FinancialBuzz.com News Commentary
NEW YORK, Oct. 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past several years, alcohol consumption rates have declined rapidly, leaving consumers to find new alternatives. Notably, the cannabis industry is directly correlated with declining alcohol consumption rates; Investment-bank firm Cowen & Co. reported that as of 2016, legal adult-use cannabis U.S. states witnessed binge drinking rates fall by 9% below the national average, and 11% below non-cannabis states. However, newly added states such as California and Nevada had higher rates of alcohol consumption and lower rates of cannabis use. Regardless, Cowen expects the rates to shift in both alcohol and cannabis consumption in those specific states. And as a result, Cowen said it is reasonable to assume that as more states continue to legalize adult-use cannabis, alcohol binge drinking rates will continue to falter. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 17% of the U.S. population engaged in binge drinking, meaning that 1 in 6 reported doing so 4 or more times a month. In states that legalized adult use, the number of binge drinking sessions per month was 9% below the national average. For instance, the state of Washington, which was the first state along with Colorado to legalize recreational use, has seen alcohol consumption rates decline over the past several years. As of 2018, Washington reported that just under 15.6% of adults were reported having four or more drinks on one occasion in the past month compared to the national average of 17.4%, according to America's Health Rankings UnitedHealth Foundation. In particular, many millennials have opted to consume cannabis over drinking alcohol. And according to a MarketWatch article, a millennial said that she prefers to consume cannabis over alcohol because it saves her more money and doesn't cause the intoxicating effects of alcohol. According to a Yahoo News poll in 2017, it was concluded that the majority of the 55 million recreational marijuana users in the U.S. are millennials. And as the number of alcohol consumption rates decline, the cannabis industry is expected to directly benefit as more users turn towards cannabis-based alternatives. According to data compiled by Grand View Research, the global legal marijuana market is expected to reach USD 66.3 Billion by the end of 2025 while expanding at a CAGR of 23.9% during the forecast period. Pasha Brands Ltd. (OTC: CRFTF) (CSE: CRFT), Canopy Growth Corporation (NYSE: CGC) (TSX: WEED), Green Thumb Industries Inc. (OTC: GTBIF) (CSE: GTII), iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. (OTC: ITHUF) (CSE: IAN), KushCo Holdings, Inc. (OTC: KSHB)
While the U.S. is experiencing declining rates of alcohol consumption, Canada seems to be unchanged. Canadian provinces with the highest rates of legal cannabis consumption don't appear to be drinking less under legalization, according to Global News. However, the key to cutting alcohol consumption rates is making cannabis drinkable, says Brock University business professor Michael Armstrong. He notes that the reason alcohol consumption is still relatively high in the country is that consumers are used to the characteristics associated with drinking. However, having beverages that are based on water-soluble THC would better drive the marketplace forward. Nonetheless, many consumers still tend to prefer consuming traditional flower or vaping extracts and concentrates instead of imbibing cannabis-based drinks. And according to Statistics Canada, 5.3 million or 18% of Canadians ages 15 years and older reported using cannabis in the first quarter of 2019 compared to 14% who reported using just one year earlier. And while cannabis-infused beverages are expected to be a large market driver in the near future, the flower segment is still projected to account for the majority of the market. Notably, "craft cannabis" producers have come into the spotlight after Canada legalized adult use. Craft cannabis is known to come from the attentive procedure of tending to each individual plant to ensure premium and high-quality buds. The tedious process requires growers to constantly examine each plant to avoid molding or infestations and, while the process may be laborious and tiresome, craft cultivators are able to achieve a premium end product that large-scale companies are just unable to replicate. "A lot of the licensed producers right now, their goal as publicly traded companies is producing the cheapest cannabis possible for the commercial market," said Lisa Campbell, Chief Executive Officer of Lifford Cannabis Solutions. "A lot of people say hand-trimmed buds is craft, so the trim is really important. If it's dense and not fluffy, it's great, and obviously, smell and flavour are factors … It's like getting a bottle of wine for thousands of dollars - there will be certain products that will fetch a premium."
