CALGARY—Entering the legal edibles market in Canada come October will be more complicated than just cooking up some “magic” brownies in your kitchen, but it won’t stop some chocolate makers who say they have the know-how and the equipment to make it happen. Brad Churchill, owner of Choklat, a Calgary-based chocolate manufacturer, recently led a tour around the cool interior of a 5,000 square foot facility he once used for making conventional chocolate. His branded bars are currently sold in grocery stores across Western Canada.In just a few months, the space will be a Health Canada-approved site capable of making cannabis-infused bars. The first batches should be available for sale by mid-December.Retrofitting this facility hasn’t been cheap. Churchill says he is already on the hook for more than a million dollars in cannabis regulation-related upgrades. Then there’s the cost of running universal grinders and other equipment needed to handle chocolate production on an industrial scale. If Choklat had been a fledgling company, Churchill said he couldn’t have afforded to get into the edibles business.“Even if you have deep pockets, it’s still a seven-figure number,” he said.Despite the cost of item, extremely strict federal regulations and modest edibles sales data from states that have legalized, industry representatives in Canada are excited about the sheer variety of new products that will be available to customers who may have shied away from joints or vaporizers.Josh Lyon, vice-president of marketing for Toronto-based Tokyo Smoke Brands, said the second wave of legalization that begins on Oct. 17, 2019, will prove to be similar to last year’s excitement and media hype. He said Tokyo Smoke is already fielding plenty of questions from interested potential consumers and intends to offer its own range of products — but wouldn’t disclose what they’ll look like yet.“It’s ...
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