World’s first airport cannabis store to open in Canada

by The Real Dirt | Feb 9, 2022 | 420 Culture & Travel, Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis News, Culture, Industry News, Legalization, Stranger Than Fiction

first airport cannabis store opening in Canada

The Prince George Airport in British Columbia is one step closer to hosting what reportedly would be the world’s first in-airport cannabis store.

The Prince George City Council voted in favor of the store’s land-use application at a public hearing Monday night.

Retail brand Copilot plans to open its airport terminal store by the beginning of summer, said co-founder Owen Ritz, pending further government approvals and store construction.

“We think that one potential segment are customers who are looking to purchase cannabis products and potentially consume them before traveling,” Ritz told MJBizDaily.

“It’s not necessarily because we view cannabis as a way to get intoxicated before traveling – it’s that cannabis is a product that people use to relieve stress and travel is a stressful experience, and it’s a practice that already exists.”

Other potential customers include arriving travelers looking to pick up cannabis before heading to their final destination in B.C., Ritz added, as well as curious travelers who might not ordinarily visit a cannabis store.

“We really view being in an airport as an opportunity to do that, to introduce our brand, and cannabis retail in general, to any type of customer.”

Cannabis consumption area planned

The Prince George Airport Authority (PGAA) publicly announced the planned cannabis retailer in January.

Ritz said he and fellow Copilot co-founder Reed Horton originally pitched the airport on the retail concept nearly two years ago, gaining PGAA’s approval and support for the retail concept.

The single-terminal regional airport served nearly 500,000 passengers in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and zapped air travel.

Read Full Story on MJBizDaily

Uber enters cannabis market with Uber Eats delivery in Ontario

by The Real Dirt | Nov 22, 2021 | Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis News, Culture, Industry News, Legalization

Uber eats cannabis delivery coming to Ontario

Uber will allow users in Ontario, Canada, to place orders for cannabis on its Uber Eats app, marking the ride-hailing giant’s foray into the booming business, a company spokesperson said on Monday.

Uber Eats will list cannabis retailer Tokyo Smoke on its marketplace on Monday, following which customers can place orders from the Uber Eats app and then pick it up at their nearest Tokyo Smoke store, the spokesperson said.

Uber, which already delivers liquor through its Eats unit, has had its sights set on the burgeoning cannabis market for some time now. Its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told media in April the company will consider delivering cannabis when the legal coast is clear in the United States.

With more than three years into Canada’s legalization of recreational cannabis, the country is trying to fix its ailing pot market, where illegal producers still control a large share of total annual sales.

The partnership will help Canadian adults purchase safe, legal cannabis, helping combat the underground illegal market which still accounts for over 40 percent of all non-medical cannabis sales nationally, Uber said on Monday.

Global cannabis stocks tracker MJ ETF climbed 2 percent, while Uber’s shares were up 1.2 percent at $44.78 in premarket trading.

Cannabis sales in Canada will total $4 billion in 2021 and are forecast to grow to $6.7 billion in 2026, according to data from industry research firm BDS Analytics.

Asked about the possibility of expansion into other Canadian provinces, or in the United States, an Uber spokesperson said there is “nothing more to share at this time”.

“We will continue to watch regulations and opportunities closely market by market. And as local and federal laws evolve, we will explore opportunities with merchants who operate in other regions,” the Uber spokesperson told Reuters.

Last year’s pandemic-induced stricter mandates and lockdowns spurred demand for cannabis-related products from customers who were stuck at home with limited entertainment options.

Original Story from NBC News

Canopy Growth execs earn raises, bonuses after cannabis giant loses CA$1.7 billion

by The Real Dirt | Aug 4, 2021 | Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis News, Industry News

canopy growth executives received huge bonuses despite losing CA $1.7 billion in 2020.

Executives for cannabis producer Canopy Growth received more than 4 million Canadian dollars ($3.2 million) in cash bonuses after making “solid progress in the year,” according to a regulatory filing, even as the company lost CA$1.7 billion and laid off hundreds of workers.

