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Short Summary
In this educational episode of the Legacies Podcast, hosts Tom Ritchie and Wesley Bowles review recent industry events and facility tours. They discuss weather logistics, check-in technologies, and retail employment compliance verification at the KIND Winter Fest. After visiting JointCraft’s facility, they share feedback on high-end pre-roll processing and manual craft standards. The hosts also debate whether medical cannabis formats need to follow traditional, clinical structures like tablets or capsules, arguing instead for diverse, palatable formats that serve patient needs. Finally, Max Walters, COO of BIG Concentrates, joins the show. Max discusses his start in Creemore, Ontario, learning artisanal hand-washing techniques for solventless hash and live rosin during COVID-19, and the ground-level sales strategy of running an independent brand. He also shares the launch details of his new concentrate brand expansion, Terpi.
Tom Ritchie Says: Hey, what’s going on, everyone? Check out what’s coming up this week on Legacies.
Max Walters Says: If I can’t be the cheapest product on the shelf because we don’t own massive industrial grow facilities, then I have to be the nicest guy on the shelf. I have to treat the customer better than anyone else in the business.
Tom Ritchie Says: The fact that you understand customer experience and personal accountability at 23 puts you miles ahead of executives who have spent 40 years in corporate business!
Tom Ritchie Says: Hey, welcome to Legacies, everyone! I’m your host, Tom Ritchie, joined by Wesley ‘The Wizard’ Bowles. Morning, Wes!
Wesley Bowles Says: Good morning! How is your studio chair treating you today?
Tom Ritchie Says: I bought the saddle-style chair Joe Rogan uses on his podcast to help with hip ergonomics, but it doesn’t adjust low enough for my desk setup, so I’m back on the Herman Miller.
Tom Ritchie Says: A reminder that Legacies is powered by Breadstack. Retailers, elevate your e-commerce and retail operations. Reach out to Breadstack to streamline your inventory, online ordering, and local search discovery.
Wesley Bowles Says: Have you checked out the new Costco Business Centre off Ontario Street in St. Catharines?
Tom Ritchie Says: I haven’t been yet, but commercial kitchen equipment is incredible—heavy-duty flat tops, restaurant-grade ice makers, and bulk packaging. Costco’s return policies and extended warranties make equipment investments completely stress-free.
Tom Ritchie Says: Earlier this week, Wes and I visited the sensory room at Joint Craft. John Prentiss, Ryan Brandt, and the entire Joint Craft crew run one of the tightest, highest-standard pre-roll operations in Canada. Their pre-rolls are handcrafted with zero automated shortcuts.
Wesley Bowles Says: We recorded our upcoming Holiday Special inside their casino-themed sensory evaluation room. It drops during Christmas week, featuring great brand sponsors and a complete behind-the-scenes walkthrough.
Tom Ritchie Says: After Joint Craft, we headed down to the Toronto waterfront for KIND Winter Fair. The doors opened at 4:00 PM, but by 5:00 PM the lineup stretched down the block in freezing lake winds and rain.
Wesley Bowles Says: After standing in the freezing rain for 15 minutes without the line moving five feet, we decided to head home. People were waiting up to an hour and a half in sub-zero temperatures.
Tom Ritchie Says: I spoke directly with event organizer Josh yesterday. KIND capped tickets at 1,750, but because they strictly enforced CannSell verification and proof of retail employment at the door—which is mandatory for Health Canada sampling compliance—the check-in bottlenecked.
Tom Ritchie Says: Event operations are tough, and we respect KIND’s commitment to compliance. But when hundreds of budtenders are freezing outside, transparent communication and public PR acknowledgment go a long way.
Tom Ritchie Says: On November 30th, Brandon Gonzales from Glam Brand and Chino are hosting Skankin’ Bass on Bathurst Street in Toronto. The team behind Lake & Bake puts on incredible drum-and-bass gatherings that bring real community energy together.
Tom Ritchie Says: Our industry peer Rob McPherson posted on social media questioning whether gourmet rosin chocolates on Mendo Medical represent ‘effective medicine.’
Tom Ritchie Says: Why should plant medicine be restricted to clinical, chalky pills? When I was a kid, my mother crushed aspirin into sugar and milk so I could take it. Cannabinoids are therapeutic whether delivered via sublingual pouches, topical balms, or chocolate rosin cones. If a patient finds relief from a format they genuinely enjoy consuming, that is effective medicine.
Wesley Bowles Says: For military veterans managing chronic pain and PTSD, accessible, enjoyable delivery methods break the stigma of pharmaceutical pill dependency.
Tom Ritchie Says: Our planned guest Chris Jones came down with the flu and had to reschedule. Stepping up to the plate is Max Walters, CEO of Terpi and co-founder of BIG Concentrates under Blaze Ventures!
Tom Ritchie Says: Welcome to Legacies, Max Walters! Your dad Scott Walters and I go way back.
Max Walters Says: Hey Tom, hey Wes! Great to be here. I’ve been following the podcast since day one.
Tom Ritchie Says: You started in licensed facilities as a teenager doing commercial photography, right?
Max Walters Says: At 15, I didn’t have a driver’s license yet, but I carried my camera gear into facilities. I actually took Wes’s LinkedIn headshot back during the Ample Organics days! Being behind the lens gave me a comprehensive view of cultivation and processing operations from a young age.
Max Walters Says: In March 2020, when COVID shut down Concordia University where I was studying business, I came home to work full-time with my dad Scott and John Fowler at Blaze Ventures. We drove three hours every morning to wash fresh frozen bubble hash by hand in a retrofitted shipping container.
