🏪 Planet 13's New OC Dispensary Generated $800K in First Month
🏪 Planet 13's New OC Dispensary Generated $800K in First Month
Planet 13 – $11.9M Revenue (50%+ GM) in July. Fire & Flower acquires Wikileaf for $7.5M. Glass House Brands adds CBO. Papa & Barkley adds CMO. KSS adds President.
👥 Follow on LinkedIn for more real-time updates. Subscribe to the newsletter here.
🌿Industry
New cannabis licensees in Illinois face David vs. Goliath fight against industry giants. As Illinois begins to award much-delayed cannabis business licenses, the new business owners will face a long uphill climb. They’ll be pitting mom-and-pop startups against giant companies that have had a five-year head start to take control of the market. Entry-level entrepreneurs will have, in many cases, one dispensary to compete with companies that control up to 10 stores across the state. New craft growers will be limited to 5,000 square feet, compared with behemoth cultivators in cavernous warehouses up to 221,000 square feet. Industry newsletter Grown In reported that 77% of legal recreational cannabis shipped in Illinois this March was produced by just six MSOs — Verano, Cresco Labs, GTI, Ascend, PharmaCann and Revolution Global.
Houweling’s Tomatoes terminates 486 employees. Houweling’s Tomatoes is vacating its facility at 645 Laguna Road as part of a sales agreement with the new owner (Glass House) of the 125-acre property. The tomato and cucumber grower expects to permanently layoff 486 workers, the majority of whom work in the greenhouse. The layoffs will begin on Aug. 8. Houweling’s expects most or all of the employees to be laid-off by Sept. 30, according to notice the company filed with the state of California and Ventura County. Houweling’s opened its Camarillo greenhouse in 1996, and has since expanded the facility from 20 to 125 acres. The grower also has greenhouses in Utah and British Columbia.
💵Deals
Fire & Flower — Expanded Digital Strategy with Wikileaf Asset Acquisition and Creation of New Branded Online Dispensaries. Wikileaf, which generates significant user traffic through engaging content and domain name strength, will be boosted through the incorporation of Hifyre's unique data-driven technology solutions into its existing platform. Hifyre will transform the Wikileaf website into a virtual online dispensary for cannabis and accessory products utilizing the same e-commerce proprietary technology platform that powers the Fire & Flower retail network. Accessory products will be fulfilled through Fire & Flower's agreement with Humble & Fume (CSE: HBML) announced last month. Total consideration for the purchase is $7.5 million, payable in common shares of Fire & Flower based upon the Company's 10-day volume weighted average price.
Red White & Bloom — Florida Subsidiary Closes Acquisition of 45,000 Square Foot Greenhouse on 4.7 Acres in Orange County. The Red White & Bloom team will begin rapid development on the facility to ensure all compliance standards are achieved for a Q4 2021 harvest schedule. This acquisition comes directly on the heels of the Sanderson Florida purchase and provides immediate benefits for significant cultivation expansion for delivery to RWBFL stores in Florida.
SLANG Worldwide — Returns to California Market through Strategic Partnership with Natura. Natura is bringing back one of California's favorite infused products, District Edibles, which were previously one of the top-selling gummies in the state. Through a previously announced strategic partnership, Natura has been granted an exclusive license to produce and distribute the SLANG product suite in California. The Company expects to launch more SLANG-branded products in the coming quarters. SLANG will also provide sales consulting services and will receive royalty payments for each branded product sold in the state.
📄Company Updates / Earnings
Planet 13 — Generates Record $11.9 Million in Sales in July. During the first month of operations the new Orange County store generated ~$800 thousand in sales. Gross margin for the Company during the month was in excess of 50%.
Plus Products — Q2 2021 Financial Results
Revenues: up 12% Y/Y to $4.83M
Gross Profits: $1.94M (40% margin)
Cash: $6.7M as of June 30, 2021. This cash balance has also been adjusted to reflect the Company’s semi-annual interest payment of $0.87M occurring at the end of the period
Jushi — Cantor Fitzgerald Lowers Price Target ($6.15 to $5.25)
🌱Product
Ascend — Brings Lowell Smokes to Illinois on August 5. Lowell Smokes pre-roll pack will initially be available to consumers at eight retail locations throughout Illinois:
Ascend by MOCA dispensaries in Logan Square and River North in Chicago;
Midway Dispensary locations in Chicago and Chicago Ridge; and
Ascend dispensaries in Springfield, Collinsville and Fairview Heights
SweetWater Brewing — Expansion Across Michigan. The move further accelerates the nation's 11th largest craft brewer into the Great Lakes states. This new market is the 36th state, plus Washington, D.C., that SweetWater has dived into, representative of the expansive growth the leading brewing company has experienced over the last several years. Michigan is the 11th new market that the 420 lifestyle-focused brewery has entered this year - joining Colorado, Minnesota, North Dakota, Maine, Nebraska, Wisconsin, New York, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire.
