"OCS: Almost 5 per cent of all cannabis sold in Ontario was sold through the legal market in Q1 2021
The most popular product in the quarter was Pure Sunfarms Pink Kush, with Ontarians purchasing 160,000 3.5-gram units.
Author of the article:Thom Bonno
Publishing date:Oct 21, 2021 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
FILE: Cannabis greenhouse at Pure Sunfarms in Delta, BC, August 1, 2018. /
FILE: Cannabis greenhouse at Pure Sunfarms in Delta, BC, August 1, 2018. / PHOTO BY ARLEN REDEKOP /PNG
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The price of legal cannabis is improving and the regulated market is pulling in more consumers, according to the latest report from the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS).
The average cost of legal dried flower has dropped to $6 a gram and nearly 50 per cent of all cannabis sold in Ontario during the first quarter of this fiscal year (April 2021 to June 2021) was sold through the regulated market.
According to the OCS report for 2020/2021, retail stores and the OCS sold 99,100,000 grams of legal recreational cannabis valued at approximately $840,100,000, representing a 182 per cent increase in volume over the previous year.
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Retailers were permitted to offer delivery and pick-up services during the pandemic and advocates have argued that the success of the temporary measures proves it’s a viable and safe option for consumers.
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During that time, Ontarians purchased $307 million worth of cannabis, an 8 per cent increase over the previous quarter.
“This achievement was driven through the rapid growth of brick-and-mortar stores in the province, with 92 per cent of all sales occurring through private licensed retailers,” notes the executive summary of the report.
In August, Ontario surpassed the 1,000 store mark and now leads the country in retail shops. According to the report, physical stores accounted for 92 per cent of all cannabis purchases. In Q1, Ontarians bought $282,800,000 worth of cannabis from brick and mortar stores compared to $24,200,000 via the OCS.
Dried flower continued to dominate all product categories, accounting for 86 per cent of all cannabis purchases. Flower with THC levels above 20 per cent was most in-demand, with those products being purchased 354 times faster than low-THC products.
Vapes and pre-rolls rounded out the top three product categories, with each amounting to 15 per cent sales.
Online, dried flower sales were led by Pure Sunfarms (nine per cent), Good Supply (seven per cent) and Original Stash (four per cent). In brick and mortar stores, Pure Sunfarms (11 per cent), Redecan (eight per cent) and Good Supply (six per cent) rounded out the top three.
A few companies led product categories both online and in brick and mortar stores. Original Stash was the top seller across the board for concentrates, while Redecan led in oils and pre-rolls. And though seeds made up less than one per cent of total sales, 34 Street Seed Co. held the largest market share across all product categories, accounting for 53 per cent of all seed purchases online and 63 per cent in physical stores.
When it comes to vapes, Back Forty was the product leader in Q1, accounting for 13 per cent of online purchases and 16 per cent of brick and mortar buys.
The most popular product in the quarter was Pure Sunfarms Pink Kush 3.5g dried flower, which sold 160,000 units. This was followed by Redecan Redees Wappa Pre-Rolls, with Ontarians purchasing 159,700 packages of the 10-pack, 0.35 gram pre-rolls. Redecan Redees Cold Creek Kush Pre-Rolls rounded out the top three, selling 139,000 units.
Dried flower prices also dropped across the board, with the average gram going for $6 on the OCS, $8.28 at retail stores and $4.51 on the illicit market.
By store count, as of June 30, 2021, Spiritleaf was the leading retailers in Ontario, operating 33 stores each. They were trailed closely by Sessions Cannabis (30 stores), and ShinyBud Cannabis Company (25 stores).
Consumers have also demonstrated a preference for a hybrid model of shopping, splitting purchases through the OCS and physical stores. Quality, potency and price were the top three attributes for OCS.ca shoppers when choosing a product.
When it comes to quality assurance, Ontario fared slightly better than the rest of the country as only two recalls out of five issued by Health Canada affected the OCS this quarter. A total of 4,734 units were recalled during Q1, which impacted less than one in 1,000 units distributed by the OCS. Label and packaging issues were the number one issues for the recalls.
However, as sales increased, so did the total number of customer complaints, jumping from 2,209 in Q1 2020 to 33,323 complaints in the first quarter of 2021. Vapes continue to represent the most quality complaints and demonstrate an opportunity for improvement, the report notes."
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