It’s not on their radar just yet.
That’s what Mandesh Dosanjh, president and CEO of Pure Sunfarms, recently told the Optimist about farm gate sales at their cannabis greenhouse operation in East Ladner.
The provincial government is currently working to establish a program that will allow producers to have direct delivery as well as farm gate sales.
Announced last year, the new program follows input and recommendations from long-time cannabis growers, Indigenous leaders and other stakeholders, giving Health Canada-licensed small-scale producers, including nurseries, the option of delivering cannabis directly to licensed retailers.
A far as farm-gate sales, that program will give B.C. cannabis growers the ability to sell their products from “farm-gate” stores located at their production sites directly to consumers.
The BC Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch is consulting with industry stakeholders in the development of the program, which is to launch in 2022.
A program was already launched in Ontario.
However, Pure Sunfarms is not focusing on setting up a retail outlet at their operation, noted Dosanjh.
“We’re involved with all the consultations, so we’ve been talking with the LCRB and provincial bodies, and we keep an ongoing dialogue with the mayor’s office, trying to be a great partner and keep connected. So, we’re lending our insights and understanding of the farm gate process so the regulators can make their decision, but it’s not on our immediate radar,” he said.
“We just want to make sure the playing field makes sense and that the government bodies and the local bodies are thinking it through, but we have no immediate plans. Obviously, you’d have to work through the municipality if we were ever interested. We are on ALR (Agricultural Land Reserve) land, so there’s some uniqueness where we’d fit, but I think there’s still a lot of things we could do to support our brand. So, when the time is right, we would be interested, but it’s not on our immediate radar,” added Dosanjh.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Village Farms International, Pure Sunfarms already has 1.1 million square feet in its greenhouse operation, having the capacity to produce 75,000 kilograms of dried flower annually for the Canadian recreational market.
Pure Sunfarms is also planning to convert a second 1.1 million square foot adjacent greenhouse for production, which is expected to double the annual output capacity to 150,000 kilograms.
