A NEW BRUNSWICK CANNABIS PRODUCER IS NOW SELLING ITS PRODUCT TO BOTH ITS MARITIME NEIGHBOURS. CRYSTAL CURE HAS SIGNED A DEAL TO SELL TWO STRAINS AT NOVA SCOTIA CANNABIS RETAIL LOCATIONS.

Jonathan Wilson, CEO of Crystal Cure, said the company has introduced two strains of cannabis to the Nova Scotia market, where they will be sold at NSLC Cannabis locations. It’s the biggest order the small, Shediac Cape-based grower has received to date.

“It’s exciting for us and we can keep it nice and close to home, so it’s wins all around. We’re happy to get into [the Nova Scotian market],” said Wilson. “The big thing is that it’s not a one-time deal. This initial order opens up the door for us to continue to ship.”

Wilson noted the company has been in negotiation to break into the Nova Scotia market for months.

“It’s the perfect size for us. When you look at what we’re doing in New Brunswick and what business we’re doing in P.E.I., that’s not enough demand. There’s more demand in Nova Scotia and that scale fits our size perfectly,” he said.

When asked how much Crystal Cure will sell in Nova Scotia, Wilson said it will be “a couple of pallets worth” of the company’s flagship Tiger Balm Sativa strain, as well as its new Superunknown Indica Strain. Crystal Cure plans to release the two strains in 3.5-gram containers and three packs of joints.

“I’m really pumped to be able to send product back home,” he added. “We want to showcase what we’re bringing to the table now that we have our foot in the door and see if people are really looking for our product.”

Crystal Cure’s growth has already spurred some hiring. Wilson said he’s hired two new employees to help meet Nova Scotian demand and plans to bring two more onboard soon.

Farm Gate

The expansion comes only a couple of months after Crystal Cure launched the inaugural Farm Gate store, which lets it sell cannabis from its greenhouse.

While Wilson was mum on how much money the Farm Gate sales have brought in, he said it exceeded expectations, with the average transaction at the Farm Gate store being “north of $100.”

“That’s absolutely incredible for our little business. I had zero expectations for sales out of this. We’re at the end of a dirt road and didn’t do a lot of promotion,” he said.

“We’re going nice and slow. We jumped on it because we wanted to show Cannabis NB and New Brunswick that we really believed in it. We’re not seeing any records for the most number of people in a day, but even a few people here and there through the week and a couple of thousand dollars, here and there, makes a huge difference for us.”

Wilson said the Farm Gate store sees “multiple people coming in every week” and that it’s a mingling of returning customers and people trying cannabis for the first time.

“We get to talk directly to our customers and hear directly from them about what they like about us and what they don’t – and they’re great conversations. We can’t wait for the warmer weather and nicer roads,” he said.

Greenhouses

Owing to supply chain hitches, Wilson said he’s not sure when shovels will be in the ground for the new warehouses he needs to grow more cannabis.

Wilson has plans to build a 63,000-square-foot and 50,000-square-foot greenhouse on Crystal Cure’s 48-acre property north of Moncton and intends to have them ready to grow cannabis by 2024.

“We’ll hopefully get started soon, at least on the destruction of the existing property that is out there – we have the shell of a building that needs to come down first before we break ground on the greenhouses or anything new,” said Wilson.

With demand kicking up for Crystal Cure’s product, Wilson said the company’s priority is increasing how much cannabis it can produce.

“Even with a full facility, we need more flower and have to find a way to increase our footprint. Our immediate focus is trying to meet the demand of markets begging us for more flower to sell,” he said.

“Even with a full facility, that doesn’t help us in the current time because it will take a year and a half to construct.”

Crystal Cure specializes in small-batch, hand-crafted, non-irradiated cannabis. It was launched in 2016 by Hiroshi Kosako, a business owner treating a health condition with cannabis.