The BCLDB sold 135,348 kg (*Equiv) of cannabis in the year ended March 31, 2024, a 27% increase from the previous year.
In fiscal year 2023-2024, the provincial agency that oversees cannabis and alcohol warehousing, distribution, and sale brought in $3.9 billion in revenue, a 1.7% increase from the previous year, with lower liquor revenue somewhat offset by growth in cannabis sales.
The LDB’s cannabis revenue was $574.5 million, an 18.3% increase from the previous year that it attributes to new retail stores and an expanded product selection. Alcohol revenue was $3.4 billion, a 0.7% drop compared to the prior year, for a total of $3.94 billion in revenue and $1.15 billion in net income.
The LDB’s net income and contribution to the Government of BC was $1.1 billion, a 4.2% decrease compared to the previous year.
Dried flowers, pre-rolls, and extracts and concentrates accounted for 91.8% of LDB’s cannabis sales revenue. It sold 54.1 kg of flower, 24.8 kg worth of pre-rolls, 45.5 kg of extracts and concentrates (gram equivalent), and another 10.1 kg in all other categories.
The extracts and concentrates category saw the highest increase of 36.3% compared to 2022-2023, reflecting the growth in vapes and infused pre-rolls.
The BCLDB added 2,600 new products in 2023-2024, a 37% increase in registered cannabis products compared to the previous year.
The BC Cannabis Store also introduced an online cannabis knowledge training program for all employees in the most recent fiscal year. The stores reached $965 in sales per square foot of store.
The cannabis wholesale division says they established a dedicated area for quality control processes, improving order accuracy, and took steps to improve on-time delivery and order accuracy.
In August 2023, the BCCS completed a market research survey of 1,200 BC adult cannabis users to gain customer insights and refine customer service strategies.
Since launching in August 2022, the LDB says its cannabis direct delivery program has grown to include around 100 participating cultivators worth more than $13 million in direct sales in fiscal 2023/24.
The agency admits the program could be much bigger, and says it is “committed” to a review of its central distribution 15% mark-up, as well as of the direct delivery program and who is eligible.
In April 2023, the LDB made several changes for cannabis producers, like eliminating its requirement that producers maintain mandatory insurance coverage for product expenses, reducing the reporting requirement for producers using the direct delivery program from weekly to bi-weekly, and changing payment terms from 30 to 14 days.
[Editor’s note. This article initially reported total sales in grams, not kilograms. This has been corrected]
