BC wholesales nearly 40,000 kg of cannabis in Q2 2024, while direct delivery sees big declines

November 1, 2024 | David Brown

BC’s LDB sold nearly forty thousand kilograms of legal cannabis in Q2 2024 (July, August, and September) for a wholesale total of $147.2 million, a 14% and 7% year-over-year increase, respectively.

The average price of cannabis continues to drop in the province, reaching a record low at $3.81 a gram, down from $4.05 a gram at the same time last year and down from $3.86 per gram in the previous quarter of 2024. The average price of a gram of cannabis flower dropped to $3.15.

The number of licensed cannabis stores in the province increased to 510, up from 505 in the previous quarter and 490 in the same quarter in 2023.

Overall, sales of 3.5 gram offerings were down 18.7% year-over-year in terms of volume, while 7 gram offerings were up 46.5%. Half-ounces (14 and 15 grams) were relatively level, with an 8.6% YOY increase, while 28 gram offerings were up 9%.

The total number of cannabis beverages sold in Q2 2024 was 665,801, up just 8.3% year-over-year and down from 720,053 units sold in Q1 2024. The total units of cannabis edibles sold in the most recent quarter was 2,291,851, up 19.2% YOY.

Total sales for dried flower were up 2% YOY while units sold were down by 0.5%. Total sales for inhalable extracts, which include infused pre-rolls, were $52.7 million, up 14.4% YOY and up from $50 million in the previous quarter.

Pre-roll sales were $34.4 million, up 8.6% YOY and up from $31.4 million in the previous quarter.

Disposable vape pens saw a huge year-over-year jump in Q2 2024, with $4.8 million in sales, up 144.8%, and a 67.2% increase in units sold. Sales of disposable vapes also increased from $3.1 million in Q1 2024.

Sales of infused pre-rolls were $20 million, up 20.3% YOY and up from $18.6 million in Q1 2024. Variety pack pre-roll sales (non-infused) were $2.6 million, up 154.2% YOY and up from $1.9 million in Q1 2024.

BC’s direct delivery program, which allows some small-scale BC cannabis producers to ship products directly to retailers, bypassing the LDB’s central delivery warehouse, dropped significantly in the most recent quarter.

There were 484,000 grams of cannabis sold through this program in Q2 2024, down from 821,717 grams in Q2 2023 and 617,359 in Q1 2024. This translated into $2.3 million in sales, down from $3.8 million in sales in Q2 2023 and $3 million in Q1 2024.

Despite this overall decline in direct delivery sales, edibles sales increased by 1,156.9% YOY in terms of dollars sold and 643.6% in terms of units sold. Topicals sales also saw a significant increase, with a 97% increase yoy in terms of dollars sold and a 103.5% increase in units sold. Ingestible extracts also saw an increase in sales, while every other category saw significant declines.