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.

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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

The Future of The Legal Hemp Industry

by Travis C | Mar 26, 2019 | cannabis industry, Hemp, Hempisodes, Season 3, The Real Dirt Podcast Episodes

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The legal hemp industry is growing fast. But is it growing too fast for its own good?

People are hopping onto the legal hemp train. The industry is growing fast, and is more than likely going to surpass the few legal cannabis industries in the United States within a few years in terms of revenue.

While the US federally legalized industrial hemp at the end of 2018 with the help of the Farm Bill, the rest of the world is slowly starting to catch up, with multiple countries in the European Union updating their hemp laws as well.

The states have had their fair share of problems getting the legal hemp industry off the ground only three months into 2019, with multiple arrests in Oklahoma and Idaho due to local law enforcement not being notified of hemp being transported through the state. But figuring out the right way to navigate this new industry isn’t so black and white.

Should the hemp industry be regulated like the cannabis industry?

It’s challenging to say for sure. Hemp can serve many purposes that regular, high-THC cannabis cannot, and vice versa. But measuring the levels of THC content in both hemp and THC-heavy cannabis with the same standards can make the transition between industries much simpler.

However just like individual states have different laws regarding their legal cannabis industries, states can also establish their own hemp laws, as long as they don’t go against the federal law. Now that the legal hemp industry is going to allow interstate commerce, problems will inevitably arise when states have differing hemp laws while still sharing a border.

Where is the legal hemp industry headed?

Right now, a lot of people are using cannabis advertising methods for hemp products. To Hollis Carter, part of what makes hemp cool is that it is hemp, something different from your regular THC-rich cannabis.

There is a growing rise in smokeable hemp flower products, like Hollis’ Lefty’s Hemp Co. and others. For others trying to get involved, regulations might pose a serious problem.

While there is a growing desire for quality, smokeable hemp flower, many fail to meet the .3% THC requirement currently. On top of that, the market is currently very saturated.

A lot of people are trying to get involved, with many already getting weeded out (pun intended) for poor business practices or low quality products.

With a new legal industry that will make it much easier for entrepreneurs and other companies to invest their capital safely, there is a lot of room for innovation and infrastructure that will bring in a lot of businesses one might not originally have considered.

From hempcrete to hemp clothing, and the ancillary businesses that will be integral to the production of these commodities, there’s a lot more opportunity in the legal hemp industry than you might think!

The Real Dirt Hempisodes

With all that in mind, we bring you The Real Dirt Hempisodes! Over the next few weeks, The Real Dirt is diving into the legal hemp industry.

This week Chip talks with Graham Carlson of Charlotte’s Web, the very first CBD flower producers and creator of Charlotte’s Web CBD tincture, along with Mike Leago of the International Hemp Exchange and Hollis Carter of Lefty’s Hemp Co. about some issues with the legal hemp industry, how it compares to the legal cannabis industry, and how it can be changed for a more productive industry overall.

Roll one up and enjoy the first Hempisode, and tune in next week for Part 2 in the Hempisode series.