~Company also provides update on initiatives
to improve financial performance~
TORONTO, Feb. 11, 2020 /CNW/ - Namaste Technologies
Inc. ("Namaste" or the "Company") (TSXV: N) (FRANKFURT: M5BQ)
(OTCMKTS: NXTTF), today announced its wholly owned subsidiary,
CannMart Inc. ("CannMart"), has added premium craft cannabis brand
Kief Cannabis Co. ("Kief") to its product line and signed a supply
agreement with Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis ("AGLC").
Additionally, Namaste continues to make strides to improve its
overall financial performance and increase efficiencies through
consolidation of specific web properties.
Namaste welcomes Kief, a pure craft cannabis company in which
Namaste holds a minority position and certain product purchasing
rights, to its marketplace. Kief recently received its Health
Canada licence and its premium quality leaf products are expected
to join the CannMart family of premium brands offered for medical
patients on CannMart's website and through its network of B2B sales
channels.
CannMart has also signed a supply agreement with AGLC, the
agency responsible for regulating and distributing cannabis to
Alberta's licensed retailers and
the sole legal online retailer for recreational cannabis at
www.albertacannabis.org. Alberta
represents the fifth provincial government to contract with
Namaste's CannMart for cannabis product distribution with more
licensed retailers than any other province.
"We are committed to offering a diverse selection of cannabis
products across the full spectrum of consumer segments throughout
Canada and therefore we are very
excited to be working with Kief and the province of Alberta," said Meni Morim, CEO of Namaste Technologies Inc.
"The addition of Alberta is
particularly important as we are seeing repeat orders from our
provincial agency customers. The company believes that there is a
growing demand for premium cannabis brands as consumers seek both
the quality and consistency that is painstakingly cultured by the
craft grower. While our B2B business continues to flourish with the
agreement with Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis, we also
continue to take decisive action to improve our overall business
performance by streamlining our legacy lines of business and adding
new brands to CannMart."
CannMart prides itself by offering customers a wide range of
high-quality cannabis products at a fair price and has developed an
impressive catalogue of product offerings through sales,
distribution, and consignment agreements with leading cannabis
brands. A prime example of a leading brand is Kief, the newest
member to CannMart. Kief offers sought-after, true craft premium
flower and concentrates. The Kief management team is made up of
cannabis enthusiasts collectively dedicated to pushing every strain
to its highest potential and represents the evolution of the
industry to offer premium products at a premium price. CannMart
works with each brand included in its portfolio to ensure
high-quality products are available to medical patients online at
cannmart.com or in licensed retail cannabis stores in select
provinces.
CannMart continues to strive for excellence in product
production, packaging and delivery of cannabis products in a highly
regulated environment. From the initial legalization of medical
cannabis to Cannabis 2.0, CannMart seeks to uphold a reputation for
offering high-quality brands and products, with efficient and
approved packaging and superior distribution performance. This is
the appeal of CannMart to licensed producers, cannabis brands and
provincial agencies, which are looking to Namaste's CannMart to
supply a broad range of high quality products in approved packaging
on a timely basis.
Provincial Sales Channel
In the second half of 2019, CannMart expanded its business by
aggressively entering the B2B sector and signing distribution
agreements with provincial cannabis distributors. With the recent
addition of the province of Alberta, CannMart now distributes cannabis
products throughout Western Canada
utilizing the respective provinces' brick-and-mortar cannabis
stores or retail distribution chains. CannMart recently entered
into a supply agreement with the AGLC, the government agency in
Alberta which oversees the
distribution of cannabis products to licensed retailers around the
province and operates the only legal online cannabis website in
Alberta, www.albertacannabis.org.
With over 400 retail locations open throughout the province,
Alberta has more licensed
retailers open for business by a wide margin than any other
province.
CannMart has also executed supply agreements with the provinces
of British Columbia and
Manitoba, and sells cannabis
products through the Saskatchewan Liquor & Gaming Authority
("SLGA") to permitted wholesalers in the province of Saskatchewan. In addition, CannMart has signed
a supply agreement with the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation
also referred to as the Ontario Cannabis Store ("OCS"). The OCS is
the sole legal online retailer and wholesaler for recreational
cannabis for Canada's most
populous province.
Namaste believes that more and more licensed producers and
provincial agencies are recognizing CannMart's value proposition
and expertise in e-commerce, production, packaging and distribution
in a highly regulated industry. With recent policy changes in the
province of Ontario, Namaste and
CannMart are looking to expand its growth potential by offering
these services to a wider market including retail
dispensaries.
Technology Updates
Technology continues to be a core tenet of Namaste and it
continues to expand its powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI)
capabilities to improve the overall online customer buying and
consuming experience. An example of this progress is NamasteMD,
which provides easy, secure and direct access to health care
professionals for consultations. NamasteMD has been completely
redesigned and re-implemented, improving performance, user
experience and enabling rapid deployment into new markets. A
significant change to the NamasteMD patient process flow is the
integration of our AI powered cannabis recommender, into the
Namaste MD flow. Patients completing their NamasteMD consultation,
now see AI powered, personalized recommendations as the last step
of the process, and can be automatically directed to CannMart for
product fulfillment. This reduces friction and optimized the
customer experiences across these two assets.
