How Keenan Pascal starts, scales, and revives local businesses
The role Keenan Pascal has carved for himself in the manufacturing industry is one that he never expected. Growing up in Edmonton and initially a graduate of the University of Alberta and later the University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business, Pascal started out in banking before making the leap into entrepreneurship. While attending UBC, he met a chemical engineer who mentioned that cannabis was on its way to legalization and that there may be great opportunities in the new legal industry. His curiosity and interest in entrepreneurship took over and he began raising capital for the idea. Knowing that cannabis licenses take a long time to process, Pascal used this time to flex his creativity and dove into multiple business opportunities in an effort to bolster his future. Our profile focuses on how Pascal builds and resurrects local businesses.
Tell us how your businesses began and evolved into what they are today.
We looked at a few different cities, but ultimately decided on Edmonton as the spot to start our manufacturing businesses. We felt that Edmonton was a great place to network and gather resources. The process to get your cannabis manufacturing license takes a long time and we needed to find other ways to raise capital in the meantime. My partner had great connections in the bar industry and so we started experimenting with creating bitters and sharing them with local bartenders just as the cocktail scene was starting to take off. We founded Token Bitters and Token Naturals at the same time, but Token Bitters took off while we waited for our cannabis license to come through. With those local connections, we had an opportunity to pitch a product in Japan which allowed us to gain more experience and raise more capital.
Through this time, we owned eight cannabis dispensaries and we flipped them for profit to put back into our businesses. In 2020, we got our cannabis manufacturing license and we were able to start production with Token Naturals. In 2024, we opened Spilt Zero Proof, Edmonton’s first mocktail bar. Most recently, I’ve joined forces with Hansen Distillery, which is another awesome local company. We’ve used their spirits to create our bitters for years and when we found out that the owners were considering closing because they felt burnt out, we decided to help them raise capital and joined the management team. Most of my days are now spent researching the next cool thing coming down the market. I am constantly asking myself, “What’s the next thing we can work on? What’s the new cutting edge thing we want to do?”
What do you hope people feel when they encounter any of your brands?
The vision and story behind everything we manufacture is always focused on social connections. Everything we make is intended to make you feel engaged in whatever you want to do—whether that’s having a night out with friends, or meeting with your bookclub. We have products to enjoy a wild night on Whyte Avenue or a mocktail bar where you can indulge alongside your pregnant wife. We have something for everybody. I just want to create cool things that people like. You won’t necessarily find our name plastered on all our products, because Token Naturals is the secret little engine behind the brands we produce. But I am proud to do what we do and I love that people are building memorable moments in their lives using our products.
What do people misunderstand most about your industry?
There is still a stigma when it comes to cannabis but we are moving in the right direction. If you show up to Christmas dinner with two bottles of whiskey, that seems normal; if you show up with a couple grams of cannabis, people may wonder what’s wrong with you, but we are slowly starting to see cannabis as an alcohol alternative. It’s a social lubricant, just like alcohol. We are working on ways to change the idea that cannabis is negative or dirty. That’s what pushes us to be innovative in the products we create. The cannabis industry is brand new in comparison to the liquor industry, so it takes time. We need to be patient but I hope one day it won’t matter if you choose a glass of wine or a gummy. What we really want to see out of this industry is people gathering again and being intentional about creating memories together.
What are your favourite products from your different lines?
My favourite product from Token Naturals has to be Favour. It’s a 60 ml cannabis mixer that you can add to your drink—the first of its kind in Canada. It’s like a gummy in a bottle. I like it because it combines that cocktail vibe with the cannabis and a nod to bitters. You just need a little drizzle in a drink to create something really enjoyable—like a choose-your-own adventure mix. I also love Hansen Distillery’s seasonal favourite of Mulled Cranberry Moonshine. Every year we make more, and every year we sell out, so it’s a fan favourite for sure.
How do you define luxury for yourself?
For me, luxury is owning your work days. I love to take my time in the morning and I try not to look at my phone for the first hour I am awake. Luxury is being able to create my own pace—if I want to go fast and be busy, I can. If I want to slow down, take my dog for a walk, or have coffee with my wife, I can. Being able to control your own time is the ultimate luxury in life.
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