With Florida approving edible sales after a long wait, Trulieve Cannabis Corp. (CSE: TRUL) says it’s ready to pounce on the opportunity and continue its market domination in the state.
On Thursday, the company said it will “soon” be offering a variety of infused products after the Florida Department of Health finalized regulations for edibles a day before.
The edibles rollout comes less than 18 months after the state approved the sale of dried flower, which helped double the size of Florida’s rapidly growing medical market. Florida legalized medical weed in 2016 after voters in the state approved a ballot initiative.
“Similar to what we saw when flower was introduced in 2019, we expect that edibles will contribute to a sizable share of overall sales,” Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers said in a statement. “We know the demand is there, as we have been hearing from our customers for some time now.”
Trulieve has built a 10,000 square foot commercial kitchen ready for edibles in Quincy, Florida. Press photo
Trulieve said to prepare for the edibles market it has built a 10,000 square foot commercial-grade kitchen at its production facililty in Quincy, Florida. The company expects to offer infused cookies, brownies and gummies that are being developed with veteran brand partners like Bhang and District Edibles.
According to Florida’s new regulations, edibles sold in the state can’t be produced to look attractive to children, similar to Canada’s federal rules. That means all infused products can’t have primary or bright colors, must not resemble any commercially available candy and must be packaged in a secure way.
Also, producers will be able to sell infused baked goods, lozenges, chocolates and drink powders with a single serving limited to 10 milligrams of THC. But unlike Canada’s strict rules for dosages, multi-serving options will be allowed to contain as much as 200 milligrams of THC.
Trulieve said once they get their products approved, it’s well-positioned to lead the segment and meet market demand after opening its 57th store this week in Florida — almost 20 more than its next biggest competitor. The company added it will also sell other product lines from its distribution partners.
Oh. Happy Day! Edibles are on the way. 🤩🌿
What are you looking forward to tasting? 🍪🍫🤤Stay up to date on all the news: https://t.co/fpSmjoJov7 pic.twitter.com/GVM1UUyoRT
— Trulieve (@Trulieve) August 26, 2020
Florida leads all other medical-only states with nearly 400,000 registered patients, a total that has increased by almost 20 per cent since the start of the pandemic in March.
In 2019, Florida medical sales reached about US$500 million and are projected by BDS Analytics to top US$1.2 billion in 2020.
Trulieve has held a commanding 50 per cent market share in the flower segment since last year, and the company has also launched capsules, TruPowder and TruTincture Drops, which are similar to lozenges.
This month the state’s biggest weed firm reported US$120.8 million in quarterly revenue for the three months ended June.
The record revenues, along with industry-leading earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of US$60.5 million helped the company’s share price rise to an all-time-high of $35 on Aug. 14.
Also, fueling the pot stock this month is speculation of reported merger talks with Green Thumb Industries, Inc. (CSE: GTII), another top U.S. operator. Combined the two would form an enterprise that would rival the biggest licensed company in the country: Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (CSE: CURA).
Been writing online 20+ yrs and always steered clear of rumors as matter of course.
But this floated around the street a few days before they both reported earnings and AP @ Stifel has now said it out loud.
I can’t share more but fair usage👇
/positions $GTBIF $TCNNF pic.twitter.com/FSB3DgBt4s
— Todd Harrison (@todd_harrison) August 27, 2020
Read more: Earnings week August: Pot stock feats and flops
Read more: Profits grow for Florida market monolith Trulieve
Top image via District Edibles
jared@mugglehead.com
@JaredGnam
