Aurora Cannabis announces budtender program

The competition is designed to highlight the importance of budtenders and the role they play

Aurora Cannabis (TSE: ACB) has created a unique way to bring attention to budtenders, the hardworking dispensary employees responsible for ensuring marijuana consumers get exactly what they need when they walk into the store. The company has created Canada’s Top Budmaster™, a competition that “will recognize cannabis professionals across the country who are guiding consumers as they navigate the new world of legal cannabis.”

According to a press release from Aurora, the competition will incorporate a series of knowledge-testing and skills-based events, as well as a number of digital competitions. It will give Canada’s budtenders the opportunity to show off their skills and expertise across a variety of subjects, categories and histories, and how they contribute to their communities and cultures.

Aurora CEO Terry Booth states, “We wouldn’t be where we are today as an industry, and as a company, without the cannabis advocates who fought to break boundaries and challenge perceptions. Aurora thanks the cannabis leaders of the past, and we applaud the work of budtenders everywhere who are educating Canadians on cannabis, and helping to grow a strong and long-lasting future for the cannabis movement.”

All professional budtenders in Canada are eligible to participate, provided they are currently employed by an authorized retailer. The candidates should register before June 1 and the competition will end October 17, which marks the first anniversary of the legalization of cannabis in Canada.

The company adds, “… [I]t’s time to recognize the women and men in cannabis retail stores who educate consumers every day. These passionate, knowledgeable budtenders on the front line continue to break [the] stigma and grow the cannabis community by helping more and more Canadians learn about the plant, its properties and how cannabis can fit responsibly into their lives.”