It’s no surprise that Canada has been killing it when it comes to cannabis spending in their legal, nation-wide market. It’s also common knowledge that, despite the hit the global economy took in 2020, cannabis is one of the only markets that not only survived, but thrived. But it’s still shocking to see just how much money Canadians spent on cannabis in 2020. And yes, we are talking about flower, not the entire cannabis industry.

It’s been half a year since VIGR Life Cannabis Inc. (VLC) started cultivating its first crops in Regina, and now they’re ready to launch their first series of products.

The company, which is the first micro-grower in Regina, will be introducing a line of buds and pre-rolls which will be available at local dispensaries starting on April 20.

“Our plan is to bring things that maybe the market hasn’t seen yet,” said Jared Dumba, vice-president of operations in an interview Monday.

What happened

Shares of some Canadian cannabis companies jumped Monday morning, before paring those gains. Shares of Aphria (NASDAQ:APHA), OrganiGram Holdings (NASDAQ:OGI), and Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) all rose between 6% and 8% early in today's session. Those gains faded some, and as of 2 p.m. EDT, Aphria traded up about 1%, Organigram was up 3.2%, and Aurora was up 3.4%.

It is no secret that the greenhouse produce industry is booming. With limited land, water, and labor, the global commercial greenhouse market pushed sales to $27.24 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $61.88 billion by 2027. However, the expensive set up costs and the lack of awareness, especially when it comes to data, are hampering market growth.

As conscious consumerism enters the cannabis world, purchasing decisions may be based more on fair trade and regenerative farming than on orange hairs and THC percentage. With legalization taking hold, the industry has shifted from trying to protect people from the police to trying to protect small businesses from the behemoths that are inevitably entering the cannabis space. But while a lot of support for small cannabis businesses comes out of a concern for the people involved, there’s another party to be considered: the planet.

It's been a rough start to earnings season for Canadian companies, with Aphria's stock dropping over 14% after losing significant market share and a total of C$361 million in the quarter.

There was a lot of pointing fingers at the COVID-19 lockdowns, but Wall Street analysts say that while the lockdowns caused some of the sales decline, Aphria's issues extend beyond the coronavirus.

Tilray postponed a shareholder meeting to vote on its proposed merger with Aphria until April 30.

Tilray, Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY), a global pioneer in cannabis research, cultivation, production, and distribution, today announced that the Tilray board of directors approved an amendment to the Company’s bylaws to reduce the quorum requirement for shareholder meetings from shareholders representing a majority of the voting power of the outstanding shares entitled to vote to one-third of the voting power of the outstanding shares entitled to vote.

For cannabis extraction companies, becoming more efficient and more productive goes hand in hand with expansion and scaling up. Marijuana extraction firms looking to cut costs and boost efficiencies can do so in several ways, including:

• Adding automated solutions to extraction equipment.
• Sourcing high-quality starting material.
• Designing the facility to streamline the process and improve workflow.

Automation

Automating certain parts of the extraction process can dramatically reduce labor costs and increase throughput time.

According to a new report, sales will be higher among males than females, while customers between the age of 30 to 40-years-old will be the most interested in purchasing cannabis products.

Cannabis software firm Akerna Corp (NASDAQ:KERN) expects national cannabis retail sales to reach $95 million on 4/20, the unofficial marijuana holiday. That’s according to a new Flash Report out of the Denver-based company.