Ontario sold nearly 64 million grams of cannabis in just three months
Province set several records in fourth quarter
By SAM RICHES
Alternate text to Bonno
Dried flower continued to dominate all product categories, accounting for 50 per cent of total sales. PHOTO BY NICK BRANCACCIO /Windsor Star
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The Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) has published its final quarterly report for the 2021-22 fiscal year, running from Jan. 1 to March 31, 2022.
The province set several record highs, including selling 63.7 million grams of cannabis in the quarter and posting more than $405 million in total sales, representing a 1.6 per cent increase from Q3.
According to the report, more than 96 per cent of sales in the quarter were made at brick-and-mortar stores, with the remaining sales occurring online.
Dried flower continued to dominate all product categories, accounting for 50 per cent of total sales. It was followed by pre-rolls (15 per cent), vapes (16 per cent) and edibles and concentrates at five per cent each.
While dried flower has consistently led all product categories historically, it increased in dollar share by one per cent compared to the previous quarter, with that growth attributed to the strong sales of milled (pre-ground) flower.
In retail stores, Pure Sunfarms Corp. led flower sales, with 11 per cent of sales, followed by Organigram Holdings Inc.'s Shred (10 per cent) and Cronos Group Inc.'s Spinach (seven per cent). Pure Sunfarms also held the top spot online, accounting for nine per cent of flower sales from the OCS. It was followed by Aphria Inc.'s Good Supply (eight per cent) and Redecan (four per cent). Tilray and Canopy are way at the bottom.
Shred also had the top two best-selling products in the quarter. Its seven-gram package of Tropic Thunder was the top-selling item, moving 197,000 units, followed by Funk Master seven gram, which was purchased 180,000 times. Good Supply captured the next two spots with its one-gram Jean Guy pre-rolls (162,000) and Grower’s Choice Indica pre-rolls (155,000). The 3.5-gram packages of GMO Cookies from Spinach (150,000) rounded out the top five.
Retail openings slow
The rate of retail store openings slowed from the previous quarter, but still increased 10 per cent overall, with a total of 1,460 stores operating at the close of Q4. Retailers opened up shop in 16 new communities and stores are now available in 233 municipalities across the province. On average, Ontarians now live within four kilometres of a cannabis retail store.
The average number of grams sold per store fell 18 per cent, while the Western and Eastern regions of the province proved the busiest, accounting for $117.1 million and $102.4 million in sales. Sales in Toronto also fell about 1.7 per cent, reaching a total of $86.7 million.
Earlier this year, a report published by Connecticut-based data firm Cannabis Benchmarks found that Ontario could support around 2,000 cannabis stores to reach its “optimal level.”
The OCS report notes that the legal cannabis industry also poached more consumers from the illicit market, with 26.9 per cent of all cannabis sales in the quarter occurring through legal channels.
