2 years after legalization, cannabis producers are making too much marijuana
CBC
December 11th, 2020
CBC
December 11th, 2020
Read the full story here.Two years after marijuana was legalized in Canada, cannabis producers are sitting on "piles and piles" of inventory that are hampering their ability to turn a profit, says a Toronto-based business reporter.
"The problem is, prior to, you know, the stores getting their licences and opening, cannabis producers were cultivating at a massive rate," said Vanmala Subramaniam, who writes for The Logic.
"Usually in a supply chain … you need about two months' worth of inventory, and now you have seven times the amount of sales," she told The Current's guest host Mark Kelley.
"You can't keep producing at this rate. And that's what the cannabis companies have been figuring out over the last year, and [they are] adjusting the operations to kind of meet this demand."
On Wednesday, cannabis company Canopy Growth announced it is closing five of its facilities and laying off about 220 employees in a bid to save up to $200 million and boost profitability. The company, which is based in Smiths Falls, Ont., will cease operations in St. John's, Fredericton, Edmonton, Bowmanville, Ont., and at an outdoor grow facility in Saskatchewan.