New Brunswickers will soon have another new farmgate store to purchase cannabis from. 

Eco Canadian Organic, located in Rexton, New Brunswick, announced their cannabis farmgate store today, called The Trading Post, should be open to the public in the coming weeks.

The second cannabis farmgate store approved in New Brunswick, The Trading Post is located in a new stand-alone building on-site of their production facility, where they plan to sell their own cannabis, accessories, and non-cannabis products – in addition to offering other locally grown New Brunswick cannabis products.

The new cannabis store is also accessible by the Sentier New Brunswick Trail, a popular trail in the region used by hikers, mountain bikers, snowmobilers, and cross country skiers. 

“The ‘ECO Trading Post’ was selected to recognize and acknowledge the distinct cultures and history of our country,” says Denise Hannay, CEO of ECO Canadian Organic. “The farmgate name ‘Trading Post’ was inspired to recognize the organic roots where retail derived from in Atlantic Canada”.

“Cannabis NB has been very progressive in supporting the development of our storefront,” says Hannay. “ECO sees this as a historical milestone in our province and communities of opening farmgate retail stores managed directly by license producers. 

“The farmgate model will allow us to showcase our state-of-the-art facility, create brand awareness through tourism, as well as providing educational tours and workshops.” By offering these services, our vision is that this will help to alleviate the stigma and fears surrounding cannabis – and we anticipate our educational approach will support the safe and responsible consumption of cannabis”.

The Trading Post is the second cannabis farmgate store approved for sale in New Brunswick. The first, Crystal Cure in Shediac Cape, opened their doors on November 18. The producer plans to build out a more formal store next year and is currently operating out of the main office of their existing facility. 

Cannabis NB announced last August that they would be allowing “on-site selling of in-house products for local LPs, nurseries, and micros”. The initial launch is somewhat of a pilot project to see how things go, explained Lara Wood, the VP of Operations at Cannabis NB, earlier this year. 

“We’re still evaluating the next step for the model overall. We’re doing a very simple farmgate program. We knew that a lot of our partners were really enthusiastic about it and it was a bit of a model expansion that we could move quickly on. But there will be more changes to the model and as we’re a couple of years into the program now, we’ll be evaluating what makes sense for customers and the industry next. This is the first step and then we’ll be able to share information as we go.”

Hannay says the goal is to see a model for cannabis sales that mirrors that of wineries or breweries. 

“Now that the cannabis industry is showing tourism growth, we want to continue to work with governing bodies to align ourselves with the same experience that wineries or breweries currently offer.” Eco Canadian Organic Inc. says they are planning to open to the public early December 2021. Announcements regarding the official opening date, hours of operation and product offerings will be available on ecocanadianorganic.com.

New Brunswick is the second province to launch a cannabis farmgate program, with Ontario being the first. Three producers in Ontario are now selling cannabis from their own farmgate stores. British Columbia says they have plans to launch their own farmgate program in 2022.

Newfoundland and Labrador also allow such cannabis retail locations. Although the province has has never released an official “farmgate” program, cannabis producers are allowed to apply for a license at or near their facility at the discretion of the Newfoundland Labrador Liquor Corporation.