The mega deal between industry giants Canopy Growth Corp. and Constellation Brands Inc. last week has “lit a fire under” all companies considering making a foray into the marijuana sector, according to the CEO of Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd.

Brian Athaide, CEO of the Mississauga, Ont.-based cannabis producer, told BNN Bloomberg Wednesday that companies in sectors like beverages, tobacco and pharmaceuticals are all looking into how marijuana will impact their businesses.

“I could tell you in every boardroom of every alcohol company – every other beverage company as well – pharma companies, tobacco companies, they’ve been talking about cannabis for the past year,” Athaide said. “I think last week’s announcement just lights a fire under all of them to get moving fast.”

Athaide thinks there will be a large amount of “cannibalization” that will take place in all of those sectors.

“So they’ll be many more [deals] to come,” he said. “It’s coming. It’s just the start.”

Alcohol giant Constellation Brands’ $5-billion investment in Canada’s biggest marijuana company for a 38-per-cent stake last week has pushed Canopy’s stock up 56 per cent to bring its market value to $11 billion.

As competition heats up ahead of Canada’s legalization of recreational marijuana in October, Athaide said the winners will be those that can package cannabis products best.

“This is really going to be a packaged goods kind of industry,” Athaide said. “What’s going to sell is whoever can deliver the products that taste better, that deliver the right efficacy, that deliver the right products that consumers are expecting in a consistent and reliable and safe way.”

Meanwhile, TGOD’s expansion plans in Hamilton, Ont. hit a speed bump in July when the city council rejected zoning of its production facility in the city. But Athaide said his team is back to work constructing the building after it received a foundation permit.

“We’re expecting the balance of the permits we need in the next weeks,” he said.

“We’ve now appealed to LPAT – the local planning appeal tribunal – and we expect to get a positive outcome from there, but despite that, we do have plan B, C, and D, and we can easily shift production into our Valleyfield facility if need be. And, there’s still lots of things we can still do in Ancaster [Ont.].”