EXCLUSIVE: How EQUA Tackles Stigma In Cannabis Insurance With Tailored Solutions
EQUA Specialty Risk Partners, a Canadian-owned insurance brokerage, is taking on one of the cannabis industry’s most pervasive challenges: stigma. Through education, advocacy and innovative risk management strategies, EQUA seeks to transform how cannabis businesses access insurance.
In an exclusive conversation with Benzinga, Loretta Eldridge, EQUA’s director of marketing, communications and strategic partnerships, and Matt Jardine, cannabis client executive, spoke about the company’s mission to create insurance solutions without stigma.
Uncovering The Impact Of Stigma On Canada’s Cannabis Operators
EQUA was founded in 2020 as a specialty brokerage for complex commercial risks. Initially focusing on industries like construction and technology, the company ventured into cannabis after Eldridge, a lifelong cannabis advocate and former director of marketing at Ample Organics, joined the team. “I’m transparently a lifelong consumer, a medical patient. I am really dedicated to the cannabis community because it is my community,” Eldridge said.
The shift began when Eldridge continued attending cannabis events and noticed a pressing need for insurance solutions. Business owners approached her with urgent requests for help. “It got to the point where in one of those conversations a woman I was chatting to started to get emotional. The one woman said, ‘I met you for a reason today. I need help,’” Eldridge recalled.
These interactions prompted two years of in-depth research involving nearly 60 industry leaders across 20 sub-sectors. What the EQUA team found was alarming. Canadian cannabis operators faced inflated premiums, limited market capacity and policies riddled with exclusions.
Jardine …