sensi Brands and our brands will participate in, so huge expectations with the US opportunity and same goes for the European markets and international markets.

At some point, I think there’s going to be a lot of consolidation. It’s already happening…We hope to be one of the companies that has a meaningful market share and recognized as a global and trusted brand of cannabis products.

Our dream and goal is to be able to walk into a German dispensary or an Australian dispensary, or a Spain dispensary and see Potluck and Station House products available for sale and being promoted in those markets in particular.