4Front Ventures Corp. (OTC:FFNTF) Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Andrew Thut: I’ll let Karl jump on that.

Karl Chowscano: Colin, yes, with the current licenses that we have anticipation for LOI under this week, I would not anticipate for us to be opening those prior to the opening of the Matteson facility. So I could see them kind of dovetailing on a parallel path sometime into Q2, Q3 of 2023. Now that does not mean that we’re not actively seeking other retail opportunities to enhance our footprint to 10, which may and do include already active retail locations.

Colin George: Okay. Yes, that makes sense. And I guess that was kind of segues into my next question on kind of scheduling the timing of that new cultivation facility to come online after some of these new retail locations open to give you some sort of sell-through points. So I think that all makes sense. Maybe one more if I can just with regards to sort of what might have been the offset in terms of the growth during the quarter. There was a lot of strong metrics, whether it be from Massachusetts, vapes and edibles or flowers or Illinois progressing along after daily sales. So does that offset just pricing pressure felt across the various markets?

Andrew Thut: Yes. I mean we saw great growth in Massachusetts on an absolute basis on — same in California. Actually, Keith, do you want to just sort of talk to some of the puts and takes there?

Keith Adams: Sorry, I had to get off mute. Yes. Mass, as you just described, the pricing pressure offset by more of our own product sell-through, as Leo mentioned, close to 90%. Illinois, we’re just coming into market with some more — I think there’s 5 strains coming on the shelves in our internal stores inside of December. So we would expect to see some more sell-through there, but there’s also pricing pressure in that state. And then also in California, there’s pricing pressure in all 3 states. But as we continue to move more and more branded sales onto — into the digital channel. And so in all 3 states, we’re seeing top-down pricing pressure, offset by more of our own products selling through in both Illinois and Mass. Illinois I think it’s probably 2 to 3 months behind the progress we’ve made in Massachusetts.

Operator: There are no further questions at this time. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask you to disconnect your lines.