OLDS – Officials with SNDL Inc., formerly known as Sundial Growers, announced yesterday that they are reducing the Olds cultivation facility’s workforce by 85 employees.
"We have made the difficult decision to materially reduce staffing and activity levels in Olds, Alberta, in order to improve the efficiency of our operations as one of Canada's largest adult-use cannabis manufacturers," said Zach George, SNDL’s chief executive officer in a statement issued Feb. 13.
The layoffs were described as a “rightsizing” of cannabis cultivation in Olds in an effort to focus the facility on premium products and brands.
George said oversupply and excess capacity have resulted in high-quality flower being widely available and sold well below the marginal cost of production.
“We estimate that more than one billion grams of flower are sitting in Canadian vaults today.”
The layoffs at the Olds facility are part of a larger phased cost savings program that is expected to deliver close to $9 million in savings across labour and operational costs, the company’s statement said.
“We are taking a proactive approach with our cultivation and manufacturing strategy to evolve with the market while continuing to deliver exceptional products across a variety of product and price segments," George said.
The statement said the company’s recent acquisition of The Valens Company Inc. has accelerated the need to optimize and rationalize SNDL's manufacturing and operational footprint to better address market saturation and oversupply.
On July, 25 2022 shareholders approved changing the company’s name from Sundial Growers Inc. to SNDL Inc.
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