Village Farms International (VFF.T) joint venture Pure Sunfarms started shipping branded, packaged flower products to Manitoba’s licensed retailers today.

Pure Sunfarms’ products have a reach including five of six of Canada’s most populous provinces, including an aggregate representing more than 70% of the total Canadian population. Manitoba is approximately sixth on the list of Canadian provinces by cannabis sales, and represents 4.5% of the country’s total sales. It also has a higher per capita spend on cannabis than the country average.

“We are thrilled to further expand our presence in Canada and make Pure Sunfarms’ products available to even more Canadians by adding our fifth province. We are confident that the Pure Sunfarms brand and products, with quality, signature strains at an attractive price, will be received by Manitobans with the same enthusiasm that they have been in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan,” said Mandesh Dosanjh, president and chief executive officer, Pure Sunfarms.

The company’s other announcement is that Pure Sunfarms has achieved record sales in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta for the four-weeks ending July 19, 2020. The company defines ‘record sales’ as sales of their products by the provincial boards to retailers, and also by the provincial boards directly to consumers through their websites. They’re also the top-selling dried flower brand at the Ontario Cannabis Store for the year to date.

“Pure Sunfarms continues to execute on its growth strategy, leveraging its leading brand performance for a larger consumer audience, as the overall Canadian recreational cannabis market continues to grow. The continuing strength of Pure Sunfarms’ brand strategy, positioning and execution, coupled with recent sales momentum as the Canadian market recovers from a soft second quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic, bodes very well as Pure Sunfarms prepares for the launch of its first bottled oil and vape products in the coming weeks,” said Michael DeGiglio, chief executive officer, Village Farms.

The company intends to push their JV into advance discussions with other provincial distributors, seeking potential supply agreements in order to expand its presence in the Canadian cannabis market.

The products should be on sale in 26 Manitoba retailers by next week.

—Joseph Morton