Producers scramble to get cannabis products on B.C. shelves
The B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch has 85 different strains of cannabis available to recreational users as sales go live today, but licensed producers are working around the clock to get that marijuana into the province’s fledgling distribution system.
“We know that everybody is getting as much (cannabis) out as fast as they can,” said Jordan Sinclair, a vice-president at Canopy Growth, Canada’s largest licensed cannabis producer and one of B.C.’s suppliers working to stock shelves at the BCLDB, the province’s exclusive distributor for legal weed. “It’s been a real sprint here.”
As of Tuesday, the BCLDB still hadn’t unveiled which third-party courier services it had secured to make deliveries as sales were set to go live, despite promising that orders would be processed and shipped within 48 hours of receipt.
The 85 strains it has represent just more than half the 150 varieties the provincial agency hoped to have on hand for the start of legalization when it announced in July that it had secured a Richmond warehouse as its distribution centre for online sales, according to a BCLDB spokesperson.
That spokesperson on Tuesday said no one from the branch would be able to speak for attribution, due to privacy and security concerns, but in an emailed statement said the branch was now working with 40 licensed producers to secure ongoing supplies.
“We’ve stated repeatedly that creating a new line of business, and the required processes and systems, would not happen overnight,” the spokesperson wrote in the statement.
B.C.’s distribution model calls for licensed producers to send dried cannabis, oils and capsules to the pot warehouse in Richmond, and Sinclair said Canopy made its first delivery a month ago.
Sinclair said that was essentially a test to establish inventory communications “and make sure each side is able to talk to one another.”
At its Richmond warehouse, the BCLDB is aiming to employ 130 workers to handle logistics, shipping, receiving and customer service, but the branch didn’t indicate how many of those employees were in place. The distribution centre will handle online sales and shipments to the retail network, which consists of a single BCLDB-branded cannabis store in Kamloops, but could include up to 173 private stores that have applied for permission to sell cannabis.
The branch has hired online-commerce expert Shopify to provide its online sales portal, which the branch spokesperson said had been approved by B.C.’s information and privacy commissioner for the terms under which Shopify would serve BCLDB customers.
Online orders will be shipped for a $10 express delivery fee and can be paid for by credit card or creditcard debit options, the spokesperson said.
While licensed producers suspect that there will be shortages of legal cannabis at the outset, and some have expressed concerns about provincial agencies such as the BCLDB becoming bottlenecks for distribution, Sinclair said that prospect was “very low down on the list” of Canopy’s concerns.
“They already have a bunch of operational expertise,” Sinclair said.
“They’re used to warehousing, they’re used to distribution.”
And while Canopy’s preference would be to have privatized distribution, it expected provinces would model cannabis on alcohol where they already have infrastructure in place.