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Short Summary
In this educational episode of the Legacies Podcast, hosts Tom Ritchie and Wesley Bowles share their highlights from the 2024 Grow Up Conference in Toronto. They spotlight the Mendo Medical Pavilion as the most successful and active floor activation, highlighting the importance of medical cannabis patient advocacy. They discuss product innovations showcased at the event, including Dopo’s effervescent lime wedge drink mixer and spicy tomato Caesar mixer. The hosts welcome Todd Neault, founder of Rosin Heads, for an in-depth discussion on confectionery chemistry. Todd shares his background, from starting a legacy crop at age 16 in Brooklyn, Ontario, to launching Shattered Sweets and Canna Chocolatier. He details learning chocolate tempering science at a Mississauga shop, his three years in category management and commercialization at HEXO Corp, and establishing Rosin Heads as a leading legal rosin-infused brand.
Tom Ritchie Says: What’s going on, everyone? Welcome to another episode of Legacies! I’m your host, Tom Ritchie, joined as usual by Wesley “The Wizard” Bowles. Wes, you can hear my raspy Grow Up conference voice today!
Wesley Bowles Says: I almost didn’t have a voice at all this morning! Walking the floor for hours and talking to everyone will completely wipe you out.
Tom Ritchie Says: Shoutout to Randy Rowe and the entire team for putting together a fantastic expo. What was your personal highlight from the show floor?
Wesley Bowles Says: Definitely the Mendo Medical Pavilion. They brought dozens of craft brands from their marketplace under one massive roof, and it had incredible energy and non-stop foot traffic the entire day.
Tom Ritchie Says: It was amazing connecting with people—meeting Glen from 61 Charlie (a veteran-owned brand launching on Mendo), seeing Dopo’s effervescent 10mg beverage tabs (including a spicy Caesar tomato splash), Atlantic Elevation, and the revival of Tantalus Labs genetics. We also picked up a Mendo Select sampler tube featuring Royal Moby, Durban Poison, and Purple Mountain Majesty 1:1.
Tom Ritchie Says: I dug out my vintage Pixies concert shirt today from the last tour before the historic Massey Hall renovations. Wes, have you been inside Massey Hall since the multi-million dollar acoustic restoration?
Wesley Bowles Says: I’ve seen shows pre- and post-renovation. Massey Hall was engineered from the ground up purely for acoustics—every single seat in that house sounds phenomenal.
Tom Ritchie Says: Unlike massive sports domes where sound echoes off the concrete. What shows do you have lined up this summer?
Wesley Bowles Says: I’m catching Iron Maiden at Scotiabank Arena for the sixth time, and Red Hot Chili Peppers at Budweiser Stage! Plus, on the drive back from Grow Up, you introduced me to the Marcus King Band—that young man has the soulful voice of a 50-year-old saint!
Tom Ritchie Says: Today on the show, the stars have aligned: we are joined by Mr. Sweet Tooth himself, Todd Neault, founder of Rosin Heads!
Tom Ritchie Says: Welcome back! We are joined by Todd Neault, founder and master confectioner behind Rosin Heads. Todd, welcome to Legacies!
Todd Neault Says: Thank you so much for having me, guys! Excited to be here.
Tom Ritchie Says: You grew up on a farm out in Brooklin, Ontario. How did your journey with cannabis first begin back in the day?
Todd Neault Says: When I was 16, I was struggling severely with social anxiety. I spent most of my time locked in my room on computers doing basic hacking and programming because being around crowds overwhelmed me. When I discovered cannabis, it felt like a switch flipped and I could suddenly function normally again.
Todd Neault Says: As a 16-year-old, I couldn’t afford to buy weed regularly. One day I bought a bag with seeds in it, walked across the driveway into a neighboring cornfield, and planted them. Some were Mexican genetics that never finished in Ontario’s climate, but others did great. That’s where my passion for growing and resin began.
Tom Ritchie Says: You’ve often mentioned that sun-grown outdoor flower produces superior resin for hash and rosin extraction. Why is that?
Todd Neault Says: Full-spectrum natural sunlight gives the plant a depth of maturity and terpene richness that artificial indoor lights just can’t duplicate. Outdoor only gets a bad reputation because many commercial operators treat it like low-grade biomass and rush post-harvest processing. When handled with craft care, outdoor resin is incredible.
Todd Neault Says: Growing up in Whitby and Brooklin, we rarely saw green flower in high school—it was always imported traditional hash: hard blonde Lebanese, crumbly Moroccan slate, spicy black Afghan, and sticky hand-rubbed Jamaican gummy hash. We paid \$20 a gram back then, and that peppery, spicy terpene profile from mature sun-grown landraces is something I still chase to this day.
Tom Ritchie Says: How did you transition from legacy cultivation and hash into premium artisan edibles?
Todd Neault Says: When medical storefront dispensaries opened across Toronto around 2015, I got membership cards at over 20 shops and bought every single edible on their shelves. Almost all of them were total disasters—un-tempered chocolate melting on ice packs, terrible chemical tastes, wild dosing inaccuracies, and complete food safety nightmares!
Todd Neault Says: My mom used to build massive, intricate gingerbread cities with moving carousels and interior lighting, so I grew up around dedicated culinary craft. I started a legacy brand called Edible to prove infused confections could actually taste gourmet, followed by Shatter Sweets. But when my chocolate-dipped sponge toffee kept blooming, I paid \$80 to take a professional chocolate tempering class in Mississauga.
