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In this episode of the Legacies Podcast, host Tom Ritchie sits down with Sameer Padamsey, CEO of uFeelu. They analyze his career path from a mortgage broker in Vancouver to co-founding Field CBD in the legacy market, and his personal drive to create approachable wellness formulations following his mother’s struggle with cancer. Sameer details the complexities of B2B marketing, the challenge of building consumer education across a five-stage supply and communication pipeline, and uFeelu’s research into minor cannabinoids (CBG, CBN, CBC). He discusses managing B2B partner operations, describing how the company overcame a major licensed producer partner bankruptcy (losing over $500,000 in revenue) by partnering with Cyrus at CCC to successfully expand uFeelu’s distribution from 250 to 700 stores across Canada. Sameer also outlines uFeelu’s product innovations, including terpene-infused vapes and rapid-onset sublingual tablets.
In the second segment, Tom is joined by Dr. Shane Morris to discuss recent regulatory reforms in the Canadian market. They evaluate Health Canada’s efforts to reduce red tape, analyzing micro-cultivation limits, the rollout of retail compliance QR codes for Certificate of Analysis (COA) data, and policy updates designed to support independent processors and craft cultivators.
Tom Ritchie Says: Welcome to Legacies, everyone! Today, I’m joined by Sameer Padamsey, CEO of uFeelu. Sam, thanks for finally joining us, man!
Sameer Padamsey Says: Thanks for having me, Tom! It feels overdue. I’m a huge fan of what Legacies is doing. Having a trusted, credible media voice is so critical as we build out this industry’s infrastructure.
Tom Ritchie Says: We’ve loved following uFeelu for a long time. It takes serious guts to build a brand focused squarely on the wellness category in cannabis. Before we get into the commercial hurdles, walk us through your background. You were in mortgages in Vancouver before entering cannabis, right?
Sameer Padamsey Says: That’s right. I’m originally from Vancouver and worked as a mortgage broker for seven years. Around the pre-legalization era, a close friend and I stepped into e-commerce mail-order cannabis. As product development evolved, CBD isolate started surfacing in the market, but nobody knew how to formulate with it—people were selling one-gram jars without clear applications.
Sameer Padamsey Says: That sparked a deep personal memory. In my early twenties, I lost my mother to stage-four breast cancer that metastasized to her bones. Coming from an East Indian background, cannabis carried immense cultural stigma. She was on high-dose fentanyl patches during chemotherapy and radiation, which induced severe nausea and pain. I tried desperately to introduce her to non-intoxicating CBD through Vancouver’s legacy compassion dispensaries, but the retail environments and unrefined Phoenix Tears scared her off. That experience made me realize how vital approachable, beautifully formulated delivery is for first-time wellness consumers.
Sameer Padamsey Says: If a curious customer enters a dispensary seeking sleep support and walks out with a potent ten-milligram nano-emulsified edible, an overwhelming experience can ruin cannabis for them permanently. Wellness products require approachable form factors, clean textures, smooth topical glides, and pleasing scents. CBD serves as the welcoming front door to the entire plant.
Tom Ritchie Says: Was consumer education easier in the legacy market compared to the regulated framework?
Sameer Padamsey Says: Significantly easier. In legacy e-commerce, you communicated directly with consumers via digital content and influencer marketing. Under current regulations, you must navigate five distinct communication layers: pitching the provincial board, convincing the retail chain buyer, training the store manager, educating the frontline budtender, and equipping that budtender to counsel the consumer compliantly.
Sameer Padamsey Says: The reality is that adult-use recreational dispensaries weren’t originally designed to merchandise wellness. Progressive retailers—like The Wee Store in Windsor, The Woods with their dedicated CBD shop, or Clifford at Spear Leaf Little Italy—understand how to curate comfortable wellness spaces.
Sameer Padamsey Says: The hurdle is inventory velocity. Wellness currently represents between 1% and 3% of menu indexing. When a retailer buys a case of six wellness oils that takes four weeks to sell, they contrast that with high-potency flower flipping in forty-eight hours. However, working with Trellis data, we proved that when stores stock three to five uFeelu SKUs together, their wellness sales grow consistently month-over-month, building loyal, repeat clientele.
