TerrAscend’s New CEO on NJ Prospects

Ziad Ghanem was promoted March 31 to CEO of TerrAscend, one of the 10 largest publicly traded cannabis companies in the world by market cap, after serving 15 months as president and chief operating officer.

In 2022, Ghanem helped guide TerrAscend to record year-over-year revenue growth managing the daily operations of the company. TerrAscend’s net revenue for the full year totaled nearly $248 million, a 28% increase from 2021, which was primarily driven by last April’s launch of adult-use sales in New Jersey.

TerrAscend’s multistate footprint also includes vertically integrated operations in California, Maryland, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and retail operations in Canada.

Cannabis Business Times spoke with Ghanem about New Jersey’s expanding market earlier this year, before his promotion.

Tony Lange: How is business going in New Jersey to start off 2023?

Ziad Ghanem: I am very pleased with the performance that is taking place in New Jersey since the adult-use launch. If you look at total New Jersey cannabis sales, it more than doubled in the first six months [from nearly $56 million in medical sales during the first quarter of 2022 to nearly $178 million in medical plus adult-use sales in the third quarter]. Also during that period, we have seen diversification in product portfolios and in form factors. Initially, when the market launched, flower made up more than 60% of sales in New Jersey. Now it’s a little bit less than 50% in the market because you saw vape and edible and concentrate and preroll SKUs entering the market. Also, we saw new manufacturers and new brands entering the space.

TL: How have patient needs remained a priority for TerrAscend in this market transition?

ZG: We dedicate patient-only product and patient-only pricing, where we offer pre-adult-use prices to New Jersey medical patients, and we protect that. We routinely, and at all times, strive to provide efficient and personable service, and we measure to make sure we don’t have any relapse on this. We maintain an average of less than three minutes wait time for our patients, and we track that daily. And this is since day one, on April 21, 2022.

TL: How strategic have you been in expanding cultivation capacity at your Boonton cultivation facility?

ZG: We have the ability to go up to 150,000 square feet. We are very thoughtful on how we bring cultivation online. We have a lot of learnings on how to bring in cultivation in stages in a way that we protect our demand versus supply and don’t ever go into an imbalance that will start to impact the operation, the margin, et cetera. So, the second phase [of expansion] will allow us to almost double our production from where we are today as we prepare for more retail stores to come in New Jersey that are nonvertical.

TL: Where do you anticipate statewide sales trends to go from here?

ZG: I think we’ll expect that trend to continue to increase. You’re going to see more retail stores come in. Usually, the store locations are the anchors of the community. So, there will be some cannibalization, but there will be higher adoption. I believe that every data that we have seen that New Jersey will continue to grow to become a $2-billion industry is still in play. And here in 2023, we’ll see a lion’s share of that growth.

Tony Lange is associate editor for Cannabis Business Times.

This interview has been edited for style, length and clarity. Read the original feature on New Jersey’s expanding market here.