BOSTON GLOBE: OMICRON STRAINS MARIJUANA SUPPLY CHAIN
The Boston Globe explores how the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is impacting global supply chains, and how this could affect a Massachusetts recreational dispensary like Theory Wellness.
BOSTON GLOBE: Omicron strains marijuana industry supply chain
Licensed marijuana firms cannot legally move pot products across state lines. But that doesn’t mean they’ve been spared the supply chain disruptions wreaking havoc on the rest of the business world.
As the Omicron variant surges, Massachusetts cannabis companies are facing significant shortages of foreign-made packaging and construction materials that are essential to their operations, including vaporizer batteries and cartridges, childproof containers, and the steel beams and air conditioning equipment used to build indoor cultivation facilities.
With many of the ports and factories that supply those materials closed or running at limited capacity because of COVID-19, cannabis producers and retailers said they are scrambling to find alternatives — often at much higher cost. Combined with staffing problems also caused by the latest coronavirus surge, the shortages have resulted in higher business expenses, limited product selection, and delayed construction of new buildings, executives said.
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Cannabis growers and manufacturers of edibles and other marijuana-infused products are facing even more turmoil than retailers, as critical product packaging materials remain stuck on container ships anchored outside clogged ports.
Brandon Pollock, chief executive of Stoneham-based Theory Wellness, said his firm has had to expend extra effort and money to shore up its fickle supply.
Aluminum cans needed for increasingly popular THC-infused beverages are particularly scarce, thanks to shipping delays and skyrocketing demand from alcohol companies that are grappling with a pandemic-related shift away from restaurants and bars (which dispense many drinks from kegs and other larger containers) and toward the home consumption of canned beer and the like. In response, can manufacturers are refusing to accept all but the largest orders, forcing Theory Wellness to purchase 1 million cans at once and rent out a separate warehouse to store them.
“The supplier wouldn’t give us the time of day otherwise,” Pollock said. “As a business owner, you really don’t want to rent an entire building just to store cans, but that’s the reality we’re faced with.”
To read the full story visit The Boston Globe below.
About Theory Wellness:
Theory Wellness is an East Coast medical and recreational cannabis brand; we cultivate cannabis, operate extraction labs, manufacture infused marijuana products, and proudly serve patients and customers at our marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts and Maine.
Our focus is on small batch, craft cannabis that we cultivate using sustainable techniques on our outdoor cannabis farm and at our state-of-the-art indoor gardens. We run unique genetics to develop in-house premium products that include flower, concentrates, edibles, and an array of infusions for medical and recreational consumers in New England.
Throughout our work, we remain committed to expanding the science of cannabis, and creating the future we want to see in the emerging marijuana industry through social justice, sustainability, and research.
If you’re thinking to yourself, where is the nearest recreational dispensary near me or medical marijuana dispensary near me, look no further. Theory Wellness operates medical and recreational cannabis dispensaries in Maine and Massachusetts that offer various cannabis products to meet your needs. If you are looking for our Maine recreational marijuana dispensary locations, click here. If you are looking for Massachusetts marijuana dispensary locations, click here.
To learn more about our operations, follow-us on Instagram @TheoryWellness.
