Tilray Brands is a diversified global lifestyle and consumer packaged goods company with a house of brands and operations across more than 20 countries. Chairman and CEO Irwin Simon stepped in to lead the business in 2019, when it was known as Aphria, and has since guided its transformation from a cannabis-focused company into a global platform built on four pillars: medical cannabis, adult-use cannabis, wellness, and craft beverages.
Its brands show up in the real moments of everyday life, from a Montauk beer enjoyed on the beach to Manitoba Harvest hemp foods on the pantry shelf. A craft beverage platform anchored by SweetWater Brewing Company, BrewDog, and Shock Top has made Tilray the fourth-largest craft brewer in the United States. Adult-use brands such as Broken Coast and Good Supply, along with a medical cannabis business that helps patients around the world access pharmaceutical-grade treatments, complete a portfolio built to evolve with the consumer.
Pulse 2.0 interviewed Simon to learn more about the company and what comes next.
Vision For The Company
How did your vision for Tilray Brands come together, and what was the initial inspiration behind the strategy? Simon said:
When I stepped in to lead Aphria in 2019, the business was primarily focused on cannabis and operating in a highly regulated, rapidly evolving global market. I believed deeply in the long-term potential of cannabis, but I also knew that building a durable global company required more than waiting for regulation to catch up. It required scale, diversification, financial discipline, and the ability to connect with consumers and patients across multiple categories.
From the beginning, the strategy was to build ahead of the market rather than wait for regulation to catch up. We set out to create a diversified global platform with multiple growth engines—cannabis, beverage, wellness, medical distribution, and hospitality—each capable of standing on its own while reinforcing the others.
That vision has guided Tilray’s transformation from a cannabis-focused company into a diversified global lifestyle and consumer packaged goods company with a house of brands and operations across more than 20 countries.
The first step was expanding beyond cannabis into adjacencies where we understood the consumer and the infrastructure. That’s what led to the acquisition of SweetWater Brewing Company in 2020. Beer is a massive, durable category—it’s not going away—and it gave us immediate scale, cash flow, and access to the U.S. market.
Then in 2021, we acquired Tilray, creating one of the world’s leading cannabis companies and expanding our international footprint. That also brought Manitoba Harvest into the portfolio, which strengthened our position in wellness—an area I’ve spent much of my career in and understand deeply.
Since then, we have continued to build with purpose, creating strong, complementary businesses across cannabis, beverage, wellness, medical distribution, and hospitality. That diversification gives us resilience in challenging markets and positions us to lead as consumer preferences, healthcare access, and regulated markets continue to evolve.
At the end of the day, my vision has always been to build a company that can win in different environments. Cannabis gives us long-term global upside, beverage provides scale and consumer reach today, wellness connects to enduring health and nutrition trends, medical distribution gives us credibility and access into healthcare systems, and hospitality deepens brand connection.
This isn’t about chasing one opportunity, it’s about building a platform that shapes where the consumer is going next.
We have also been intentional about building for the world as it exists today. Cannabis legalization and regulatory reform have taken longer than many expected, particularly in the U.S., so we have focused on regulated medical markets, compliance, quality systems, scientific expertise, and adjacent consumer categories where we can build scale now. With the formation of Tilray Medical U.S. and continued momentum around federal rescheduling, we believe we are well positioned to responsibly apply our global medical cannabis expertise in the U.S. healthcare system as the regulatory framework evolves.
Memorable Moments
What have been some of your most memorable moments leading Tilray Brands? Simon shared:
Some of the most memorable moments for me have been watching Tilray evolve into a true house of brands—one that spans categories, connects with consumers in different ways, and creates real moments of connection in people’s everyday lives.
When I look across our portfolio, brands like Broken Coast, Good Supply, Montauk Brewing Company, SweetWater Brewing Company, BrewDog, Manitoba Harvest, and Shock Top – what stands out most is how each one has its own identity, its own loyal consumer base, and its own way of showing up in culture. But together, they represent something bigger.
One of the most rewarding parts of leading Tilray has been seeing how these brands come to life—not just on shelves, but in real moments. Whether it’s someone enjoying a Montauk beer on the beach, discovering wellness through Manitoba Harvest, or engaging with our cannabis brands in a meaningful way, we’re creating experiences that connect with people. That’s what I find most powerful – building brands that are part of consumers’ lives.
