High Tide Enters New Vertical in the United States With Launch of Cannabis Seeds

CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--High Tide Inc. (“High Tide” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: HITI) (TSXV: HITI) (FSE: 2LYA), a leading retail-focused cannabis company with bricks-and-mortar as well as global e-commerce assets, announced today that it has begun selling cannabis seeds in the United States, initially through its wholly owned subsidiaries Grasscity and Smoke Cartel, which are the two most popular e-commerce platforms for consumption accessories in the world.2 The Company plans to expand seed sales to additional online retail platforms within its portfolio in 2023.3 This launch comes on the heels of the American Drug Enforcement Agency’s recent official determination that cannabis seeds fall under the legal definition of hemp and can therefore be sold openly in the United States. “With our entry into this new and exciting complementary vertical, we continue to extend and strengthen our integrated value chain, providing our customers with a complete cannabis experience, in addition to the opportunity to further enhance our consolidated gross margin profile. This new business venture will greatly expand our U.S. customer base, which already sits at 2.4 million through our ancillary cannabis business lines, and sets us up well to take advantage of federal legalization in the United States when it comes. This further diversification into the U.S. seeds market also strengthens our Canadian discount club model, as this new vertical is expected to generate significantly higher gross margins than our core brick-and mortar-business, which will help us continue to offer unbeatable prices to our Cabana Club members,” said Raj Grover, President and Chief Executive Officer of High Tide. “GrassCity and Smoke Cartel, due to their top SEO rankings, organically built over the last twenty-two and eight years, respectively, generate some of the highest online traffic in the consumption accessories space, which is why it makes sense for us to leverage this strength as we launch this new vertical in the United States. Innovation has always been a cornerstone of High Tide's strategy, and today’s announcement is yet another example of how we will never stop looking for ways to enhance shareholder value while differentiating ourselves from the competition,” added Mr. Grover. GRANT OF RESTRICTED SHARE UNITS The Company also announced that its Board of Directors has approved a grant of 106,635 restricted share units ("RSUs") to directors of the Company pursuant to the Company's restricted share unit plan. Each RSU entitles the holder to acquire one common share of the Company upon vesting. ABOUT HIGH TIDE High Tide is a leading retail-focused cannabis company with bricks-and-mortar as well as global e-commerce assets. The Company is the largest non-franchised cannabis retail chain in Canada, with 142 current locations spanning British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. The Company is also North America’s first cannabis discount club retailer, under the Canna Cabana banner, which is the single-largest cannabis retail brand in Canada, with additional locations under development across the country. High Tide’s portfolio also includes retail kiosks and smart locker technology – Fastendr™. High Tide has been
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