Alberta allows private label cannabis brands

Like Costco and its private label, Kirkland, or Loblaws, and its No Name and President’s Choice brands, Alberta cannabis stores can now develop their own private label of products.

Omar Khan, the director of communications for the company High Tidesays that this regulatory relaxation is a step forward for the industry.

Until now, in Alberta, merchants could only purchase products that the Gaming, Alcohol and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) offered them for sale.

The regulatory change allows retailers to negotiate directly with a producer to develop products unique to their business or chain of businesses.

AGLC, but as we can work directly with the producer, this gives us more opportunities to increase the profit margin”,”text”:”The product will continue to transact through AGLC, but as we can work directly with the producer, this gives us more possibilities to increase the profit margin”}}”>The product will continue to trade through theAGLCbut since we can work directly with the producer, it gives us more possibilities to increase the profit marginexplains Omar Khan.

This leaves more room for the retailer’s margins, since the middleman has been eliminated.

High Tide, which has more than 170 Canna Cabana stores in Canada, already has two house brands that it sells in its stores in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

According to Omar Khan, private label prices should be more competitive for the consumer.

In Devon, southwest of Edmonton, the store owner Small Town BudsChris Felgate, also hopes to take advantage of this change to better meet the desires of his customers and build their loyalty.

You have a favorite restaurant because it makes a dish much better than the others. We couldn’t have that uniqueness. Nothing stopped the shopkeeper down the street from having exactly the same menu as meexplains the man who is also vice-president of the activities of the Collective of Independent Cannabis Retailers (Independent Retail Cannabis Collective, or IRCC, in English).

There are also many small artisanal producers who struggle to get their products into the market. If either of us can have a direct discussion with a retailer like me, we both win.he adds.

Signs of weakness

The authorization of private brands is the latest regulatory change in a long list established by theAGLC these last years. The latter, for example, authorized the establishment of temporary points of sale during festivals reserved for adults.

According to the president and CEO of theIRCCShakir Tayabali, these relaxations are necessary to guarantee the growth of the industry.

We hope that the authorities will even accelerate the relaxationshe explains. To have a healthy industry, we need healthy producers and retailers.

After an exponential increase, particularly in Alberta, the sector began to show some signs of weakness. The number of retailers thus decreased for the first time in the province, going from 756 last year to 744, according to the latest count of theAGLC.

I think it will really help retailers survive financiallyargues Omar Khan, for whom the main competitor is the black market. Anything that can help the legal sector increase its margins and be profitable is beneficial.

Good for big and small?

Chris Felgate, however, is not completely convinced that the emergence of private labels will help small retailers like him. The retailer cannot afford to pay large quantities of products to a producer in advance.

In Ontario, where private brands have been authorized for several years, Shakir Tayabali also notes that only the owners of several businesses have developed house brands.

They have the resources to hire people to manage their private label. They also have the network to transfer inventory based on the stores where these products sell best.he emphasizes.

Chris Felgate, however, hopes thatAGLC will develop regulations in a way that will benefit both small and large retailers.