Cannabis NB, the only legal retailer of recreational cannabis in New Brunswick, recently released its third quarter results for the 2021-2022 fiscal year.
Total sales of legal recreational cannabis for the quarter ending December 26, 2021, were $20.6 million or 6.7% higher than the same quarter in 2020. Net income is up 41.8% at $3.9 million compared to the prior year’s third quarter net income of $2.8 million.
Key trends for September to December 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 include:
• Concentrate sales increased 31.1%, up by $1.2 million
• Edible sales increased 32.1%, up by $0.4 million
• Dried flower sales decreased 2.7%, down by $0.3 million
• Extracts sales decreased 11.8%, down by $0.1 million
• Accessories sales increased 9.7%, up by $0.07 million
• Topicals sales increased 65.3%, up by $0.05 million
This is despite a decline in retail cannabis sales in November 2021, where the Maritime provinces all saw reduced sales with New Brunswick’s sales going down 13.02%.
These trends have been constant throughout the 2021-2022 fiscal year. From June to September 2021: dried flower and extract sales decreased, while all categories increased. From March to June 2021, dried flower sales increased slightly, while extract sales decreased, and all other categories saw significant increases. Seed sales, however, seem to have stabilized, after increasing 84.9% in the second quarter and 574.8% in the first quarter.
Prior to this, Cannabis NB was losing money, attributing to their challenges to the volume of illicit-market sales. They turned a profit in early 2021.
Legislation was recently introduced in New Brunswick that will allow new forms of retail in the province, including private retail stores and farmgate stores. Bill 79 will allow private operators to open small, stand-alone licensed cannabis stores to sell Cannabis NB’s officially approved products. New Brunswickers will be allowed to buy cannabis from licensed growers at farmgate stores. This change is hoped to combat the illicit market.