CFN Media Exclusive Interview With JJ McKay, Founder of ‘The Fresh Toast’


Rachelle Gordon

June 28th, 2018

News


In the fast-emerging legal cannabis market, consumers are hungry for accurate and relevant information that will both entertain and inform. Enter The Fresh Toast, a popular daily lifestyle platform “with a side of cannabis.” The online publication recently announced partnerships with Postmedia, which will bring Fresh content into newspapers and periodicals across North America, and Skipta, a social network designed for the medical community.

CFN Media recently spoke with JJ McKay, Founder/Publisher of The Fresh Toast, in order to gain insight on the cannabis industry at-large and how the company is setting the bar high in the way consumers learn about the plant as a whole.

CFN Media:  How was the Fresh Toast conceived?

JJ McKay:  I founded The Fresh Toast because the majority of Americans are curious about cannabis but don’t have a place that is familiar-looking enough for them to feel comfortable and to explore what cannabis looks like, nor speaks to the average user or the canna curious. About three years ago a friend jumped into the cannabis industry in the product side and really wanted me to help. After advising him for a bit, I realized there was a vast gap on helping people understand today marijuana and the market. Whenever I would bring marijuana up, everyone asked questions, “I haven’t used it since college, is it different?” or, “I want to try it but I don’t like smoking,” and so forth.

Having spent a large period of my life working with the mainstream consumer market and around media, I realized there was a wonderful opportunity to help the industry, help medical patients, introduce today’s cannabis and build a company that would be lucrative for our team and our investors.    As I surveyed the weed digital landscape, I knew we could deliver something ground-breaking and everyday people would read us. We founded The Fresh Toast to reflect the day-to-day reading habits so we look more like a Huffington Post,  Target or TMZ or any of the brands and sites that people go to daily to help them connect with multiple interests.

We started building the site because America was looking for answers in an atmosphere they could enjoy and share but no one was providing it. I realized it was a moment in time where you can help an industry become incredible and build something that’s going to be long-lasting with have positive global effects.

CFN Media:  What topics are people most curious about when it comes to cannabis?

JM:  I’ve become a speaker in the alcohol circuit, speaking at conferences like VIBE and Marriott’s Global Beverage Conference. What I share with them is there’s two types of consumers out there for marijuana. The majority will see it as a recreational opportunity and see it in the same context as alcohol.  It will be in their “get toasted” toolbox with beer, wine and spirits as a way to relax on Monday evening after work or really go all out on Saturday night.

The cannabis market is starting to have an small impact the beer industry  with people  coming home and instead of having a couple of beers, they are having a couple of pulls from a vape.   But people still love the social aspects of alcohol going to dinners, backyard bbqs and parties where alcohol is the main intoxicant.    Shots, specialty drinks, rose, kegs and more are ingrained in people lives.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine 76% of physicians are believe in medical marijuana.   It is today’s version of aspirin – It is not a cure-all, but it can alleviate certain symptoms from some horrible ailments.   For patients or caregivers, this is another way they can manage symptoms from illness, chronic pain and ADD.   And it is a safe option as opposed to opioids.   I don’t think it will cure a disease, but give relief cancer, Parkinson’s epilepsy and so much more.   We need to invest in my medical research..

CFN Media:  This month, Canada legalized adult-use cannabis and the FDA approved the very first CBD-derived medication for epilepsy. When will the United States finally commit to reform?

JM:  I had the honor of being with some FDA leaders on Monday for the Epidiolex announcement and they were heartened by the approval.   We all hope this will open the door to more research and science for cannabis. Having said that, I don’t think anything’s going to happen with regards to legalization federally in the next year. I think it’s going to come in the next term because it will wind up being a financial decision in the United States.

I always laugh, people say, “Oh my god, just like gay marriages in 28 states, it’ll quickly become legal in the United States!” Here’s the thing: gay marriage, other than to the booze and venue industry, wasn’t a lot of money. Whereas cannabis, California alone in their first full year of implementation should make $1.5 billion dollars in tax revenue. So the big discussion is, how is it going to be taxed?   State and the federal governments are starting to see this could be another major source of revenue.    With Canada having it fully legal in October and the majority of American open to legalization, politicians are realizing it could be an answer to budget shortfalls.

CFN Media:  Speaking of physicians, how does The Fresh Toast’s partnership with Skipta help to increase education on medical cannabis in the healthcare community?

JM:  We were very lucky to be introduced to Skipta. They are the nation’s leading networking and shared training site with 800,000 medical professionals registered, 600,000 physicians. Their CEO is a great entrepreneur and visionary. They have a very robust and active site and they decided they needed to tackle the cannabis problem because so patients are asking their doctors if it can help them.

Skipta is working to help their medical professionals become comfortable and knowledge about the science and uses behind cannabis and  share research and facts on how to use to treatment of various ailments.  They have begun sharing that valuable information with us and in turn share with the consumer public.   Medical professional then have a public site they can direct patients for secure and trusted content – so we ultimately will become the “patient brochure” for medical use.

CFN Media:  What is your current fundraising goal and why should potential investors consider The Fresh Toast?

JM:  We’re doing a $2.4 million dollar equity raise. We rolled out our first phase of the company which is our media part, and our second level will roll out on our monetization side. We have three strong forms of monetization that’ll be revealed in the fall and we feel very, very lucky to have spent a year and a half building the media front of the company which has given us traffic and the analytics to ensure that the monetization side will be lucrative. For the next two years we’re focused on building a quality company that grows in value, grows in influence, and provides, most importantly, a big benefit for the mainstream public.

The Fresh Toast is the only one that has relationships with America’s newspapers and with America’s doctors; we have the relationship with Canada’s Postmedia. We have probably the most mainstream audience out there with a large number of female readers; we have a large number of readers from around North America, be it Texas and New York, to Massachusetts and Illinois and Toronto. We have a robust online social media presence. We have a great relationship with Facebook, Google and Apple News. We have a lot of things that differentiate us from the rest of the industry.

CFN Media:  What is the most common question you get about cannabis? What is one thing every person should know about it?

JM:  Probably the number one question is, “Can I take it other than smoking it?” Followed by, “Are edibles effective?” And then the last one is, “Is it true that weed is now super strong compared to back in the day? ” I say, “Nowadays when you buy it, if you buy it legally you can see how much it is and you can regulate it from there.” It’s not that hard.

What people need to know is that all science shows that using cannabis is much better than drinking even red wine or definitely doing shots and so forth. But with weed, you don’t have a hangover, and you definitely can’t overdose on it because then you just fall asleep.

CFN Media:  When will cannabis become another commodity?

JM:  I use the cannabis industry in comparison to the video industry. That was the last time that we really built a robust vertical.   You had people producing content and then packaging it sell.   Then an entire retail industry popped up starting with small local stores growing to bigger stores, supermarkets, etc.  then it became Blockbuster and Hollywood video.  Now it is Fandor, Netflix and On Demand. That’s how the cannabis market is going to be.   Raw goods, branded products, and retail outlets with ancillary services circling the industry.

CFN Media:  Why should people read The Fresh Toast?

JM:  20% of our readers come every day because we’re a fun, informative site that (outside of our medical) will always leave a smile on your face. In our medical it’s really news that you can relate and you can share with your grandmother without being ashamed.

This article was published by CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN), owner and operator of CFN Media, the industry’s leading agency and digital financial media network dedicated to the burgeoning CBD and legal cannabis industries. Call +1 (833) 420-CNFN for more information.

About Rachelle Gordon

Rachelle Gordon is a Minneapolis-based writer. Find her online at www.rachellegordon.net.


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