Industry Roundup with Gary Cohen, Cova's CEO

Most dispensaries have seen a wild ride over the past year.    We were lucky to be deemed an “essential industry” during the worst of Covid and allowed to reopen.  As a result, there was a “Covid Surge” during 2020-21 in cannabis sales went up a lot as people were locked down and/or had very few recreational alternatives to spend their money on.  So, they consumed a lot more cannabis.  However, in the summer of 2022, we’ve seen a significant decrease in sales from a year earlier.  Remember, that in the Spring of 2021 “stimulus money” had stopped, and since then everything people can spend money on has opened back up (bars, restaurants, travel, etc.).

Over time legalized states and provinces have matured and have more ‘supply’ (flower and other consumables) which creates lower prices.  But at the same time, there are more consumers in every market, whether they’re med or rec.  As a result, when we look at the growth trends for cannabis sales from 2017 to the present, we see that when you take out the bump from Covid, we are right back on the same trajectory of growth that we were on in March 2020.

The wild ride is leveling out, which is good news. If your supply of cannabis products is consistent, you’ve built a loyal customer base, and are stocking what your clientele likes, the bumpiness of business will smooth out. With that predictability, staffing levels are better, cash flow is steady and your dispensary thrives.