Nova Scotians bought significantly more booze and cannabis last quarter as the province began recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Booze and Sales at the NSLC were up 15 percent between April and July, to $211.8 million.
That jump comes thanks to extra selling days (stores are no longer closed on Sundays), longer store hours, and the opening of seven new cannabis stores.
Those seven new stores were a big part of Nova Scotians’ increasing appetite for cannabis.
Last quarter, the NSLC saw cannabis sales climb by more than 42 percent, to $24.7 million. It likely didn’t hurt that the average price per gram fell by 16 percent, to $6.49, continuing to elbow out the illicit market.
Booze sales, meanwhile, shot up by more than 12 percent, to $187 million. That spike was lead by a thirst for local, craft beer.
For the first time in more than a year, craft beer was the fastest-growing beverage category, with sales jumping by almost 40 percent, to $6.7 million.
Sales were up in every other category, as well: wine by almost 26 percent, to $3.3 million, “ready to drink” products by 21 percent, to $8.7 million, and spirits by more than 19 percent, to $2.7 million.
In further evidence the pandemic is waning, the NSLC also says customer spending habits are starting to return to normal.
During the pandemic, people went to the store less often but bought more when they did, leading to a larger average order size. Last quarter, NSLC stores saw transactions go up by 30 percent, while the average order size went down by almost 13 percent.
Commercial customers are also coming back in droves.
As Covid-19 restrictions have loosened, sales to licensed establishments (like restaurants and bars) spiked by a dizzying 239 percent compared to the same time last year.
At the height of the pandemic, sales to licensed establishments were down to about 10 percent of their typical volume.
More information about the NSLC’s financial results is available here.
(CREDIT: NSLC)
This post originally appeared on Huddle.Today, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
