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Loads and loads of applicants in New York’s long-delayed market

NY is still trying to reach double digit retail locations

Good morning and welcome to winter. 

As a reminder, we’re winding down 2023 here at Cultivated Media. Tomorrow awill be our last day publishing for the year. But, we’ll be back in 2024 with Cultivated Daily, and much, much more.

Yesterday, we launched Cultivated Media’s first in our Cultivated Pitch Deck Series looking at companies that are raising money and building market share. Our first in the Series is the pitch deck for Impairment Science. Have a look ». 

A 6-minute ready from JB and JR

💡What’s the big deal?

NEW YORK
Loads and loads of applicants in New York’s long-delayed market

Driving the news: New York's cannabis regulators have received about 7,000 cannabis business applications. However, the state plans to issue only a fraction of that number of licenses - so a rapid, large-scale roll-out could still be a ways off.

What's next: The next phase involves a randomized queuing system to review applications from the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). So far, the OCM hasn't disclosed a timeline for granting new permits, but the process is expected to start soon, amid ongoing challenges, delays, and lawsuit/s.

But it isn’t just new applicants that may add to the overall cannabis retail total.

New York's move to allow Registered Organizations (ROs) to enter the adult-use retail market is about to start seeing results, with possible openings of RO’s adult-use retail by the end of the year. 

Why it matters: New York’s roll-out of cannabis retail has been slow. Like, really slow. New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s press release this week touted, Nearly 40 Adult-Use Dispensaries Will Have Opened in 2023, Including 12 Black-Owned Operations.

Here’s hoping that instead of 40 openings per year being the goal, New York starts moving to something more akin to 40 openings per month. (Better yet, 40 openings per week!)

It’s up to you, New York.

OGI’S QUARTERLIES
What one of Canada’s largest producers is saying about their financial health

What’s happening: Canadian cannabis producer Organigram closed its 2023 fiscal year with a significant loss of C$248.6 million, an increase from the previous year's C$14.2 million loss.

But, the company's net revenue rose by 11%, reaching C$161.6 million.

What it means: According to their quarterly report, Organigram anticipates improved margins in fiscal 2024 due to facility upgrades and growth in higher-margin categories.

The company is also focusing on international growth, supported by a substantial financial commitment from British American Tobacco (BAT).

Why it matters: As we wrote about yesterday, like many cannabis markets, Canada is going through a rough patch.

Organigram’s report underscores the challenges facing the cannabis industry, highlighting both the potential for growth and the financial difficulties companies encounter.

MISSOURI
Show Me the sales numbers

Driving the news: Still not a full year into adult-use cannabis sales, Missouri's sales have declined for the fourth consecutive month, with November sales totalling $112.7 million, the lowest since market launch, according to the Springfield Daily Citizen.

Why it matters: At some point, all markets even out, both because of the novelty of first-time sales wearing off and because of seasonal sales fluctuations. Missouri is, apparently, no different.

Yes, but..: Missouri has already proven to be a billion dollar cannabis market. And they’ve been doing a lot of things right in addition to sales. Earlier this week, it was announced that 100,000 cannabis pardons have been issued in the Show Me state since legalization.

🎒 What we’re reading