At the same time, some of the most meaningful moments go beyond consumer products. Through our medical cannabis platform, we’re supporting clinical research, advancing science, and helping patients around the world access high-quality, pharmaceutical-grade treatments. Being part of studies that contribute to a deeper understanding of medical cannabis—and seeing the real impact it can have on people’s lives—is incredibly powerful. That’s where this business becomes more than growth; it becomes purpose driven.
Another defining moment has been seeing our innovation engine accelerate across categories. From new product launches to expanding into new markets, we’re constantly pushing forward and bringing new formats, new ideas, and new experiences to consumers. That ability to innovate across industries is something I’m incredibly proud of, because it reflects the culture we’ve built.
At the end of the day, what makes these moments memorable isn’t just the growth – it’s the connection. Whether it’s through a product, a brand experience, or advancing patient care, we’re building a portfolio that resonates, evolves with the consumer, and makes a meaningful impact across multiple industries.
Core Products
Can you walk us through Tilray’s core products and brand portfolio? What sets them apart in the market? Simon explained:
Our portfolio is organized around four core business pillars: medical cannabis, adult-use cannabis, wellness, and craft beverages—each designed to meet consumers and patients across meaningful health, lifestyle, social, and wellness occasions while strengthening our diversified global business.
Medical cannabis remains a foundational pillar of Tilray. We provide pharmaceutical-grade products for patients around the world, supported by rigorous quality standards, clinical research, and deep regulatory expertise. Through our medical infrastructure and distribution capabilities, particularly across Europe and other international markets, we are helping expand patient access while advancing the science of cannabis.
Adult-use cannabis is another key pillar, with a portfolio that spans premium to value segments. Brands such as Broken Coast and Good Supply enable us to serve a broad range of consumers while maintaining a strong focus on innovation, quality, and brand building.
Wellness represents our commitment to health, nutrition, and plant-based living. Led by Manitoba Harvest, a category leader in hemp foods, our wellness business includes hemp-based snacks, foods, and nutrition products that align with long-term consumer trends and demand for better-for-you products.
Our craft beverage business provides U.S. scale, consumer reach, cultural relevance, and a powerful bridge into hospitality and brand experiences. Through brands such as SweetWater Brewing Company, Montauk Brewing Company, BrewDog, and Shock Top, we participate in one of the world’s largest consumer categories while connecting with consumers through lifestyle and social occasions.
What sets Tilray apart is not any one category, but the strength of these pillars working together. Our diversified portfolio allows us to engage consumers and patients across multiple occasions, leverage shared expertise, distribution, and brand-building capabilities, and build a business designed for long-term growth as consumer, wellness, beverage, and healthcare markets continue to evolve.
Craft Beer Business
Tilray is now the 4th largest craft brewer in the U.S. How did beer become such a key part of the company’s growth strategy? What’s next for Tilray’s craft beer business? Simon detailed:
Craft beer became a key part of our growth strategy because I saw early on that if we wanted to build a scaled, global consumer company, we needed categories that deliver both immediate revenue and long-term brand connection—and beer does exactly that.
When we entered the category with SweetWater in 2020, it wasn’t just about owning a brewery; it was about building a platform. Craft beer is a category built on strong consumer loyalty, and importantly, it gave us a meaningful presence in the U.S. market while cannabis remains federally constrained. From there, we expanded deliberately by acquiring distinctive craft brands, building distribution, and scaling our infrastructure.
What you’re seeing today is the result of that strategy. We’ve built one of the largest craft beer platforms in the U.S., now ranking #4, and we’ve done it in a relatively short period of time by focusing on strong regional brands and scaling them thoughtfully. Our approach, what we call a “regional jewel” strategy is about identifying brands with deep local loyalty and then growing them within their core regions.
More recently, our acquisition of BrewDog’s key assets has been a defining step forward. It adds a globally recognized brand, brewing operations, and a hospitality model that allows us to engage with consumers in a much more experiential way. These brewpubs are not just points of sale; they are destinations that deepen brand connection and give us the ability to introduce our broader portfolio directly to consumers.
At the same time, we have scaled this into a global platform. With BrewDog and our existing brands, we are building an approximately half-billion-dollar global craft beer and beverage business with meaningful opportunities across the U.S., the U.K., Europe and other international markets.