Tom Ritchie Says: From a retailer’s standpoint, wellness is the ultimate basket builder. A customer might enter for recreational flower, but an educated budtender can easily upsell a topical balm or a sleep formulation.
Sameer Padamsey Says: All ten of our products are anchored by minor cannabinoids—CBG, CBN, and CBC. For instance, classic strains like MTL Cannabis’s Sage n Sour thrive because of their natural 2% to 3% CBG content. When customers pair a nighttime joint with our rapid-acting CBD and CBN tablets developed with Aspire, they engage their receptors through the true entourage effect.
Tom Ritchie Says: The industry does a disservice to consumers by obsessing solely over THC percentage while ignoring the physiological synergy of minor cannabinoids and terpenes.
Tom Ritchie Says: You started with your popular Calm Drops (CBD:CBG oil) and have scaled distribution across Canada. But operating as an independent brand without your own licensed processing facility carries massive risks.
Sameer Padamsey Says: It nearly ended us. In our first two years, our primary licensed producer went bankrupt, wiping out over half a million dollars in receivables for products we had already delivered. In June, Cyrus and the team at CCC (Canadian Cannabis Collective / The Loud Plug) stepped in as our LP of record and literally saved our business. Since partnering with Cyrus, our distribution expanded from 250 doors to nearly 700 retailers across Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
Sameer Padamsey Says: My business partners Naveen and Antoine manage the supply chain logistics—coordinating minor cannabinoids, custom terpene profiles, organic sunflower carrier oils, and specialized packaging across ten complex SKUs. On top of that, I’ve put over 140,000 kilometers on my Tesla driving across Ontario from Windsor to Thunder Bay to host in-person educational product knowledge sessions with budtenders.
Tom Ritchie Says: You’ve also expanded into high-potency balanced vapes and tablets. What technical challenges arise when formulating high-CBD vape hardware?
Sameer Padamsey Says: Pure CBD has a natural tendency to crystallize and crash out at high concentrations. Developing a shelf-stable, THC-free vape requires specialized R&D, customized terpene profiles, and high-grade hardware. Furthermore, four of our products are currently graduating from Ontario’s flow-through program to General Listings (GL). Flow-through accounts for only 11% to 12% of provincial sales and adds weeks of logistics delay. Achieving full general listings across our entire portfolio will give retailers rapid, dependable access.
Tom Ritchie Says: How can dispensaries attract wellness shoppers who feel intimidated walking into an adult-use store?
Sameer Padamsey Says: Simple merchandising cues work wonders: placing an outdoor sidewalk sign highlighting CBD, designing clean, plant-accented display counters, and focusing on non-ingestible topicals like our Feel Stick or Stewart Farms bath bombs to ease first-time anxiety. Starting with CBN for evening sleep routines is also a natural conversation.
Sameer Padamsey Says: In addition, retailers are partnering with Apothecare. When wellness consumers seek guidance, dispensaries connect them directly with specialized cannabis pharmacists who evaluate their medical history and check for prescription drug interactions. The customer receives clinical trust while the retailer retains the product sale. Adapting within our existing retail framework is far more sustainable than waiting for slow regulatory overhauls.
Tom Ritchie Says: What parting wisdom would you share with operators navigating today’s market pressures?
Sameer Padamsey Says: We need to reignite the grassroots spirit of this industry. Leaders like Clifford at Spear Leaf, Jazz, and the Retail Cannabis Council of Ontario (RCCO) have banded together to demand government enforcement against illegal, unregulated storefronts. Cyrus contributed $5,000, uFeelu contributed $500, and independent retailers across Ontario are pooling funds for a grassroots advocacy campaign. We cannot rely solely on slow-moving regulatory consultations—brands, retailers, and budtenders must stand united to protect our legal market.
Tom Ritchie Says: Count us in, Sam. We fully support grassroots collective action. Thank you for joining us on Legacies!
Tom Ritchie Says: Welcome back, everyone! We are joined by Dr. Shane Morris, veteran cannabis regulatory expert and industry advisor. Shane, happy belated St. Patrick’s Day, and welcome back to Legacies!
Shane Morris Says: Thanks, Tom! Great to be back. I’ve mostly recovered from St. Patrick’s Day, ready to break down Health Canada’s latest regulatory amendments.
