Large Florida medical cannabis retailer stops most deliveries

Surterra Wellness, the second-largest owner of medical marijuana dispensaries in Florida, has eliminated its delivery services except to customers in the Florida Keys.

The Atlanta-based company, whose corporate parent is now called Parallel, told customers in a notice that it made the adjustments to “optimize” its business. Surterra also cut deliveries because its expanding retail footprint now covers a broad swath of Florida’s population.

Company spokeswoman Kali Caldwell declined to disclose the number of employees affected by the decision.

She also wouldn’t address reports on internet job boards that many of the Florida employees have been converted from full-time to part-time status.

“We are focusing our efforts on opening new stores in Florida,” Caldwell said in a statement.

“We currently operate 38 retail locations, and over the next year, we will grow that number to 50.”

Surterra is the second-largest seller in Florida of medical marijuana in milligrams but is sixth in smokable flower sales.

The company’s dispensaries account for 17% of the state’s total, but its share of milligram sales is only 12.6% and smokable flower sales 5%, according to the state’s latest weekly update.

Surterra was a major donor to a campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida, an effort that now is being pushed beyond the 2020 elections.

– Jeff Smith