Troubled weed producer Bonify winds down operations

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Bonify, a Manitoba cannabis producer that ran afoul of regulators is now calling it quits.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/08/2021 (1825 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bonify, a Manitoba cannabis producer that ran afoul of regulators is now calling it quits.

Back in 2019, the company was stripped of its status by Health Canada after obtaining 200 kilograms of illicit cannabis and selling it into the legal market, just months following the country’s legalization of pot. It then managed to get its licence reinstated but was unable to sell its crop for months.

In an emailed note on Aug. 12, the company’s chief executive officer Pierre Morris told shareholders that they begun winding down operations a few days prior. He said the closure will conclude in the coming weeks.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS files
Inside the Bonify plant: at left are the nutrient tanks for the grow rooms nearby.
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS files Inside the Bonify plant: at left are the nutrient tanks for the grow rooms nearby.

Morris wrote that while the company has had access to almost $1 million in gross sales since its licence was reinstated, it wasn’t enough to keep it in business.

The note was first reported by news website StratCann, then obtained by MJBizDaily.

Bonify “stabilized internal processes, increased production and significantly cut its operational costs,” Morris wrote in the note. “Unfortunately, these changes were not sufficient to achieve profitability or positive cash flows and Bonify continued to suffer operational losses through 2019, 2020 and 2021.”

The Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation suspended the sale of all products produced by Bonify in early 2019. It had since allowed the sale of those products to resume.

Morris declined to comment by press time.

temur.durrani@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @temurdur

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