Article by Vanmala Subramaniam, Financial Post
$3.77 million came from sales of vape products and an additional $569,000 was generated from sales of edibles for the month of January.
The figures included sales to retailers across the province and online sales through OCS.ca.
“Every new product we introduce, every price drop we make and every authorized retail store that opens strengthens the legal marketplace,” says Cheri Mara, chief commercial officer at the OCS.
There are currently 43 cannabis stores in Ontario, according to the latest update from the Alcohol and Gaming Corporation of Ontario.
Cannabis 2.0 products, which includes vape pens, beverages, edibles and topicals first became available to consumers in some provinces in late December. The OCS carries over 70 different kinds of 2.0 products, ranging from vape pens to cookies and cannabis-infused tea. The sales figures for January came from 54 different vape products and 24 brands of edibles.
The OCS indicated they were experiencing a shortage of edibles, in particular, with current supply levels from licensed producers insufficient to meet demand.
“$3.7 million in vape sales is pretty good. Ontario cannabis sales overall were about $33 million last month, so we’re getting a good 10 per cent bump from just vape products,” said Michael Armstrong, professor of operations management at Brock University.
“I hope this is a sign that the OCS is becoming more open about sharing sales data with the public,” Armstrong added.
The provincial wholesaler also announced it would begin selling cannabis beverages and topicals this week.