Max Walters Says: We washed 20 to 30 kilos of ice water hash three or four times a day by hand. We weren’t chasing massive industrial scale; we just wanted to make the cleanest, most flavorful artisanal live rosin in Canada. In the early days of Cannabis 2.0, BIG became one of the top two solventless rosin brands in the country.
Max Walters Says: We have no outside corporate investors, no venture capital, and no board of directors. That means we wear five hats every single day—scrubbing lab floors, filling vape hardware, hand-applying excise tax stamps, and delivering sample packs directly to dispensary counters.
Max Walters Says: Because we are independent, our customer service is personal. If a consumer has a cartridge clog, they don’t get routed through a corporate call center or wait six months for QA. They get an email directly from me or Scott that same afternoon, and we replace the product immediately.
Tom Ritchie Says: That personal accountability is how you build authentic consumer loyalty in an industry crowded with generic corporate SKUs.
Tom Ritchie Says: What inspired you to launch your new brand, Terpi?
Max Walters Says: BIG represents ultra-premium, top-shelf solventless rosin, but not every consumer can afford a $60 concentrate. I created Terpi to solve the frustrations I experienced working as a budtender during COVID.
Max Walters Says: On Terpi packaging, the cultivar lineage, packaged date, and exact terpene percentages are displayed prominently on the front. We calibrated the hardware voltage lower so the live resin never scorches or tastes burnt halfway through the reservoir.
Max Walters Says: Terpi is priced aggressively in the $40 all-in-one format. Our goal is to convert consumers buying $30 botanical distillate cartridges over to true, full-spectrum live resin for just five to ten dollars more.
Max Walters Says: Distillate delivers a rapid THC spike followed by a heavy burnout or headache. Hydrocarbon live resin preserves the plant’s native cannabinoid and terpene spectrum, delivering a smoother, more euphoric, and longer-lasting entourage effect.
Max Walters Says: When I worked as a budtender, I refused to recommend products I hadn’t personally smoked. Consumers are overwhelmed by menus with 600 SKUs, so authentic budtender trust is everything.
Max Walters Says: By producing small, iterative batches rather than sitting on 100,000 pre-filled units, we continuously improve hardware settings and input quality. If an input doesn’t perform, we pivot immediately rather than letting dead inventory sit in provincial warehouses.
Max Walters Says: Terpi is launching in Ontario with two live resin all-in-one vapes: Purple Haze (a rich grape-cream profile testing over 11% terpenes and 80% THC) and Berry Blast (a bright raspberry-blueberry profile at 14% terpenes extracted from Gorilla Glue and Wedding Cake inputs).
Tom Ritchie Says: Max, congratulations on launching Terpi and bringing true small-batch craftsmanship to accessible hardware!
Max Walters Says: Thanks, Tom and Wes! I appreciate you guys having me on!
Tom Ritchie Says: Our guest Rob Laurie, leading cannabis lawyer specializing in Indigenous jurisdiction, had a sudden bout of food poisoning mid-recording. We will dedicate a full feature episode to unpacking Indigenous cannabis sovereignty and treaty rights in the near future.
Wesley Bowles Says: I picked up a product in Vineland recommended by a budtender: the Dab Bods Dab n Go, produced by Stigma Grow.
Wesley Bowles Says: It is a 0.5g all-in-one disposable concentrate device containing live diamonds and batter inside a ceramic heating bowl. You preheat it for five seconds and draw. It replicates the high-temperature terpene flavor of an e-rig without needing a torch, banger, or cleaning swab on the road.
Tom Ritchie Says: In beverage news, 7ACRES dropped a live resin infused iced coffee beverage. Health Canada regulations restrict beverage caffeine content to 30mg per unit alongside strict dairy stabilizer limits.
Tom Ritchie Says: We are also seeing dealcoholized cannabis-infused wines out of Midland, Ontario, and Collective Arts’ Collective Project formulating craft-brewed non-alcoholic cannabis porters and ales. Functional infused beverages are displacing traditional alcohol consumption rapidly.
Tom Ritchie Says: What an incredible episode with Max Walters showing how young, agile craft operators are driving the next wave of Canadian cannabis!
Wesley Bowles Says: Stay tuned for our Holiday Special at the Joint Craft Sensory Room and upcoming features on Indigenous cannabis law.
Tom Ritchie Says: Check out Breadstack to upgrade your dispensary e-commerce, explore Terpi’s live resin vapes, and we’ll see you next week on Legacies!
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COO & Founder
Max Walters is the COO of BIG Concentrates and founder of Terpi, specializing in solventless hash processing and brand operations.
View Guest Profile ↗
Cannabis Concentrate Brand
Terpi is a Canadian cannabis concentrate brand founded by Max Walters, COO of BIG Concentrates. Developed as a modern expansion...
Learn More About Partner ↗Automated washing uses machinery to agitate water and ice, while artisanal washing (like BIG's early methods) is done by hand in smaller batches. Hand-washing allows processors to closely monitor trichome separation to minimize plant matter contamination.
To comply with provincial regulations, B2B cannabis events must verify that attendees are legal retail operators or industry employees before allowing compliant brand sampling or product presentations.
Terpi is a new brand venture founded by Max Walters, who is also the COO of BIG Concentrates. It serves as a modern product line expansion developed alongside the BIG Concentrates and Blaze Ventures group.
