What Cannabis 2.0 Means for AGCO Cannabis Dispensaries

November 14, 2019

Cannabis 2.0 brings with it edibles and concentrates, legal for sale in the Canadian market, as of October 17^th, 2019. As this introduces new products, it will naturally change the landscape of the Canadian cannabis industry. With the added products, Ontario will now be selling them in addition to the following products that were legalized in 2018:

Dried cannabis
Oil
Fresh cannabis
Plants
Plant seeds

With more items on the market, Cannabis 2.0 means changes for customer bases, regulations, and more. Read on to learn about Cannabis 2.0 and how it will affect Canada’s cannabis industry and the people who work in it!

New Products at AGCO Cannabis Dispensaries Could Bring New Customers

While edibles and extracts are now legal for sale, companies have to give 60 days’ notice to Health Canada before having the products on their shelves. Due to this rule, they won’t physically be on sale in stores until at least mid-December, with Ontario stores likely having products available in late 2019 or early 2020.

Signs point to these new additions bringing more people to the world of cannabis consumption. A Deloitte survey found that “likely” cannabis consumers were particularly interested in trying:

edibles (59%)
topicals and ointments (53%)
infused beverages (37%)

Many of these likely consumers did not have prior interest in consuming cannabis, as they weren’t interested in the formats previously being offered. When AGCO cannabis dispensaries are able to cater to these needs, their customer bases may grow as a result.

Canadians who were not previously interested in cannabis may be interested in new products

Regulations for Cannabis 2.0 Will Affect all Levels of the Supply Chain

New products will have to comply with specific regulations, such as:

a cap on THC content at 10 mg per container for edibles
a cap on THC at 1000 mg per container for extracts
no use of words like “beer” or “wine” that suggest alcoholic drinks on infused beverages
beverages also cannot contain nicotine, caffeine, or alcohol

Regulatory compliance is a major priority in the cannabis industry, as well as in cannabis industry training. As Conor Purdon, Cannabis Retail Program Developer of AAPS says, “…it’s a combination of learning the regulations, the compliance requirements, the reporting requirements that you need to meet, which are very intense”. He also notes, “…that’s what makes cannabis retail a little bit unique compared to other industries, it is one of the more heavily regulated industries—which means when it comes to these federal reporting requirements and provincial reporting requirements that the stores need to meet, it can get quite intense.”

This emphasis on compliance means that Cannabis 2.0 will require vigilance with more details. New regulations affect almost all aspects of the cannabis industry:

Retail
Manufacturing
Consulting
Wholesale
Management

Regulatory compliance is a big part of the cannabis industry

New Products that May Appear Soon in AGCO Cannabis Dispensaries

Dispensaries will soon begin to have products on shelves that hadn’t appeared there before. This will expand the market and its ability to serve different customers’ needs, potentially also introducing existing customers to new products. Some items that we will likely see in Canada include:

Chocolate
Mints
Gummies
Non-alcoholic cannabis-infused drinks
CBD-infused drinks marketed to athletes
Baked goods like cookies and brownies

These point to opportunities for growth, as well as added logistics and a learning curve. As with any industry, introducing something new alters many facets of the sector.