While adult use marijuana officially became legal across the nation last month, supply has continued to be scarce in Canada at both medical and recreational dispensaries.
Victoria, British Columbia-based company Emerald Health Therapeutics (TSXV: EMH) announced its supply commitments have been met for the first time since legalization with provincial shipments.
While Emerald cannabis products have been available on shelves and online since Oct. 31, today marks the completion of the initial full shipment that fulfills the company’s volume requirements. Those shipments were produced to supply cannabis in Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia.
Emerald Health Executive VP of Global Sales & Marketing Paul Dillman issued a press release with this comment on the milestone:
“It has always been important to us to ensure we fulfill the supply commitments we made to our provincial cannabis distribution customers. We are pleased that our initial deliveries have met this obligation and that we have the ability to provide consistent and increasing contracted shipments of Emerald products.”
According to the press release, Emerald aims to ramp up production with a 1.1 million square foot greenhouse under construction in British Columbia through a joint venture with Pure Sunfarms.
Additionally, a 75,000 square foot indoor production facility is currently being constructed in Quebec, and the company has announced 500 acres of hemp are currently being harvested to extract CBD.
Dillman went on to say, “With proprietary market research, differentiated products based on unique plant genetics, a recognizable, trusted brand, significant marketing expertise and bandwidth, and a growing sales team across Canada, we are aiming for a significant ramp-up in sales every quarter from these initial deliveries forward.”
Increased production efforts have been a staple of the industry since legalization due to extreme demand.
A Health Canada study released a month prior to the Oct. 17 legalization date showed demand would be 41% higher than the federal government originally anticipated before the Cannabis Act was passed.
Another study from the C.D. Howe Institute released in early October further revealed recreational supply will likely meet less than 60% of demand through the end of the year.
In other company news, last month Emerald Health also filed 17 provisional US patents for the company’s Defined Dose products, which are expected to launch in the US states where marijuana has been legalized for medical or recreational purposes.
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