Tom Ritchie Says: Health Canada recently released significant amendments to the Cannabis Regulations. Give us the high-level overview: who are the biggest winners in this update?
Shane Morris Says: The clearest winners are micro-cultivators and micro-processors. For micro-cultivators, the canopy limit has quadrupled from 200 square meters to 800 square meters. For micro-processors, their annual processing threshold expanded fourfold from 600 kilograms of dried cannabis equivalency up to 2,400 kilograms.
Shane Morris Says: That extra volume completely alters micro economics, enabling substantial vape and extract output. In fact, Health Canada has established an expedited process allowing standard processing license holders to downsize to micro-processing to take advantage of dramatically lower regulatory fees.
Tom Ritchie Says: What operational burdens were eliminated for facility operators?
Shane Morris Says: Several major security mandates were overhauled. Facilities no longer require a security-cleared person physically onsite during every routine handling activity—a massive cost relief given that individual clearances cost approximately $2,000 each. Continuous 24/7 perimeter video recording has been updated to motion-activated recording, and the burdensome requirement to record physical swipe logs for every entrance and exit into storage vaults was removed.
Shane Morris Says: Offsite antimicrobial remediation no longer requires a security-cleared escort if product returns directly to the licensed site. While these are common-sense reforms, it is frustrating that an industry paying a 2.3% annual regulatory fee had to wait over four years for consultations initiated in December 2020 to take effect.
Tom Ritchie Says: What changes directly affect consumer packaging and retail merchandising?
Shane Morris Says: First, the one-gram weight cap on individual pre-rolls has been removed, allowing pre-rolls up to the thirty-gram personal possession limit. Second, clear windows are now permitted on dried flower pouches, allowing consumers to inspect bud quality prior to purchase. This should reward genuine craft growers, expose substandard flower, and reduce retail return rates.
Tom Ritchie Says: And the return of QR codes on packaging is a huge milestone.
Shane Morris Says: Absolutely. QR codes were banned in 2018 after early wild-west marketing campaigns spooked regulators. Reintroducing them allows brands to link directly to verifiable Certificates of Analysis (COAs), harvest dates, cultivation genetics, and virtual facility tours without violating Section 17 lifestyle restrictions. Connecting consumers with the growers and craftsmen behind the plant creates authentic brand equity.
Tom Ritchie Says: Explain the new regulations surrounding multipacks. Can brands now assemble mixed variety packs?
Shane Morris Says: No, and this is where the legal drafting is very specific. These are multipacks, not variety packs. A multipack must contain products belonging to the exact same class—you cannot mix an infused pre-roll with standard dried flower. Furthermore, each unit within the package must possess identical properties and cannabinoid levels from the same production lot, with exceptions allowed only for flavor and color variations. The primary intent is accommodating volume bundles, such as twenty-four-packs of beverages or multi-unit edible packs.
Tom Ritchie Says: What critical reforms were omitted from this regulatory package?
Shane Morris Says: Regulatory amendments cannot alter primary legislation. Changes to marketing restrictions, excise tax reform, and broad non-prescription CBD scheduling require parliamentary amendments to the Cannabis Act itself. Health Canada launched another consultation on non-prescription health products, but after four rounds of inquiries, the industry needs legislative action, not redundant surveys.
Tom Ritchie Says: Shane, thank you for cutting through the bureaucratic red tape and delivering clear regulatory insights. Always an honor having you on Legacies!
Shane Morris Says: Any time, Tom! Always a pleasure.
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Co-Founder & CEO
Sameer Padamsey is the co-founder and CEO of uFeelu, specializing in minor cannabinoid wellness products.
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Cannabis Wellness & Minor Cannabinoid Brand
uFeelu is a Canadian cannabis wellness brand specializing in non-intoxicating and minor cannabinoid formulations. The company develops specialized oil drops,...
Learn More About Partner ↗uFeelu is a Canadian cannabis wellness brand specializing in non-intoxicating formulations combining CBD, CBG, CBN, and CBC into standardized oil drops, sublingual tablets, and vapes.
After its original licensed producer went bankrupt, uFeelu partnered with CCC (managed by Cyrus) to secure consistent manufacturing, expanding its retail presence to 700 stores.
Health Canada regulatory adjustments aim to lower operational red tape, raising capacity limits and simplifying licensing paths to support small-scale craft producers.