The Smiths Falls, Ontario-based company disclosed the executive compensation figures for fiscal year 2021 in a proxy statement sent ahead of its annual general meeting, scheduled for Sept. 14 via webcast.

The executives’ compensation packages consist of salary as well as bonuses awarded as part of the company’s short- and long-term incentive plans. For fiscal 2021, which ended March 31, the board approved short-term incentive plan bonuses totaling CA$4 million for five of the company’s top executives.

The company’s long-term incentive-plan (LTI) bonuses, typically granted annually in March, were awarded June 9, 2021. The LTI bonuses were not reported in the total compensation table because they were issued after the fiscal year ended.

“On a go forward basis, we have determined to fix the regular timing of our annual LTI grants to occur in June of each year, beginning in Fiscal 2022,” the proxy noted.

“As such, no LTI awards were granted in Fiscal 2021, with the prior LTI grants having been made in late March 2020 at the end of Fiscal 2020.”

In an emailed statement, a company spokesperson told MJBizDaily that “Canopy Growth’s executive compensation supports our strategy of attracting and retaining top talent that is necessary to support the company’s ambitious growth plans and is structured to ensure close alignment between the interest of shareholders and leadership.”

Bonuses

The company uses four performance measures related to corporate objectives to help guide short-term bonus payouts where executives earn an annual cash bonus.

Free cash flow has the heaviest weighting (50%) among the performance measures, followed by net revenue (20%), adjusted EBITDA (20%) and individualized objectives (10%).

The company failed to meet its fiscal 2021 goals for net revenue and adjusted EBITDA, but the goals for free cash flow and individualized objectives were achieved.

According to the proxy, Canopy aimed for net revenue of $455 million but came in at $414 million.

Free cash flow was negative $478 million, or half the shortfall the company anticipated.

Adjusted EBITDA, which serves as a measure of profitability, came in at negative $258 million, a slightly worse performance compared with the company’s objective of negative $246 million.

Canopy’s short-term cash bonuses amounted to:

CA$2.2 million for David Klein, CEO.
CA$579,000 for Mike Lee, chief financial officer.
CA$659,000 for Rade Kovacevic, president and chief product officer.
CA$360,000 for Julious Grant, chief commercial officer.
CA$351,000 for Phil Shaer, chief legal officer.

Read Full Story on MJ Biz Daily

Cannabis Stocks: Understanding the Market

by Travis C | Nov 30, 2018 | Blog, Science & Technology

With Canada’s legalization passing this year, the stock market, more specifically cannabis stocks, are exploding.

The United States was the largest legal cannabis industry in the world with just the few states that have legalized. That all changed when Canada legalized cannabis on the federal level.

Canada created a national industry that spans the entire country, with a government managed program that handles distribution. Being the first first-world and G-7 country to enact widespread legalization, Canada’s stock market has seen a surge in new cannabis IPOs.

Cannabis Stocks in the US

Canada has the ability to allow cannabis businesses to go public now that it is legal. The United States still classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 narcotic with no evidence of medical benefits (I still laugh out loud when I type that), and such does not allow legal, recreational cannabis companies to participate in the national stock market.

This puts cannabis businesses in the US in an awkward position. Unless they are an already listed pharmaceutical company that is creating a cannabis-derived medicine. Also with hazy laws currently regarding CBD, companies like Charlotte’s Web are able to be listed.

Other than CBD companies and pharmaceutical companies, the main stock options related to the legal cannabis industry is the supply businesses, i.e. the pick and shovel sellers. To elaborate, during the gold rush, a bunch of people may have gotten rich by finding some gold, but a lot more people got rich selling the picks and shovels to find it.

The majority of cannabis-related stock options in the US currently consist of packaging companies, safety technology companies, equipment companies (hydroponic equipment distributors), consultants and R&D companies or pharmaceuticals.