What’s next is really about acceleration, stabilization, and integration. We are focused on reinvesting in these brands, supporting the teams behind them, driving innovation, and leveraging our scale—whether that is expanding distribution, introducing our U.S. craft brands internationally, strengthening BrewDog’s U.S. and global opportunities, or using partnerships like our agreement with Carlsberg Group to further strengthen our beverage presence.
We also see a big opportunity in bringing these brands closer to the consumer through hospitality, experiential retail, and global brand building. And importantly, we’re creating synergies across our entire portfolio—using our brewing, distribution, and commercial capabilities to drive efficiency and unlock new innovation across beverage.
At the end of the day, beer isn’t just an adjacency for us—it’s a core growth engine. It gives us scale today, complements our other businesses, and positions us to lead as these categories continue to converge.
Differentiation
What differentiates Tilray from competitors in the cannabis and CPG space? Simon affirmed:
What differentiates Tilray starts with the breadth and credibility of our platform. We are one of the few companies with scaled cannabis cultivation, global medical cannabis capabilities, a growing beverage platform, wellness brands, and pharmaceutical distribution infrastructure operating together under one enterprise.
In cannabis, we have built scale with a strong focus on quality, compliance, and consistency, including operations that meet rigorous standards in regulated markets. That expertise has allowed us to serve patients across more than 20 countries and build a foundation of clinical research, regulatory experience, distribution infrastructure, and patient access capabilities.
Alongside medical cannabis, we have built an adult-use cannabis portfolio that spans premium to value, with brands like Broken Coast and Good Supply serving different consumer needs. We continue to innovate across key formats while maintaining discipline around product quality, profitability, and brand building.
What also sets us apart is how we’ve combined that cannabis leadership with a broader CPG mindset. We understand how to build brands, scale distribution, and connect with consumers across multiple categories from cannabis to beverage to wellness. That diversification strengthens our business, but it also gives us a unique lens into consumer behavior and innovation.
At the end of the day, it is the combination of global scale, medical cannabis credibility, regulatory expertise, consumer brand building, and disciplined diversification that differentiates Tilray Brands. We are not relying on a single category or market; we are building a global platform designed for long-term growth.
Key Priorities
What are Tilray’s key priorities and growth initiatives for the next few years? Simon concluded:
Our priorities over the next few years are very clear—and they’re grounded in what we’ve already been building: scale our global platform, drive profitable growth, and lead as these industries converge.
First, we are continuing to expand our international cannabis and medical platform, which remains one of our most important growth drivers. We have seen strong momentum in regulated medical markets, including Germany, and we are focused on expanding patient access, strengthening distribution, and advancing research-backed medical cannabis leadership.
We are deepening that footprint through pharmacy networks, strategic partnerships, clinical research, and pharmaceutical-quality products. Our partnerships and platforms in Europe and the U.K. extend our reach into healthcare channels and support our ambition to be a trusted global medical cannabis leader.
Second, we are preparing for the U.S. medical cannabis opportunity as the regulatory landscape evolves. With Tilray Medical U.S., we are focused on a responsible, healthcare-led approach grounded in research, compliance, quality standards, and patient access—not speculation around adult-use legalization.
At the same time, we are accelerating our beverage business as a near-term growth engine. Beer and beverages continue to provide scale, cash flow, and consumer reach—particularly in the U.S. and now increasingly across international markets. Our strategy is to grow this into a global platform through brand expansion, innovation, hospitality, distribution, and partnerships. Recent moves—from expanding BrewDog to launching new products and advancing licensing and distribution partnerships—are all about driving growth, increasing reach, and strengthening our connection with consumers.
Another key priority is operational efficiency and margin expansion. We’ve been very focused on improving profitability through cost discipline, automation, centralized sourcing, and better product mix. That includes optimizing our portfolio, focusing on higher-margin categories, and leveraging our scale across cannabis, beverage, and wellness.
We’re also continuing to invest in innovation across all categories—whether that’s expanding our cannabis portfolio with new brands and formats, innovating across craft beer and alternative beverages in the U.S., or developing new wellness products that meet evolving consumer demand.
At the end of the day, our strategy is about execution. We have built a diversified global platform across cannabis, beverage, wellness, medical distribution, and hospitality—and now it is about scaling each of those pillars, driving profitability, and positioning Tilray to lead as these markets continue to evolve.
