![]() ![]() “We’re going to see a diversity of products that are available,” said Nelson, senior vice president of the Midwest and Northeast regions for New York-based MSO Acreage. Kate Nelson, who oversaw The Botanist’s conversion to adult-use sales under the Acreage Holdings banner, expects the state’s four licensed producers – a catchall term in Connecticut for vertically integrated cultivators and manufacturers – to ramp up production in the coming weeks.Įxpanding production licenses and approvals likely will also improve inventory levels and ease demand over time. “We definitely want more product variety than anything,” Zachs said.ĭemand has outpaced CT Pharma’s production modeling in the early going, Weiss admitted. With only one market supplier, The Botanist in Montville limited gummy package transactions per customer to ensure inventory lasted through the first week.įine Fettle was on the verge of selling out its line of gummy products but received a few shipments on Friday. “We know how important it is on Day One to have that full panoply, that full suite of products available to patients and customers.” “We have the capacity here, we’ve done this before,” he added. “Day One, we had gummies not only to supply our own store but the entire industry here in Connecticut,” said Weiss, who estimates the facility is producing about 80% of the state’s entire cannabis products. Under Connecticut’s adult-use program, gummy coloring is prohibited, a restriction that sent CT Pharma back to the drawing board.Īfter some research and development, the company was able to produce gummies with the same feel, taste and look – but no colors – as the gummies it sells in other state markets. The monthslong undertaking included equipment installs, training employees on operating procedures, bringing in its national kitchen and infusion staff as well as adding other personnel. Verano, which acquired CT Pharma in 2021, leveraged its production expertise gained in other recreational market launches in Massachusetts and New Jersey to outfit its 216,000-square-foot cultivation and manufacturing facility in the Hartford suburb of Round Hill. “We’ve continued to see that throughout the course of the week,” said Weiss, who traveled from Baltimore for the recreational market launch. Verano’s Meriden location tripled customer count on Day 1 – compared to a typical weekday of business under the state’s medical marijuana program – and has sustained the pace since then. ![]() ![]() “The excitement was palpable people were super psyched,” said Darren Weiss, chief operating officer and general counsel of Verano Holdings, a Chicago-based multistate operator that owns two dispensaries in the state and CT Pharma, the market’s largest cannabis grower and product manufacturer. On the first day of recreational sales, lines wrapped around Zen Leaf’s dispensary in Meriden in south-central Connecticut, about a half-hour drive north of New Haven.Ĭustomers cheered in line and were given free coffee and donuts. “It goes to show how universal cannabis is as a product,” he added. The company opted to fulfill purchases primarily through online preorders and preselected pickup windows at its various outlets, with notification updates sent via email or text.įine Kettle’s customers, according to Zachs, have represented a cross section of Connecticut consumers and those from other states, age groups, gender, race and ethnicities. “We’ve been really happy with how it’s going.”įine Fettle’s lowest-priced eighths, which cost just under $55, tax included, have been its top sellers. “It’s been a great, seamless process,” he said. Meanwhile, its dispensaries in Newington, Stamford and Willimantic haven’t generated neighbor complaints, traffic jams or parking issues, assuaging some initial concerns of CEO Benjamin Zachs. Recreational sales in Connecticut this year are expected to reach $300 million-$375 million as more cultivators, manufacturers and retailers come online and will increase to $650 million-$800 million by 2026, according to the 2022 MJBiz Factbook.Īs expected, the products that hit the shelves – flower, vapes and gummies – sold well.įine Fettle Dispensary, which has converted three of its four medical marijuana licenses into hybrid retail permits to serve recreational consumers, has seen transactions quadruple in the past week. 10 at seven medical marijuana dispensaries licensed to transition to adult use.ĭespite several significant retail restrictions, including quarter-ounce purchase limits for flower, curbs on the use of some strain names and bans on certain product categories, Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection reported that adult-use sales surpassed $251,000 in the first seven hours of business. Recreational sales in Connecticut kicked off Jan. ![]()
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