Walmart Inc.'s Canadian business has researched selling cannabis-based products, but there are no immediate plans to delve into the business, the company said.
The cannabis-based product, known as cannabidiol or CBD, is a non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis plants. Recreational cannabis will be legal in Canada beginning Oct. 17, opening the Canadian market to retailers and consumer goods producers looking to capitalize on the newly legal product.
"As we would for any new industry, Walmart Canada has done some preliminary fact-finding on this issue, but we do not have plans to carry CBD products at this time," Walmart said in a statement provided to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Bloomberg originally reported the news.
Walmart is the latest large retailer or consumer goods company to prep for cannabis legalization in Canada. Corona-maker Constellation Brands Inc. has invested C$5 billion in Canopy Growth Corp., a Canadian cannabis producer. Molson Coors Brewing Co.'s Canadian arm has agreed to form a joint venture with a Canadian cannabis producer HEXO Corp. to develop nonalcoholic, cannabis-infused drinks.