Geographic Consolidation
Namaste continues to work to control costs and pursue those
opportunities that bring the most value to the Company. Data
analysis of internal key performance indicators and a thorough
review of legacy businesses has identified opportunities to
consolidate certain divisions and online websites that are not
meeting the financial scrutiny necessary to succeed in the
competitive cannabis markets, as standalone sites. The Company is
streamlining its online businesses to focus on fewer sites, while
setting up more diverse options for customer marketing, as a
stepping stone towards our vision of creating a global cannabis
marketplace. The net result is Namaste is consolidating 14
international websites, driving cost efficiencies with minimal
impact to revenue and customers. The following six websites remain
with the highest concentration of customers and revenues, where our
international customer base can continue shopping without
interruption:
- Namaste Vapes UK
- Namaste Vapes Canada
- Namaste Vapes France
- Namaste Vapes Germany
- Everyonedoesit UK
- Australian Vaporizers
Finally, expansion to certain markets such as the United Kingdom has been paused due to changing
domestic medical cannabis government and insurance regulations that
make such expansion financially risky. As Namaste enters 2020, it
continues to concentrate on opportunities with a clear path to
positive return on investment and seek out new opportunities around
the globe to leverage the Company's advanced technology and
expertise in highly regulated markets.
Option Grant
Namaste today announces that it has granted, effective
December 7, 2019, an aggregate of
200,000 stock options (each, an "Option") to the Company's chief
financial officer in accordance with the terms of the Company's
stock option plan. Each Option is exercisable into one common share
in the capital of the Company (each, a "Share") at a price of
$0.325 per Share, being the closing
price of the Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange on December 6, 2019, for a period of five years from
the date of grant. The Options will vest in equal tranches every
six months over a 36-month period from the date of grant.
About Namaste Technologies Inc.
With headquarters in Toronto,
ON, and offices in both B.C. and around the globe, Namaste
Technologies is a leading online platform for cannabis products,
accessories, and responsible education. The company's 'everything
cannabis store', CannMart.com, provides customers with a diverse
selection of hand-picked products from a multitude of
federally-licensed cultivators, all on one convenient site.
Namaste's global technology and continuous innovation address local
needs in a burgeoning cannabis industry requiring smart solutions.
For further information about Namaste, please visit
NamasteTechnologies.com
Information on the Company and its many products can be accessed
through the links below:
NamasteTechnologies.com
NamasteMD.com
Cannmart.com
NamasteVapes.ca
Everyonedoesit.ca
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION – This news release contains
"forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable
securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not
historical in nature contain forward-looking information.
Forward-looking information can be identified by words or phrases
such as "may", "expect", "likely", "should", "would", "plan",
"anticipate", "intend", "potential", "proposed", "estimate",
"believe" or the negative of these terms, or other similar words,
expressions and grammatical variations thereof, or statements that
certain events or conditions "may" or "will" happen. The
forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date
of this press release and is based on assumptions management
believed to be reasonable at the time such statements were made,
including management's perceptions of Namaste's standing in the
online marketplace for cannabis products, the Company's goals
regarding B2B and B2C clients, the Company's pursuit of agreements
with additional government agencies, the significance of the
arrangements with government agencies, the Company's goal of
offering CannMart's e-commerce, production, packaging and
distribution services to a wider market, future growth, results of
operations, operational matters, historical trends, current
conditions and expected future developments, and management's
beliefs that there is a growing demand for premium cannabis, that
additional brands on the CannMart platform will improve overall
business performance, that NamasteMD's re-design will have a
positive effect on the user experience, that offering fewer online
sites will drive cost efficiencies with minimal revenue impact and
that Namaste's technology and innovation address local needs in the
cannabis marketplace. While we consider these assumptions to be
reasonable based on information currently available to management,
there is no assurance that such expectations will prove to be
correct. By their nature, forward-looking information is subject to
inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific
and which give rise to the possibility that expectations,
forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove
to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that
objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. A
variety of factors, including known and unknown risks, many of
which are beyond our control, could cause actual results to differ
materially from the forward-looking information in this press
release. Such factors include, without limitation: risks relating
to the Company's ability to execute its business strategy and the
benefits realizable therefrom, risks specifically related to the
Company's international operations, and risks relating to the
market price of the Common Shares. Additional risk factors can also
be found in the Company's current MD&A and annual information
form, both of which have been filed under the Company's SEDAR
profile at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned not to put undue
reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise,
except as required by applicable law. Forward-looking statements
contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this
cautionary statement.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release or has in any way approved or disapproved
of the contents of this press release.
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SOURCE Namaste Technologies Inc.