Fish-Waste Fueled Cannabis Company Looks to IPO, Says Green Relief CEO
*By Chloe Aiello*
Warren Bravo thinks investors will get behind his fish waste-based cannabis concept when his company, Canadian marijuana producer Green Relief, heads to the public market this year.
"We are going out, we'll say, sometime this year into the IPO space," Bravo, Green Relief CEO and co-founder, told Cheddar on Wednesday, adding that he's not committed to a specific time frame.
"We want to make sure the market conditions are right, because we only have one chance to do that successfully and we want to make sure Green Relief tells the story investors want to hear."
The story that Bravo is talking about concerns cannabis and fish ー or, more specifically, fish excrement.
Green Relief has developed a system in which filtered fish waste is used to fertilize cannabis plants, which in turn, clean the water for the fish. It's a closed loop, recirculating ecosystem that enables pesticide-free farming.
"It's the same ecosystem as any freshwater lake," Bravo said. "Any vegetation that grows in water is fertilized by the fish that live in that body of water. So we've commercialized an ecosystem, and made it scale-able and growing our cannabis plants in a very natural, clean, and organic way."
Once the fish are no longer of use to the cannabis plants, Green Relief donates them to charity ー Bravo said the company has managed to provide as many as 50,000 meals to homeless shelters in the Toronto area. In the future, Bravo said Green Relief may consider monetizing the aquaculture portion of its business, and experimenting with using more valuable fish, like Asian sea bass, fresh water prawn, or koi to clean the water. But for now, Green Relief is sticking to tilapia.
"Right now tilapia is what we do, because it's tried, proven and works really well in a farmed environment. So, as they say, 'if it ain't broke don't fix it,' and that's what we are using now," Bravo said.
Bravo added that the company is "on the path to profitability," as it considers a public listing, and is currently working with lawyers to finalize its prospectus.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/cannabis-and-tilapia-make-for-unlikely-but-sustainable-pairing).
Following the invasion of Ukraine, a multitude of Western companies have paused doing business with Russia. PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Starbucks are the most recent companies to temporarily cease operations in Russia. Dean of Miami Herbert Business School at the University of Miami, John Quelch, joined Cheddar News to discuss what message this sends to Russia and the Russian consumer. “I would not underestimate the collective strength of all of these multinational companies, essentially coming together to make their collective statement in support of the political statements that have come out of Washington," he said.
Cristyl Kimbrough, real estate attorney and star of 'Ladies Who List: Atlanta,' joins Cheddar News to discuss her new show on OWN and breaking into Atlanta's luxury real estate space.
Carl Tobias, professor of law at the University of Richmond, joins Cheddar News to talk about how Johnson & Johnson funded experiments on mostly Black men comparing the effects of talc and asbestos on their skin.
Amazon unveiled its new mobile app called Amp as a direct competitor to Clubhouse, allowing people to host live radio shows. Although it is still in beta, users can join the waitlist from the iOS store.
President Biden announced a ban on Russian oil and natural gas imports to the U.S. in response to its invasion of Ukraine, a move he warned could lead to an even greater surge in gas prices. The ban is prompting a conversation about the current oil production levels in the U.S. and whether or not the industry can ramp up production to soften the blow to American families at the gas pump. Clark Williams-Derry, Energy Finance Analyst with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, breaks down the state of the U.S. oil industry and how the ban might impact production levels here at home.
PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Starbucks are the latest American food brands to have halted business operations in Russia after having faced scrutiny and criticism for originally failing to do so amid the country's invasion of Ukraine.
As Russia intensifies its war on Ukraine, President Biden announced a ban on oil imported from the aggressor nation. Critics of Russia have said this would be the best way to force Putin to pull back, but curbs on Russian oil exports are expected to send already skyrocketing oil and gas prices even higher, further impacting consumers, businesses, financial markets, and the global economy. Leslie Beyer, CEO of the Energy Workforce and Technology Council, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. "It's certainly going to increase pricing, but it is the right thing to do," she said. "The industry itself has already pulled out of the significant portion of its operations in Russia."