Pasha Brands Ltd. (OTC: CRFTF) (CSE: CRFT) is also listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker (CSE: CRFT). Just earlier today the company announced breaking cannabis news that, "Between 2014 and 2018 global sales of legal cannabis more than tripled from $3.4 billion to $10.9 billion, according to the State of the Legal Cannabis Markets report from Arcview Market Research. BDS Analytics calls for a near-quadrupling from 2018 levels to $40.6 billion by 2024 at an annual growth rate of 21.9%. This has led many people to wonder, why the recent market downturn in the cannabis sector?
"Legal cannabis, particularly in Canada, has been struggling under the weight of burdensome regulations, poor supply-chain management, and quality issues," said Jamie Shaw, Chief Communications and Culture Officer for Pasha. "Coupled with that, companies in the sector were slow to deliver the results expected and were generally seen as overvalued. Share prices were determined at a time when there were relatively few licences that seemed to have a stranglehold on the regulated marketplace."
While these challenges are most pronounced in today's market, for Pasha it has been an affirmation of its business plan. "We never bought into the big-box mentality that's causing many of these problems," Shaw said. "Pasha has focused on small batch, craft producers, and has been meeting its goals at a quick pace, with the first micro-cultivation harvest expected in December."
Pasha has been on-boarding brands and people that made legalization possible, including Baked Edibles, Earth Dragon Organics, and Beard Brothers Collective, and has acquired a Health Canada licensed facility on Vancouver Island. Pasha expects to be the first licensed, nation-wide, all-craft company to be operational by end of Q4 2019/early Q1 2020.
Of the first 5 micro-licences issued by Health Canada, Pasha has signed supply agreements with all of them. Pasha also has signed supply agreements with 60 more applicants currently in the CTLS queue with Health Canada, and another 40 navigating the licensing process with Pasha subsidiary, BC Craft Supply Co. Ltd. With 100 micro-cultivators each permitted to produce up to 500kg per year, Pasha could have the ability to bring up to 50,000kg per year of high-quality craft cannabis to Canadian consumers.
"The legal market has yet to see products with the same care and attention to detail that went into the highest quality, illicit products," said Patrick Brauckmann, Executive Chair of Pasha Brands. "Pasha is committed to bringing products to the marketplace that put the consumer first."
Partnered with powerful distributors like Great North and developing innovative industry solutions like Craft Labs, Pasha looks to disrupt how people think of legal cannabis.
About Pasha Brands - Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Pasha is a vertically integrated, prohibition-era brand house firmly rooted in BC's craft cannabis industry, which boasts an international reputation. With proven capabilities in cannabis cultivation, genetic research and development, product processing, and retail, Pasha is uniquely positioned in the new legal cannabis market through its network of hundreds of craft cannabis suppliers under the Pasha umbrella. Pasha subsidiary, Medcann Health Products Ltd., is a Health Canada licensed cultivator and processor with a licence to sell medical cannabis products in Canada. Pasha and BC Craft are also developing a craft cannabis campus, which is dedicated to bringing craft quality into the newly legal cannabis market in Canada. BC Craft is driven to assist craft growers in obtaining security clearance and licensing to grow as micro-cultivators, specializing in education and compliance to bring growers into the regulated cannabis supply market. Pasha's common shares trade on the CSE under the symbol "CRFT" and on the FSE under the symbol "ZZD"."
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Canopy Growth Corporation (NYSE: CGC) (TSX: WEED) is a world-leading diversified cannabis, hemp and cannabis device company, offering distinct brands and curated cannabis varieties in dried, oil and Softgel capsule forms, as well as medical devices through Canopy Growth's subsidiary, Storz & Bickel GMbH & Co. KG. Canopy Growth Corporation recently announced that it has received a license from Health Canada for its KeyLeaf Life Sciences facility in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Including the Smiths Falls site and the recently licensed BC Tweed extraction site, Canopy Growth now operates three significant extraction assets to support the throughput required for large scale value-add product development. Canopy Growth recently retrofitted the now fully licensed KeyLeaf facility in Saskatchewan, a company with over 50 years of experience in the extraction industry. This facility is expected to be online in the Fall of 2019 and has the capacity to extract up to 5,000 kilograms of hemp or cannabis biomass per day. The application for the licence was submitted under KeyLeaf's previous name, POS Management Corp. and will be updated in due course. The newly licensed extraction platform is located in close proximity to Canopy Growth's large-scale outdoor hemp and cannabis grow operations. The Company looks forward to the additional capacity increasing production efficiency, augmenting output volume, and ultimately reducing operational costs for value-add products set to be rolled out in the Canadian recreational and medical markets at the end of calendar year 2019. "With this milestone, we are executing against the vision of making strategic investments today in order to deliver results over the long term," said Mark Zekulin, Chief Executive Officer, Canopy Growth. "This licence will ensure we have the supply of extraction inputs for the medical, CBD, and recreational markets, especially the next generation of value-add, high margin cannabis products here in Canada."
