Alcohol and cannabis sales saw a slight increase in the first quarter financial results from the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC).
The provincial distributor reported that total sales for the quarter were up 3.6 per cent, reaching a total of $219.4 million.
Three additional selling days, and five new cannabis stores, contributed to the increase in sales across both categories.
More specifically, alcohol sales increased 2.7 per cent to $192 million while cannabis sales saw a 10.4 per cent increase, totalling just over $27 million.
Local products continued to be in demand, with sales of local alcohol and cannabis products increasing 18 per cent to $31 million.
“Local cannabis remains extremely popular as we continued to add more local products to our shelves. We carried products from five more local producers than we did during the same period last year for a total of 16 local suppliers, with local cannabis now accounting for 28.4% of all cannabis sales – our highest to date,” the NSLC notes in a press release.
Additionally, the top three selling pre-rolls were local products and eight of the top ten dried flower products were also local. Overall, local cannabis sales increased just under 60 per cent in the quarter, buoyed by the new stores and an increase in product listings from local producers.
The average price per gram of dried flower also fell another 5.3 per cent, to $6.15. The NSLC reports that customers purchasing 28-gram offerings and large pack pre-rolls helped lower the average price per gram, in addition to price reductions more generally.
Last October, the distributor reported a five per cent increase in total sales of both alcohol and cannabis, year over year, in its second quarter. Cannabis led all sales categories, racking up $5.5 million in sales with a 31 per cent increase in sales. At the time, there were 33 NSLC locations that sold cannabis products, that number has now increased to 43 stores.
SOURCE: The GrowthOp