Vermont’s new recreational cannabis program is projected to generate roughly $250 million in annual sales by the middle of the decade, but homegrown companies might find themselves pitted against larger out-of-state businesses.
Three medical cannabis businesses – including multistate operators Curaleaf and iAnthus Capital Holdings – are poised to take advantage of a five-month head start in sales in the spring of 2022 backed by potentially large cultivation and processing facilities.
Small producers and retailers will follow.
The new market comes after Vermont on Oct. 7 became the 11th state to legalize adult-use sales and the third to do so in New England.
It’s unclear to what extent the Vermont adult-use industry will become local in flavor in a sparsely populated state known for its locally made products: Think maple syrup, cheddar cheese and, more recently, smokable hemp flower.
Massachusetts-based Curaleaf, the country’s largest marijuana company by revenue, holds two of five existing vertically integrated medical cannabis licenses in Vermont.