Molson Coors Canada Enter Cannabis Beverage Market
Well known brewer Molson Coors Canada and Hexo Corp., a Canadian cannabis producer, created a new joint business venture, Truss Beverage Company. The entity recently announced a line-up of five drink brands, with offerings of both CBD and THC.
Truss cited recent market data that indicates consumers want a way to ingest weed without smoking, “This data shows just how ready Canadians are for a new cannabis experience that better fits their preferences and lifestyles,” said head of marketing Lori Hatcher. “Quite frankly, it shows how game changing cannabis beverages can be for consumers.”
A similar partnership already took place between Canopy Growth, one of Canadas largest cannabis companies, and Constellation Growth, a major player in the liquor industry.
Most of the new Truss line will contain 2.5 to 5 milligrams of THC. The “XMG” brand will contain the maximum dosage allowed by Canadian law, 10 milligrams.
Germany Picks Sole Domestic Distributor
Cansativa has been selected to be the only distributor of legal German grown cannabis for the next four years.
Requirements for companies wishing to apply included the ability to offer a low price for their service, as well as having experience “distributing narcotic drugs”, with no cannabis experience requirements at all.
The German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), who governs marijuana in Germany in accordance with the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, has already hand picked a select group of international businesses to be the sole domestic growers and producers. Canadian companies Aurora and Aphria (with 5 each of the 13 total tendered lots), as well as the German company Demecan (with the remaining three lots) have been named. Cansativa’s role will be to distribute the marijuana goods of those companies to German pharmacies.
Cansativa’s website lists it’s partners as Aurora, Bedrocan, Tilray, Tweed, and Storz & Bickel.
The import market is expected to see no specific changes.
Canopy Growth Pays CEO Astonomical Sum
Chief Executive Officer for Canada’s Canopy Growth, David Klein, received a partial-year salary (he began mid January), including bonus, stock options and other compensation, of CA$45 million (US$33.8 million). This, while working for a company that lost CA$1.39 billion in fiscal year 2020.
Klein is now touted as one of the top earners across all industries in Canada, as well as the highest paid cannabis CEO, beating Tilray’s Brandon Kennedy by CA$2.4 million a year. Canopy Growth’s median employee earnings were CA$43,000 a year, making Kleins salary 1,042 times larger.
“This is the way the CEO world works. It’s disconnected from regular workers and the company,” states Norton Singhavon, himself CEO of GTEC Cannabis in Vancouver. He admits that many Canadian cannabis companies have not made good with their investors, and continue to report significant losses. “Accordingly, I do not see any reasonable justification at this stage for multimillion-dollar salaries within the sector.”
Online Illegal Drug Sales Up During Pandemic
According to Sixgill, a cyber-intelligence company who monitors underground web activity, and subtitles their website with ‘Deep, Dark & Beyond’, illegal drugs listed for sale on the internet skyrocketed during the Covid-19 pandemic as dealers, and users, were forced off the streets.
Their data indicates that as of December 2019 the number of postings for drugs stood at 4,154. This number increased by 495% to 24,719 in April of 2020. Listings for cannabis alone saw a 555% increase, with MDMA seeing a 224% increase, and cocaine topping out at a 1000% increase over the same period.
“As with all online shopping, shipping delays occurred, with dark web chatter suggesting that slower delivery times dinged the reputations of vendors among a cynical customer base that’s always vigilant for scammers,” explained Sixgill in it’s report, “Though the rise in chatter and concerns was temporary, it did make both vendors and consumers more conscious of the risks of international shipping for illegal goods.”
