The Flowr Corporation hired Canadian Chef Ryan Reed to develop signature edible cannabis products.

Chef Reed is a past winner of Iron Chef and Chopped and Victoria’s 2011 Chef of the Year. He will collaborate closely with Flowr’s R&D Team to research and develop high-quality edibles.

“I’m thrilled to join the Flowr Family. It’s an honour and a pleasure to join a company that is ride or die on technique, quality and innovation,” said Chef Reed.

“A kitchen and a cultivation facility both require leaders with technical mastery to truly innovate. Tom Flow (Flowr’s Co-CEO) spent years mastering the craft of growing fine cannabis. Like Tom, I’ve put in the time. I’ve been a garde manger, a saucier, an entremetier as well as a head chef. Now I look forward to working with Tom and the team to bring gourmet, sophisticated edibles that are intended to cater to the needs of a premium customer to market,” he added.

Like the brand’s existing product, it is Flowr’s intention to target the needs of a premium client with this new line. Flowr expects that customers will be able to purchase these unique, gourmet products once launched following the anticipated legalization of edibles and infused products in Q4 2019.

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“The hiring of Chef Reed complements Flowr’s already significant investment in research and development,” said Tom Flow. “This includes our dedicated, state-of-the-art cannabis R&D facility, a North American first, our exclusive partnership with Hawthorne Gardening Company, a subsidiary of The Scotts Company, a world leader in lawn and garden products, and the recent hiring of Deron Caplan, North America’s First Cannabis Cultivation Ph.D.,” said Flow.

When Canada legalized cannabis last fall, it only allowed fresh or dried bud, oil, plants and seeds. Health Canada released its proposed regulations for edibles, extracts and topicals in December and asked for feedback.

The government plans to have regulations in place for those products no later than Oct. 17.

Proposed regulations include ensuring that a single serving would be limited to 10 milligrams of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, and each serving must be individually wrapped.

The regulations also say the products must not be appealing to youth and the packages can’t advertise dessert or confectionery flavours. Edibles must also not encourage over-consumption and be shelf-stable, ruling out refrigeration.

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