Entrepreneur Irwin D. Simon Takes Companies Global, Stays Loyal to Hamptons

Irwin D. Simon first came to the Hamptons in 1983. In fact, he met wife Daryl there when a group of them were staying in a share house together.

“It took me nine years to propose to her,” Simon says of the love of his life and the woman with whom he shares four children. He refers to himself as a cat with many lives: husband, father, family man, philanthropist, businessman, entrepreneur, environmentalist. Simon, a native of Nova Scotia, Canada, purchased his first house in the Hamptons in 1998. He and Daryl purchased their current home in Bridgehampton in 2011, after living in Sagaponack for many years.

“The best time in the Hamptons is in the winter. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else,” says Simon, who purchased a home with farmland and grew cucumbers, tomatoes and eggplants. “We were on Sagaponack Pond and one of the first things we wanted to do was clean up Sagaponack Pond.”

His belief in clean living and a clean environment has impacted his business aspirations. An entrepreneur, Simon is always assessing the market, consumer wants and needs and the environment and how those things can work together. He started his career at Haagen Daaz, until he was told in 1993 that he was unemployable. That was the year he founded the Hain Celestial Group in the Hamptons. He built it into a leading global organic and natural products company with more than $3 billion in net sales. He remained with the company until 2018, when he decided it was time for a change.

He currently serves as chairman and chief executive officer of Tilray Brands, Inc. Tilray is a global lifestyle and consumer packaged goods company, with a portfolio of consumer brands that are at the forefront of the convergence of cannabis, wellness and beverages. The company operates in more than 20 countries and leads across markers as the No. 1 medical and adult-use cannabis company in Canada, the largest federally legal cannabis market in the world. It is No. 1 in medical cannabis across Europe, the fifth largest craft brewer in the United States and leading hemp foods producer in North America.

Tilray also owns Montauk Brewing which was founded in Montauk. Tilray Brands bought the craft brand in 2022. Not bad for a previously “unemployable” guy. One of Simon’s driving principles is whether whatever he is producing is good for consumers.

“I wanted to change the way the world grows food,” says Simon, who adds that most Americans lack the necessary knowledge about current agricultural practices. “We as Americans are not educated about (genetically modified) and hydrogenated food, or how to fight obesity.”

Simon also wants Americans to better understand how things grow, what pesticides and other chemicals are routinely applied to farmland and what questions to ask about the food they are eating. “You can grow food without pesticides,” Simon says. “Hain Celestial was one of the first companies to come out against formaldehyde (in food). How do we change the way we think about food? How do we get rid of processed sugars in our food?”

Tilray owns 5 billion square feet of growing space worldwide. Simon says cannabis and THC can be used to alleviate pain, anxiety and even symptoms of epilepsy. Delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC, is the medicinal compound found in cannabis. Naturally occurring THC is one of 113 cannabinoids identified within the class of cannabinoid medications.

“You have to work with good people who all have the same goals,” Simon explains of his company’s success. Currently, Canada and Europe have more progressive laws toward cannabis.

Simon is betting that eventually the United States will catch up with the attitudes and laws of Canada and Europe. When that happens, Tilray is positioned to filter out the alcohol from its whiskey and replace it with THC, which he says will give the drinker a high without a hangover.

“You can’t just throw things against the wall and see what sticks when it comes to business,” says Simon, who doesn’t use cannabis himself. “You depend on science, medicine and research. There is a market out there. We are getting away from the mindset that people who use cannabis will commit crimes.”

Simon says that being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean you try things blindly or by the seat of your pants.

“Nothing falls in your lap but food and drinks,” says Simon, who also is co-owner in the Lobster Roll restaurants in Southampton and Amagansett and also the Maidstone Hotel in East Hampton. “You have to work hard and make things happen. I am lucky to have the younger generation working with us. Sometimes I wish that my children had the upbringing I had and that I had the upbringing they had. I think you’re born an entrepreneur. You have to have that fire in your belly.”

It cannot be doubted that Simon has that fire, but he also is driven by his need to be a philanthropist and be of service to his fellow man, a trait which he and Daryl have instilled in their children.

“Today’s mission is to fight against antisemitism,” Simon says. “How do we educate our kids? It starts with what our children see from their parents. We teach our children that everyone is somebody’s brother, sister, mother, father. We really believe that the Ten Commandments are something we should follow.”

Simon takes all his commitment seriously, including how he treats others, how he treats the environment and how he conducts himself in business.

“I believe we all have to stay grounded and connected to one another,” explains Simon. “We want products that are good for consumers. Some people are going to love us, some are going to hate us, and there will be naysayers. At the end of the day, you just try to do your best.”

 Todd Shapiro is an award-winning publicist and associate publisher of Dan’s Papers.