Matthew Erickson, Co-Founder of Evolved Extraction Solutions – Interview Series

As more states legalize cannabis, concentrates and extracts have surged in popularity. Because concentrates are produced in so many different consistencies—and are subject to numerous regulations surrounding compliant cannabis extraction methods—it is crucial to have an extraction team that thoroughly knows its specialty.

For a deeper look into cannabis extraction methods and how the underlying technologies and machines are evolving, mycannabis.com had the pleasure of speaking with Matthew Erickson, Co-Founder of Evolved Extraction Solutions.

What subjects did you study at the University of Fraser Valley and which courses became the most useful when it came to founding and running Evolved Extraction Solutions?

Out of high school, I went almost directly into the cannabis industry during the early medical cannabis era. Much of my early education came through real-world experience and learning the industry through hard knocks on the legacy side of cannabis long before formal recreational legalization.

I didn’t attend the University of the Fraser Valley until my early 30s. At that point, I wanted to strengthen my understanding of business, marketing, and strategy while also gaining the formal accreditation that, at the time, seemed highly valued by many leaders of larger cannabis companies. In those days, especially, a bachelor’s degree often carried more weight in corporate environments than hands-on cannabis experience.

Looking back, the combination of those two experiences proved incredibly valuable. My real-world cannabis background gave me practical industry insight, a deep understanding of cannabis culture, and the grit required to navigate an ever-evolving industry where the odds are often stacked against you. University helped sharpen my understanding of business operations, communication, branding, and long-term strategy.

What caught your professional attention about cannabis extraction and providing solutions to those processes? What was your experience with cannabis prior to entering the industry?

I’ve been involved with cannabis since 2002, originally during the medical cannabis era, growing for patients. Over time, I became fascinated by extraction because it transformed cannabis from simply a raw product into something far more versatile, refined, and marketable. This was much more like traditional consumer packaged goods.

Extraction opened the door for processors to differentiate themselves through branded products, unique formulations, and entirely new consumption experiences beyond simply smoking flower in a joint, pipe, or bong. Well, the method of smoking flower will always have its place, it created opportunities for innovation in consistency, potency, flavour, convenience, and overall consumer experience.

What really caught my attention, though, was how much room there was for improvement operationally. In the early days, especially, many operators were building processes in real time without established standards or optimized systems. I saw an opportunity to help professionalize that side of the industry and contribute solutions that improved consistency, efficiency, scalability, and product quality.

What in particular inspired you to co-found Evolved Extraction Solutions? What industry-wide issues did you hope to solve with the company?

Evolved was founded during a time when the industry was scaling rapidly, but a lot of the available extraction technology and infrastructure still felt very immature or hard to procure. There were major gaps in reliability, efficiency, process optimization, and long-term support.

We wanted to build a company that approached extraction from a more practical and partnership-driven perspective. Instead of simply selling equipment, the goal was to help operators solve real production challenges and continually improve their operations over time.

A big part of our philosophy has always been continuous optimization. The industry evolves quickly, and we believed extraction technology needed to evolve alongside it.

From the cannabis businesses and manufacturers that you’ve worked with, what are the most common extraction issues that they face? How does Evolved provide solutions to those issues?

Many of the common challenges we see involve bottlenecks, inefficiencies, inconsistent output, limitations in solvent recovery, labour-intensive workflows, and difficulties in scaling operations efficiently. We also see many situations where operators use the wrong or outdated tool for the job and treat the symptoms of a bottleneck rather than identifying and solving the root cause.

One thing we’ve learned over the years is that many facilities don’t necessarily need to completely rebuild their operations. In many cases, targeted optimizations and process improvements can have a significant impact on throughput, consistency, and profitability.

Our approach has always been highly collaborative. We spend a great deal of time understanding how a client’s existing process operates, identifying the true limitations, and helping develop solutions that align with their operational goals rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all approach.

From an efficiency and yield size standpoint, what is special about the Genome Hydrocarbon Extraction system and the EV-MASS Ethanol Extraction platforms? How do those methods ensure that the most potent product is extracted?

A major focus in designing both platforms was maximizing efficiency while maintaining product quality and consistency. Many extraction systems can perform well under ideal conditions, but the real challenge is creating repeatable performance at scale in real-world manufacturing environments.

The Genome and EV-MASS platforms were designed around process control, solvent management, thermal efficiency, and workflow optimization. That allows operators to process material more efficiently while preserving the specific qualities they’re targeting in the final product.

Another major focus for us was scalability. Both platforms were designed with modularity in mind so operators have a systematic pathway to get operational with the right equipment upfront while still being able to scale seamlessly over time as they capture more market share and expand production.

Historically, many extraction systems have been very cookie-cutter and difficult to modify while remaining compliant. That often forces operators into one of two difficult decisions: either overbuild early and tie up large amounts of capital in unused capacity, or purchase undersized systems that become bottlenecks as the business gains traction.

We wanted to create platforms that allowed operators to scale more strategically and efficiently alongside the growth of their business.
At the end of the day, extraction is really about balancing efficiency, selectivity, consistency, and scalability. The goal isn’t simply to extract more… it’s to extract better.

How would you describe the state of the extracts/concentrates market in Canada? Are they more popular in some provinces than others, and what are the most common extract formats?

The Canadian extracts market has matured significantly over the last several years. Consumers have become far more educated, and expectations around quality, potency, flavour, and consistency are much higher now than they were in the early days of legalization. That said, I still think there’s a long way to go.