Green Thumb Industries Inc. (OTCQX: GTBIF) (CSE: GTII), a national cannabis consumer packaged goods company and retailer, is dedicated to providing dignified access to cannabis while giving back to the communities in which they serve. Green Thumb Industries Inc. recently announced that it had closed on a transaction to acquire New York-based Fiorello Pharmaceuticals, one of only 10 companies approved to operate a medical marijuana company in the state. Assets include a manufacturing and cultivation facility in Schenectady County and a retail store in each of the following locations: Manhattan, Rochester, Halfmoon and Nassau County, three of which are open. "As one of only 10 license holders in a state with a population of approximately 20 million, this acquisition is firmly in line with our strategic goal of entering highly regulated markets to manufacture and distribute cannabis brands at scale," said GTI Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ben Kovler. "We believe entry into New York is an important milestone as we empower the right to wellness through responsible increased access to cannabis and are privileged to serve the people of New York seeking relief and an enhanced quality of life."
iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. (OTCQX: ITHUF) (CSE: IAN) owns and operates best-in-class licensed cannabis cultivation, processing and dispensary facilities throughout the United States, providing investors diversified exposure to the U.S. regulated cannabis industry. iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. recently announced several recent milestones in Massachusetts. On July 18th, the City of Worcester License Commission voted to issue iAnthus' subsidiary, Mayflower Medicinals, Inc., a Retail Marijuana License to operate an adult-use dispensary. Worcester is the second largest city in Massachusetts, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 923,000. This Retail Marijuana License will allow the Company to operate a 2,837 sq. ft. facility located at 645 Park Avenue. The Company will continue to work with the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission to receive final approval from the state to commence operations. The Company's medical marijuana cultivation and processing facility in Holliston has been operational since January 2018. In addition to supplying Mayflower Medicinals' medical dispensary in Boston with high quality flower, pre-rolls, distillate, and edibles, the Holliston facility also supplies over 18 other medical dispensaries in the state on a wholesale basis. In anticipation of the increase in demand, including more distillate and edibles, the Company recently installed new extraction equipment that has increased extraction productivity at the facility by over seven times. Finally, the Company is finalizing its operating plans to open a second cultivation and processing facility in Massachusetts. Given the strong wholesale demand for the Company's products and the anticipated increase in demand from the opening of the Worcester dispensary, the Company anticipates opening a cultivation and processing facility in Fall River (acquired with MPX) in late 2019. The 37,700 sq. ft. facility will include hydrocarbon extraction equipment to enable the production of BHO extracted products, including the Company's popular MPX line.
KushCo Holdings, Inc. (OTCQX: KSHB) is the premier producer of ancillary products and services to the cannabis and hemp industries. KushCo Holdings, Inc. recently announced the creation of its new Retail Services division. The new business unit will focus on providing comprehensive retail solutions, through strategic partnerships with best-in-class sales agencies, to leading CBD brands. KushCos retail services division will focus on industry education and compliance, as well as building distribution networks of CBD brands across conventional retail channels. With Retail Services experienced leadership optimizing growth opportunities, this division will expand the Company's platform and fuse two industries that have historically operated independent of each other. In his position as Vice President of Retail Services, Ryan Savage will oversee sales agency partnerships, including C.A. Fortune, a leading full-service national consumer products sales and marketing agency focused on lifestyle brand partnerships. In addition, he will manage the expansion of CBD into the retail space across all channels, driving sales through management of brands, brokers and customers to increase distribution and revenue growth. Ryan Savage has spent the past 15 years gaining knowledge of multiple aspects of the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. He has worked with many diverse, major retailers including Sprouts, Trader Joes, Target, Amazon, and Kroger, in both a branded and private label capacity.
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