Todd Neault Says: I was in a room full of older ladies and couples on date night, but as soon as the instructor demonstrated shell molding and ganache fillings, a massive light bulb went off. Nobody was making filled artisan truffles in the cannabis space! I became completely obsessed, developing over 50 original recipes under Canna Chocolatier.
Tom Ritchie Says: Heading into legalization, how did you connect with licensed producers?
Todd Neault Says: Ahead of Cannabis 2.0, I researched LP executive email conventions on Health Canada’s website and cold-pitched 40 CEOs with a pitch deck put together with help from mentors at a private equity firm. Out of 40 emails, I booked 27 meetings and ended up selling Canna Chocolatier to HEXO!
Todd Neault Says: At HEXO, I was placed in R&D alongside pharmaceutical scientists, teaching them traditional hash-making while learning rigorous testing protocols. Later, as Category Manager of Extracts, I launched Canada’s first legal hash (Original Stash OS Hash) and the OS.KLIK metered concentrate dispenser. But navigating massive corporate stage-gate committees was frustrating—by the time innovative products cleared legal, executive, and regulatory committees, all the original coolness had been stripped away.
Tom Ritchie Says: What made you take the leap to leave corporate cannabis and launch Rosin Heads?
Todd Neault Says: HEXO offered me a corporate Director promotion, but Kevin O’Leary’s quote echoed in my head: “A salary is the drug they give you to forget your dreams.” I asked my wife to give me one year to try building my own vision so I’d never live with regret.
Todd Neault Says: The brand name Rosin Heads was born in a parking lot while handing friends gold airbrushed chocolate Buddha heads. I partnered with Benny at WeedMe to bring my chocolates to market, launching under WeedMe in Alberta and launching Rosin Heads in Ontario. It proved that independent craft ideas could thrive on retail shelves!
Tom Ritchie Says: Why do you exclusively formulate with solventless live rosin rather than standard distillate?
Todd Neault Says: Distillate delivers a flat, one-dimensional high that often causes heavy lethargy or headaches. Solventless live rosin preserves the plant’s full terpene and minor cannabinoid profile without chemical solvents. When you eat 10mg of live rosin chocolate, you get a clean, functional, true-to-flower entourage effect with no harsh crash.
Todd Neault Says: Big LP consumer surveys claim ‘consumers don’t want to taste weed in edibles,’ but that’s only because they’ve tasted cheap, bitter extract. Pairing rich strain-specific rosin terpenes with premium Belgian chocolate creates a gourmet experience. Our Hash Rosin Sticks, Raspberry & Strawberry Peanut Butter Cups, and infused pre-roll collaborations have built true brand loyalty.
Tom Ritchie Says: You’ve been outspoken about industry trade shows and sampling programs. What needs to change?
Todd Neault Says: Many trade shows have turned into budtender trick-or-treating where people just grab bags of free product without ever engaging with the founders or learning the extraction process. Giving out hundreds of expensive craft samples with zero data feedback provides no return on investment.
Todd Neault Says: I prefer visiting retail dispensaries directly, talking to store staff, and letting the product speak for itself. We’re also disciplined with our SKU pipeline—streamlining down to proven evergreen top-sellers rather than overwhelming retail buyers with 12 rotational SKUs.
Wesley Bowles Says: Last week, Alannah Davis of Dabble Cannabis Company left an anonymous question for you: “What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?”
Todd Neault Says: Back in 2017 while running Canna Chocolatier, an entrepreneur mentor at my office asked if I was paying taxes on my chocolate revenue. When I said it was legacy, he told me: “Al Capone got busted for tax evasion, so incorporate your business and pay your fucking taxes!”
Todd Neault Says: That blunt advice forced me to incorporate, build legitimate financial accounting, and establish the corporate discipline needed to succeed when the legal market opened. It completely changed my trajectory.
Tom Ritchie Says: What is your anonymous question for next week’s incoming guest?
Todd Neault Says: “What do you feel is the single biggest challenge in the Canadian cannabis industry today?”
Todd Neault Says: There are plenty of corporate competitors who try to sabotage craft operators by filing manipulated complaints to Health Canada. But we stay focused on feeding our families, delivering exceptional quality, and letting the product win organically.
Tom Ritchie Says: Todd, your passion and authenticity are unmatched! Whatever you do, please never discontinue the Hash Rosin Sticks—they are our absolute kryptonite. Check out Rosin Heads across Ontario dispensaries, subscribe on YouTube and Spotify, and tune in next week for Episode 15 of Legacies. Peace!
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Founder & Chocolatier
Todd Neault is the founder and master chocolatier of Rosin Heads, bringing legacy-market confectionery experience and deep tempering science to regulated Canadian cannabis.
View Guest Profile ↗Licensed Cannabis Confectioner
Rosin Heads is a premium Canadian cannabis confection brand co-founded by Todd Neault. The company specializes in high-quality, rosin-infused chocolates,...
Learn More About Partner ↗Rosin Heads uses premium, full-spectrum solventless rosin rather than distillate, paired with high-quality chocolate that is tempered using professional confectionery science.
Todd began growing cannabis at age 16 in Brooklyn, Ontario, later creating legacy brands Shattered Sweets and Canna Chocolatier before working in category management at HEXO Corp and founding Rosin Heads.
It is a dedicated exhibition zone at the Grow Up Conference featuring curated craft cannabis brands available on the Mendo Medical digital portal, providing budtenders and retail buyers direct brand interaction.