🧔People | 💻Hiring
Glass House Brands — Appoints Erik W. Thoresen as Chief Business Development Officer. Thoresen will spearhead M&A initiatives. Thoresen joins Glass House Brands with nearly 20 years of global investing, capital allocation and transactional experience. Most recently, he was the VP M&A at Harvest Health & Recreation, where he was also responsible for real estate. Since 2010, Thoresen has been deepening his domain expertise as Founder and Manager at Calaveras Capital, a value-oriented, SPAC-focused investment management firm specializing in CPG, medtech, fintech, and multi-state cannabis operators. Prior to entering the cannabis industry, he served as the VP and Director of Strategy at BNY Mellon and VP of Corporate Development and M&A at E*Trade.
Papa & Barkley — Taps Bo Becker, CPG Veteran as CMO. Becker will own the full end-to-end consumer journey, inclusive of branding, direct-to-consumer strategy, and a significant focus on scaling earned media value. Becker has spent 16 years in marketing, holding several executive roles at CPG nutrition and wellness companies. Most recently, Becker served as VP Marketing at Charlotte's Web, where he played a critical role in scaling the company's CBD business nationally. Becker's proven track record in the cannabis industry and deep experience in digital-first branding, will catapult Papa & Barkley into its next stage of growth, beginning with the launch of its Sleep Releaf Collection this summer.
Kiva Sales & Service (KSS) — Appoints Former Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits Executive Brooks Jorgensen As President. Jorgensen is the former VP and GM of Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits / Domaines & Estates Division, and brings to KSS 20 years of commercial and sales management experience. As newly minted President, Jorgensen will parlay this extensive knowledge of wine and spirits distribution to take KSS through the next stage of growth, including refining operations and growing suppliers within the portfolio.
Jushi Holdings — Brendon Lynch as EVP Retail Operations. Brendon Lynch brings decades of retail expertise to Jushi that he refined and developed while working with companies such as Anthropologie, Rudy’s Barbershop, TOMS, David Yurman and Gap. In his new role, Brendon will be responsible for leading Jushi’s retail strategies, including overseeing Jushi’s retail footprint in core markets as well as the introduction and expansion of delivery service. In his most recent role as CEO of Rudy’s Barbershop, a national chain of barbershops, he worked to reshape the organization’s culture, united fragmented teams, expanded store count, launched tech-enabled tools and architected the company’s first-ever product line, which more than doubled annual revenue.
Organigram — Appoints Beena Goldenberg as CEO. Goldenberg has more than 30 years of experience in consumer-packaged goods, manufacturing and marketing. As President and CEO of The Supreme Cannabis Company Inc., she successfully achieved 50% growth in the first year of her tenure at the company through a focus on distribution, innovation and brand portfolio development. Goldberg has also served as Chief Executive Officer, President, General Manager at Hain-Celestial Canada, ULC where, among another notable accomplishments, she led the strategic growth of the company from $40M in 2005 to over $300M in 2019 through the organic growth of existing brands by increasing distribution, launching on-trend innovation, integrating newly acquired US brands and completing two Canadian acquisitions
SPARC — Head of Sales, Santa Rosa. The position manages a third party sales team, building direct relationships with CA licensed cannabis retailers to introduce them to SPARC’s brands (Marigold, Besito, and Farm Direct), and maintaining an up to date record of communications, sales data, and available inventory.
Jane Technologies —Account Executive, Brands (Remote). Outbound sales position, responsible for prospecting and bringing cannabis brands onto the program. When fully scaled up, AEs will be expected to manage the full sales cycle for brand partners.
🎙️Interviews
New Cannabis Ventures — Irwin Simon Maps Out Path to Tilray’s Potential $4 Billion in Revenue by 2024
Meet The Disruptors — Louie Reformina, CFO, Turning Point Brands, On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry.
The Cannabis Business Coach Podcast — Jackie Kim and Charmaine Chua, STIIIZY. What it takes to become a category king in Cannabis the challenges of being #1 and how success can be daunting.
Cannabis Investing Network — Ranking our Top 7 Up and Coming Mid-Cap MSOs (ft. Nick Gastevich aka CannaVestments), Part 2/2