Cannabis industry reporting you won’t read anywhere else

early indicators

Cannabis Professional was leading the coverage of Canada’s industry before the first legal joint was sold on Oct. 17. In our first edition, Cannabis Professional’s Mark Rendell reported on emerging wholesale prices, and gave subscribers an accurate look on what legal retail prices would look like on Oct. 17, 2018:

September 17, 2018

Retail price points starting to emerge

"Still, with federal and provincial sales taxes and a $1 per gram excise tax (or 10 per cent for products over $10), consumers will likely pay more than $10 a gram for everything but the most budget bud – considerably higher than the current $6.82 per gram national average, crowd-sourced by Statistics Canada.”

---

early indicators

Two weeks before legalization, it was already becoming clear that talk of supply shortages would dominate the narrative in the first six months of recreational legalization:

October 4, 2018

Cannabis growers behind on shipments, provinces warn

"Growers are experiencing issues such as lower-than-expected crop yields, a lack of packaging materials, problems with supply chains and product being sold elsewhere – such as to Canada’s medical market, or exported to other countries − contributing to what could be a messy start to Canada’s much-anticipated recreational cannabis system."

"The regulatory environment is complex and changing; brand new companies are having to develop supply chains from scratch in a matter of months; and small-scale producers are transitioning to football-field-size facilities, growing at an industrial scale with severe limitations on fertilizer and pesticide use."

---

early indicators

Cannabis Professional identifies the emerging stars of the industry before they’re on your radar. Last fall, we began coverage on this up-and-coming small extractor with an innovative business plan:

October 4, 2018

MediPharm’s wholesale strategy comes into view with Canopy supply deal

"Growers are experiencing issues such as lower-than-expected crop yields, a lack of packaging materials, problems with supply chains and product being sold elsewhere – such as to Canada’s medical market, or exported to other countries − contributing to what could be a messy start to Canada’s much-anticipated recreational cannabis system."

Six months later, MediPharm Labs’ white-label strategy is blazing a trail in the cannabis industry.

APRIL 3, 2019 MediPharm pursues white-label strategy for non-cannabis clients

JUNE 19, 2019 Ace Valley and MediPharm partner on vaporizers, in early white-label deal

---

early indicators

In one of the first issues of the Cannabis Professional newsletter, we looked at three veteran cannabis executives who set out to start a new company:

September 19, 2018

Former Aurora insiders make new bet on R&D firm

"Three former Aurora Cannabis Inc. insiders are betting on a U.S. biotech company that’s developing patents for water soluble cannabinoid production and genetically engineered bacteria – a move that highlights how smart cannabis money is moving increasingly to research and development plays."

Six months later, their company was a leader in innovation:

APRIL 3, 2019 Trait claims breakthrough for water-soluble CBD, without nanoemulsion

JUNE 19, 2019 Trait Biosciences Inc., a biotech lab in New Mexico backed by Canadian venture capital, is claiming to have solved the problem, at least for CBD

"No one wants to drink something that looks like salad dressing, tastes like mud and takes hours to kick in. Many cannabinoid beverages, unfortunately, fall into this category – a problem created by the fact that THC and CBD are not water soluble, making infused drinks aesthetically unappealing and slow to absorb into the bloodstream."

---

early indicators

We were first to report on innovative deals developing in the sector because of Health Canada's restrictions on marketing and advertising:

September 19, 2018

Ace Hill, Flowr blaze the branding trail with partnership

"Toronto craft brewer Ace Hill has partnered with Kelowna-based cannabis grower The Flowr Corp. to market a line of pre-rolled joints in Ontario and British Columbia, in a kind of brand licensing deal that appears to be the first of its kind in the Canadian cannabis industry. The conversation around cannabis and alcohol companies has tended to focus on blockbuster deals like Constellation Brands Inc.’s $5-billion investment in Canopy Growth Corp., or Molson Coors Brewing Company’s joint venture with HEXO Corp. At a more modest and regional level, however, there are conversations happening between smaller LPs looking for brand traction and craft brewers eager to tap new revenue streams."

Even before the first legal gram of bud was sold in Canada, Cannabis Professional saw the potential of outdoor growing to upend the status quo::

October 4, 2018 Is outdoor growing the looming industry disruptor?

OCTOBER 10, 2018 We were early to the issues that would become major problems for cannabis companies as 2019 rolled on.

OCTOBER 10, 2018 U.S. risk at the heart of watchdog’s concerns over disclosure

"Just how risky is it to be a cannabis company in the United States? Riskier than some Canadian companies described to their investors, according to Canadian securities regulators."