North Okanagan cannabis producer launches its own recreational product

A North Okanagan cannabis production company is launching its first product under its own brand, branching out from being strictly a wholesaler and entering the recreational market.

Lotus Cannabis Co. announced its first official branded cannabis flower is now available in B.C. Lotus introduced its Keylime Kush product to the market, which is available for B.C. retailers to purchase through the B.C. Cannabis Wholesale website. The product is available now at local shops including Spiritleaf, Kalamalka Cannabis and The Hive, and will soon be available in retail stores across the Okanagan and the Lower Mainland.

Lotus Ventures Inc. started out in 2014 and obtained a cultivation licence in 2018, allowing it to sell as a wholesale company. Lotus sold popular strains including Kalifornia and Tranquil Elephantizer.

The company built a 22,500 square foot facility in Spallumcheen and grows two million grams of product per year.

Sales were strong in the early years, but they’ve dipped more recently, says Lotus marketing manager Daniel McRobert.

“We’ve had to be flexible and transition our business and be more self-reliant,” McRobert said. “That’s what we’re weathering right now, so this product coming to market is one of the first phases of this whole transition that we’re going through.

“We still have wholesale partners helping on some sales but we’re trying to transition to more of a recreational company.”

McRobert said the team at Lotus is “tight-knit,” with many of the company’s employees having grown up together in Vernon.

McRobert has been with the company for five years and says it’s been interesting watching a company forge its own path in a brand-new industry.

“I started right before we started the construction on our facility so I’ve been able to watch the whole progression from before we built it into going into retail stores, so it’s been really experiential from a business point of view and just a product marketing point of view and seeing how a real company with a real quality product builds from the ground up,” he said.

Keylime Kush features high THC and terpene content. The THC content is between 24 and 30 per cent, and the terpene content is between 2.5 to three per cent. The product is lab tested and regulated by Health Canada and is grown without the use of pesticides.

“As growers, we understand consumers are looking for great quality flower at a great price, which is what we’re happy to provide with our Keylime Kush,” said Carl Correia, chief operating officer at Lotus, in a press release.