https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2019/10/16/ Wednesday, 16 October 2019 05:00
The SQDC's largest cannabis supplier wants to cut the grass in the black market by offering a big format at a competitive price.
For the first time in the country, a 28-gram format will be sold legally at a cost of $ 125.70 tomorrow, Le Journal reported.
That's $ 4.49 a gram, a little less than the average black market price.
This is a very competitive price in a very common format on the illicit side, but which, however, was until now absent from the shelves of the Socit qubcoise du cannabis (SQDC).
"This is the first time that the legal industry will be able to fully compete with the black market," said Sbastien St-Louis, CEO of HEXO, the Quebec producer who is also the main supplier of the SQDC.
In an interview with Le Journal, SQDC CEO Jean-Franois Bergeron admitted in May that the clientele of large consumers, who are buying pot in large volumes to get a good price, still escaped him.
From $ 100 to $ 160 to black
They are used to buying an ounce (28 grams) for a price ranging from about $ 100 to $ 160, black in Quebec.
Listen The Good Plant a podcast series on cannabis that is off the beaten track, beyond preconceived ideas.
However, the largest amount offered to the SQDC was so far the format of 15 grams, sold between $ 80 and $ 157.
In short, for the same price, SQDC clients received twice as much cannabis as in the street.
Jean-Franois Bergeron
CEO of the SQDC
"Where I lose my competitiveness is as the format increases," admitted Mr. Bergeron.
"We have been asking producers for a long time to produce 28-gram formats to better compete with the black market," said SQDC spokesman Fabrice Gigure yesterday.
This, however, was a major challenge for producers who were already struggling to meet demand in the months following legalization.
THC rate
"We had to protect [our products] for our medical customers [...] and we had to make sure we had no shortage," says Mr. St-Louis, who also increased his production capacity.
The new 28 g format will be sold to the SQDC.
PHOTO COURTESY
The new 28 g format will be sold to the SQDC.
HEXO recommended a sale price of $ 120 for 28 g, but the SQDC finally set it at $ 125.70 taxes included.
The level of THC (the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis) will vary between 12 and 18%.
"It's significant, because we compete with the price, but also with the rate of THC," adds Mr. St-Louis.
CANNABIS AWARDS IN QUEBEC
1 gram
$ 8.25, on average, at the SQDC
$ 5.45, on average, on the black market, according to Statistics Canada
1 ounce (28 g)
$ 125.70 at the SQDC, or $ 4.49 per gram, starting tomorrow
$ 100 to $ 160 on the black market (in person), and $ 120 to $ 220 on illegal websites, according to a short review of the Journal