New Brunswickers in the Miramichi area will soon be able to buy cannabis directly from the grower at a new cannabis farmgate store in Chatham. 

Sana’a Craft Cannabis, a cannabis cultivator and processor operating on the south side of the Miramichi River, are putting the finishing touches on their in-facility cannabis farmgate store, and hope to have doors open by the end of March. 

Consumers will be able to buy cannabis products grown and processed on-site at Sana’a’s facility, which the company’s CEO Veronica Flores says she thinks will give consumers a chance to try more fresh and unique products than they might find in a Cannabis NB store. 

“People feel that they are getting a fresher product when they buy it from the grower.”

And because provinces, including New Brunswick, don’t always buy everything a grower has to offer, especially anything under 20% THC, Flores says the direct-to-consumer option will mean a chance to sell more unique varieties and products. 

“(Cannabis NB) doesn’t always want to carry what you’re producing, and not everyone is always looking for high THC all the time. And that’s their focus. So this just gives us more options to give consumers something unique.”

Sana’a is currently only licensed to sell dried cannabis, clones, and seeds, but Flores says they plan on getting licenses to allow for the sale of other products such as extracts and edibles in the near future. 

This would allow the company to not only sell their own products but also those they process and package for other local New Brunswick growers. 

“We’re excited about being able to work with other producers in New Brunswick to offer their products as well in the store,” adds Flores. 

The store, which Flores explains will be small to start out, will be staffed by a handful of employees who have taken a provincial cannabis sales certification course. Over time, she hopes to see the store grow to accommodate more products not only from New Brunswick, but from all across Canada. 

“We’re really excited about it. It’s taken a while to get here. We’re starting small but down the road, I think we’ll be able to offer a full retail experience to give New Brunswickers more choice.”

New Brunswick is the second province in Canada to have created a formal cannabis farmgate program. Ontario has also issued three cannabis farmgate licenses under their own program, and British Columbia has said they intend to release their own set of regulations for cannabis farmgate later this year.