Part of the challenge in Canada is that there are fewer fully integrated companies with direct retail control, which means dispensaries often carry an overwhelming number of products while staff may not always have a deep understanding of how those products are made or what truly differentiates them from others on the shelf.

On top of that, Canada’s strict marketing and packaging regulations make it difficult for brands to differentiate themselves visually or tell their story effectively. Consumers also don’t get the same “deli-style” experience where they can see and smell products before purchasing. Because of that, potency often becomes the primary factor consumers use to compare products, even though THC percentage alone is a poor indicator of quality or overall experience.

I often compare it to alcohol. Nobody walks into a liquor store assuming Bacardi 151 automatically delivers the best experience simply because it has the highest alcohol content. There’s much more nuance involving flavour, refinement, balance, and personal preference.

Cannabis is no different, and I think consumer education around that is still evolving.

Formats like live resin, cured resin, vape cartridges, diamonds, shatter, hash, and infused pre-rolls continue to perform well, although preferences vary regionally and continue to evolve over time. Some provinces show stronger demand for more traditional formats, while others lean more heavily toward newer concentrate and vape products.
Overall, I think we’re continuing to see consumers gravitate toward higher-quality products and brands that can consistently deliver a premium experience rather than simply the highest potency number on the label.

So I used to work in the cannabis industry in Nevada, and I remember that the crystals/diamonds were a super popular extract format. How popular are the THCa crystals that the Genome Crystallizer produces in the Canadian cannabis industry?

THCa crystals and diamonds were originally popular in the Canadian market, particularly among consumers seeking high-potency concentrates and Instagram posts. The category has evolved a lot over the years, though. Early on, much of the appeal was simply novelty and potency, whereas now consumers pay much closer attention to terpene content, texture, overall experience, and product quality.

The way I see it. THCA is a high-purity input ingredient that, if produced at scale, can be used in product formulations with HTE or high-terpene extract to formulate any solvent-extracted concentrate product on demand and with very consistent quality over time. That is an extremely important thing for a couple of reasons.

First, a brand needs to be consistent month over month, year over year. If I am going to McDonald’s (MCD ), I know what I am getting. It may not be the best hamburger, but it’s the same no matter where I get it. This is essential for any brand striving for consumer loyalty.

Second, a processor needs the flexibility to adapt to changing market demands, especially in cannabis, where customer demands are continually shifting toward the next best thing. This means that we’re never over-making or under-making a certain SKU. In a situation where the processor ends up overmaking an SKU, they can load it back into the crystallizer to separate the ingredients (THCA/HTE) apart and reformulate it into a product that is now in demand. In the past, a manufacturer would have to either fire-sell the product or risk letting it go bad after it surpassed its shelf life.

Lastly, it allows operators to drastically lower their cost-per-gram by building up their THCA levels with lower-grade biomass and then formulating it with high-grade fresh-frozen biomass to produce a high-terpene extract (HTE) for use in any of these solvent-extracted concentrates.

One of the things that has become increasingly important is consistency and scalability from the manufacturing side. As the market matured, producers needed ways to create those products more reliably and efficiently at larger volumes while still maintaining quality standards.

What advantages do you think the Canadian cannabis industry has over the American industry? Do the many extra years of federal legalization give the Canadian industry the upper hand in certain ways, or does the sheer size of the existing American industry already give it the upper hand?

I think both industries have unique advantages.

Canada benefited from federal legalization early on, which helped establish national regulatory frameworks, standardized compliance systems, and gave companies experience operating at scale within a federally legal environment. It also opened the door to more traditional banking, financing, and capital-raising opportunities, including public market listings. That access to capital, along with the ability to write off certain capital expenditures, gave many Canadian companies opportunities to scale more aggressively during the early stages of legalization. Federal legalization has also allowed Canadian companies to access emerging international cannabis markets much earlier than most American operators, particularly in medical and export-focused markets.

At the same time, the U.S. market is significantly larger, more competitive, and, in many ways, more innovative because of its fragmentation and entrepreneurial nature. A tremendous amount of innovation around product formats, branding, retail experiences, and consumer engagement has come out of the American market simply because operators have had to compete so aggressively state-by-state.

I think Canada’s advantages largely come from operational experience within a federally regulated framework, access to banking and emerging international markets, and a stronger foundation for global exports. The U.S., meanwhile, benefits from sheer scale, competition, speed of innovation, and a much more dynamic consumer market.

What do you think the upcoming years hold for the Canadian cannabis industry? What other major reforms do you see happening either on the federal or provincial level?

I think the next several years will continue to push the industry toward consolidation, operational efficiency, and stronger brand differentiation.

From a regulatory standpoint, I think there will continue to be pressure around excise taxes, packaging regulations, and creating pathways that allow Canadian companies to compete more effectively both domestically and internationally.

What ripple effects do you think the partial federal rescheduling of cannabis in America will have on the Canadian markets, if any?

Even partial federal reform in the U.S. would have significant ripple effects globally, including in Canada.

I think it would accelerate investment, increase competition, and create new opportunities around cross-border collaboration, technology, branding, and manufacturing expertise. It could also put pressure on Canadian companies to become even more operationally efficient because the U.S. market is so large and competitive.

Thank you for joining us, Matthew! For more information on Evolved Extraction Solutions, please visit its website.