Nova Scotians Are Buying More Pot And Booze
HALIFAX — Nova Scotians bought slightly more alcohol over the last three months compared to the same period last year. However, higher booze prices meant the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation brought in more profit.
Meanwhile, the crown corporation made more money on cannabis during the same period, despite a price decrease.
The NSLC says profits were up 6.6 percent between early October and early January, with total earnings of $78.9 million.
Total sales for the quarter spiked by 6.1 percent, to $228 million. Sales climbed thanks to an increase in both cannabis and beverage alcohol sales. There was a 5.6 percent increase in alcohol sales, to $200.5 million, and a 9.2 percent increase in cannabis sales, to $27.6 million.
The NSLC says transactions for alcohol products were up just 0.3 compared to last year, but the average dollar value rose by 2.2 percent.
For cannabis, transactions were up nearly 14 percent, while the average dollar value of each transaction dropped by about four percent.
Although cannabis sales still only represent a small share of the NSLC’s total profits, sales are growing much faster than alcohol. That’s thanks in part to new cannabis stores continuing to open.
A new store in Inverness recently bumped the total number of cannabis stores in the province to 46.
Meanwhile, the NSLC dropped its average price per gram by another one percent, to $6.30, as it “work[s] to impact illicit sales in the province.”
The NSLC also says sales to private wine and specialty stores were up by more than 50 percent, to $5.4. Sales to bars, pubs, and restaurants, meanwhile, were up more than 46 percent, to $13.4 million, impacted by the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship at the end of 2022.