Hey! So, tell us about FreshLeaf Analytics? What milestones brought it to the point it’s at now?
FreshLeaf Analytics is part of the Southern Cannabis Holdings stable of companies. FreshLeaf was formed to fill a gap in the market – namely a provider of reliable and unbiased data and data intelligence in the medical cannabis space. Our highly regarded regular Market Report is done in collaboration with Australia’s first network of medicinal cannabis clinics CA Clinics and other key data suppliers. These reports provide detailed and up-to-date information on medical cannabis in Australia, tracking product availability, price movements, new market entrants, doctor behaviour, patient preferences and regulatory changes, which keeps all stakeholders in the industry accurately informed. Uniquely, it combines regulator, clinics and pharmacy data without any spin: just the facts! FreshLeaf is privately owned and generates revenue from consulting to leading players in the industry.
What are your goals for FreshLeaf Analytics? Can you conceive of a “finish line” and what does that look like?
The cannabis sector is always on the move, and so too are we. The goal is to be widely known as the go-to source for the most up-to-date and authoritative information available in Australia in this space. We also provide valuable strategic advice and guidance to companies in the sector as well as to government clients. Our goal is that when anyone wants the inside track to what’s happening in the industry, they immediately think of the name FreshLeaf.
What are the milestones in terms of financial sustainability? When did you figure out that you could make this your “real job” and not keep one eye on the job seekers listing!?
Medicinal cannabis may be a relatively new industry – at least legally – but we’re a bit old school: we try to make sure that clients see enough value in the work that we do to ensure that we cover our costs! We’re lucky enough to have been able to build a profitable business. In fact, the defining feature of “Cannabis 2.0” is that companies in this sector need to generate enough revenue to cover their costs. The crazy early days of the Green Rush – “Cannabis 1.0” – whereby anything with a whiff of green in the title could attract investors are well and truly over.
How do you figure out if things are going in the right direction or whether you need to correct the course?
In most emerging industries, the direction is always changing, and changing course becomes part of “business as usual”. We prefer to see it as being nimble and adaptable, especially as the regulatory backdrop is constantly evolving. We always have both eyes firmly on where the market is pivoting and that’s where we provide the value to our clients, to help them see how they need to pivot too. You snooze you lose.
What’s different about your brand and how you do business?
FreshLeaf is unbiased. That makes us unique – there is a lot of commentary and data in the market that is “pay for play”, and readers won’t always know that! Therefore if you want the facts and nothing but the facts, we are your best option. That’s how we differentiate ourselves. Our data doesn’t reflect a biased agenda. We report the data and apply our insight to draw conclusions as best we see it.
What has the most room for Improvement? We could do with more hands on deck! There are constantly new opportunities emerging in the market, and in a perfect world we’d love to be able to seize them all – if only we weren’t so short staffed.
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Who is the community that surrounds FreshLeaf Analytics? How involved are they – active, passive, a mix?
It takes more than just a village to provide enough data to give a full 360 on what’s happening below the hood in an industry. Our community spans the nation and includes regulators, clinics, researchers, pharmacies, product companies, doctors and patients. Our community also comprises our valued clients – most of the key players in the industry today work with FreshLeaf one way or another.
FreshLeaf is also a sought-after moderator, speaker or commentator in the community of organisations who provide forums that discuss and debate issues that affect all the stakeholders in the cannabis space such as potential legal changes- like the upcoming potential de-scheduling of CBD in Australia. It’s important that voices that know what they’re talking about can help further information, education and awareness about an industry that only came out of the shadows 4 years ago!
What is Australia’s advantage on the global landscape?
Australia has rolled out the world’s leading pharmaceutical / healthcare model for cannabis. Products are made to high quality, a patient’s history and other medications are known by the prescriber and a price dose regime is prescribed. This means there is an abundance of high quality data points to analyze, making Australia one of the leading places for companies to undertake medical research in the cannabis space.
This is great news for the patients too. Unlike some other countries, where you can buy “medical cannabis” over the counter with little guarantee of contents, dosage or efficacy, here the cannabis medicine you are legally prescribed must contain what it says it contains and be manufactured from pharma-grade and GMP standard ingredients – think no contaminants or heavy metals!
How are you guys currently tracking in terms of sustainability, regarding operations in general?
You can’t get greener than us. We are a consultancy with no carbon footprint beyond our laptops, brain power and copious refills of coffee keep cups.
What’s coming next for FreshLeaf Analytics?
We are working with a number of clients to help them launch over-the-counter CBD products which are expected in 2021. This could be a game-changer for the industry, with multiple ripple effects through the cannabis value chain, so it’s important for our clients to strategically prepare for it.
We are also very excited to be working towards the big launch of our Q3 2020 Market Reports this September. Every report we’ve done has shown a trend of more medicinal cannabis patients, more product options and lower prices – all pointing towards increasing and greater patient access in Australia.
