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Okanagan favourites: 3 recognized by Leafly Awards

Published on January 23, 2020 by David Wylie

A handful of Okanagan cannabis companies made Leafly Canada’s inaugural Readers’ Choice Awards list.

Cannabis producer Flowr (Best CBD Flower), retail store Hobo, and the University of British Columbia (Best Research Institution) all earned a nod in their separate categories.

“For us here at Leafly, this exercise was a chance to take stock of the current state of cannabis in Canada, which at the time of voting included more than 360 types of flower, over 150 pre-rolls, and 105 types of oil—not to mention nearly 600 licensed cannabis retailers across the country.”

Hobo Kelowna, which is the first legal cannabis store to open in Kelowna, made the list as one of the country’s best looking stores.

It’s filled with leafy green plants and lots of wood.

“A weathered fedora of the Indiana Jones variety is kept under glass, perhaps a nod to the wanderlust lifestyle suggested by the brand’s name,” says Leafly.

Stores voted best looking all had a unifying aesthetic — “minimalist, sophisticated, and accessible, a counter argument to the worst stereotypes of outdated stoner culture.”

The Flowr Company’s BC Intergalactic Princess was named one of the best in high CBD. The medicinal strain is said to be a gentle introduction to cannabis.

Finally, the University of British Columbia, which has campuses in Vancouver and Kelowna, produced “brilliant cannabis research” in multiple departments during 2019.

“The faculty of medicine identified less depression and suicidal ideation in PTSD patients who used cannabis; the department of family practice found that up to one-third of pregnant women don’t believe cannabis is harmful to their fetus; and the botany department linked the frostiness of a flower with the potency of a bud,” says Leafly.

Polling was open from late November into early December 2019, and cannabis consumers from across the country were asked to vote.

Leafly says the inaugural awards were complicated by the fact that product selection differs drastically between provinces and not all brands were equally represented across the country. That likely skewed voting towards the most abundant products and brands, says Leafly.

Since voting has concluded, Cannabis 2.0 products have begun to hit the market.

Check out Leafly for the full results.