The BC Liquor Distribution Branch recently released the BC Cannabis Wholesale Quarterly Sales Report for Q2 2022, which runs from July 1 to September 30.
Q2 2022 was a challenging period for retailers and wholesale distribution. The BC General Employees Union (BCGEU) went on strike in August 2022, shutting down BC’s cannabis distribution monopoly and forcing many cannabis retailers to close their doors due to a lack of supply. Distribution resumed in BC on August 31, after being closed for 2.5 weeks.
But despite this, wholesale sales in Q2 2022 were $110,290,429, up 8.3% from the prior year Q2. While BC saw almost 18% retail store growth in 2022 from 384 to 452 stores, the price per gram of all cannabis and dried flower went down, by 8.4% and 5% respectively.
Category Sales
Flower, inhalable extracts, and pre-roll had the highest sales by product category, followed by edibles, ingestible extracts, beverages, topicals, and seeds.
Inhalable extracts, seeds, and edibles saw the most year-over-year growth, with extracts at 62%, seeds at 59.2% and edibles at 26.7%. Topicals, ingestible extracts, and flower all saw a drop in sales in Q2 2022, compared to the prior year Q2.
Sales Mix
When looking at sales mix by product category, carbonated drinks dominated beverages, accounting for almost 86% of sales. Chews were by far the most popular edibles, accounting for almost 90% of sales, followed by chocolate at 9% and baked goods at 1.2%.
The sales mix for flower was more evenly split, with Indica taking 51% of sales, followed by Sativa at 28.9% and Hybrid at 20.3%. A similar split was seen in pre-roll sales. Oils and tinctures had the highest ingestible extract sales, while cartridges took the lead for inhalable extract sales. Creams and lotions dominated the topicals sales mix at 56%.
Direct Delivery Program
This report also includes sales from the LDB Direct Delivery Program, which launched in August 2022. Sales of products registered under the Direct Delivery Program are reported separately to LDB’s central delivery system. Notably, the price per gram of all craft cannabis was $5.98, compared to the regular wholesale price of $4.28. Pre-roll and flower accounted for the majority of direct delivery sales.