Cannabis Stocks in Canada

Due to Canada’s new laws and accessibility to the CSE (Canadian Securities Exchange), businesses operating in legal cannabis states in the US have started to list their companies north of the border. Companies like MedMen Enterprises and Green Thumb Industries are American companies that will be listed on the CSE.

It would appear that the majority of companies from the US joining the CSE are vertically-integrated, with businesses throughout the country in many different realms of the industry, from real estate to licensing to distribution. And while it is more difficult to invest in the Canadian stock market from the United States, it is possible.

Other than American companies listing their companies on the CSE, the majority of cannabis stock in Canada is, well, Canadian. With no worry of federal scrutiny, cannabis businesses in Canada can operate without problems from the government, build businesses and eventually list them. For this reason the CSE is expected to consistently list more and more Canadian cannabis stocks as the new industry grows and more businesses thrive.

So while Canada’s new industry is quickly expanding and opening up stock options in the Canadian stock market, the US market in terms of cannabis stocks is still struggling. The larger companies that are taking advantage of the CSE from the US are already multi-billion dollar companies, and thus will be highly sought after stock.

It most likely won’t be until federal legalization passes in the states that we will see cannabis stocks really start to appear for Americans to add to their portfolios. For now, you can invest in pharmaceutical companies, holding companies, and some others. It is also possible that if demand grows enough for the American cannabis stocks listed in the CSE, it will become easier to invest from the states. What will happen is still uncertain.

Canada Cannabis Packaging Problems

by Travis C | Oct 26, 2018 | 420 News, Blog, Culture

Canada cannabis legalization is already facing some problems. One is the amount of plastic packaging.

For every gram of Canada cannabis sold there can be as much as 70 grams of packaging waste, according to some of Canada’s first cannabis customers.

The amount of plastic, cardboard, foil and wrap that’s being used to package and market cannabis seems excessive to many.

“It’s really shameful,” said Remi Robichaud of Moncton. “Being a coastal province, they should do something about the amount of plastic that goes into our ocean.”

Canada cannabis packaging excess

Robichaud says a friend of his used a food scale to compare the weight of a gram of cannabis purchased at Cannabis NB to the 70 grams worth of plastic, foil, and packaging that it came in.

“Seeing the amount of plastic being used for such small quantities, it’s really shameful.”

In Nova Scotia, the issue is similar, according to Greg Mac who purchased his cannabis from an NSLC store.

“I think the packaging is pretty excessive,” said Mac.

“Look at what comes with one gram of weed — you’ve got a cardboard box that comes in a bottle. That bottle is sealed with more plastic. And you open it up and see how much weed actually comes in the bottle and you think “Wow, there’s a lot that’s going on there.”

Mac purchased four grams of cannabis then shared a photo online of the excess plastic bottles, wrappings and cardboard that was used to package it.

That photo was shared hundreds of times resulting in many voicing their displeasure with what they consider to be excessive plastic packaging.

“I’ve been buying from medical dispensaries for two years now,” said Mac. “And all I ever get is Ziploc bags of different variations. And that’s always been pretty good for me.”

Packaging mandate

On its website, Health Canada mandates that Canada cannabis “be packaged in an immediate container that is tamper-evident, child-resistant, prevents contamination and keeps cannabis dry.”

It also states that “regulations would require that the immediate container be opaque or translucent. Products could have both an inner and outer package, but every package would need to be labelled in accordance with the proposed requirements.”

It also states that each order of cannabis include an informational document developed by Health Canada that includes health and safety information.

Robichaud argues cannabis packaging could be made of glass, instead of plastic, and reused, similar to how craft beer producers use “growlers, “or glass jugs that can be refilled with beer.

Mac agrees and says being able to bring back enough plastic bottles for a discount of their next purchase would be smart in an age where companies and governments around the world have pledged to reduce their own plastic waste and even ban the plastic straw.

“It’ll give somebody an incentive and is the smart way to go about it,” said Mac.

Read the original story on CBC News.

Check out our Canadian Cannabis Legalization Guide!