MMJ believes cannabis and cannabis infused products have the potential to become a larger market than alcohol/spirits over time.
() (OTCMKTS:MMJF) is looking forward to a return to “normal” in the late summer and early fall as COVID-19 winds its way down in North America.
COVID-19 has impacted different businesses in different ways – for travel and tourism it has been a curse, but for video games and online shopping it has been a boon.
For cannabis, it has been mostly positive as people stayed home and needed to relax from the stress caused by the pandemic.
According to a recent Statistics Canada survey, 20% of Canadians report using cannabis, up from 14% before COVID-19.
The survey found that the top reasons Canadians cited for using cannabis include increased stress, boredom, and loneliness.
Untapped growth potential in the cannabis space
Statistics Canada revealed a record C$298 million in retail cannabis sales growth in March 2021 which represents a 14% increase from February.
Annualizing this number, we have a C$3.6 billion annual market size.
This is a far cry from the C$30 billion+ alcohol and spirits market which shows the untapped growth potential remaining in the cannabis space.
MMJ believes cannabis and cannabis infused products have the potential to become a larger market than alcohol/spirits over time as entertainment and consumption preferences of the Millennial generation continue to evolve in favour of cannabis.
Ontario retail growth
The biggest month-over-month increase came from the Province of Ontario where the increasing number of physical retail locations has finally helped capture customers who were previously relying on the illicit market for their needs.
For instance, Toronto the largest city in Canada and the capital of Ontario, started 2020 with seven regulated stores and ended the year with 87 stores.
The province of Ontario now has over 200 retail store fronts in total and that increase has helped boost sales in Ontario to C$103 million in March 2021, up from C$87 million in February 2021.
Embark Health
MMJ’s Canadian investment Embark Health is making steady progress in executing its business plan.
Embark recently completed the first product shipment to the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) with The Hank Co. Bubble Hash.
OCS is the wholesaler and online retailer for recreational cannabis in Ontario.
Embark has also shipped products to the province of Saskatchewan through its arrangement with Open Fields Distribution, Embark’s wholesale distribution partner in the province and one of the leading cannabis distributors in Saskatchewan.