Weed on the menu: Uber Eats partners with Tokyo Smoke to offer cannabis products for pickup in Ontario
Uber Eats is entering the pot business.
On Monday, the U.S. transport company announced a partnership with cannabis retailer Tokyo Smoke to offer online pot orders in Ontario.
Tokyo Smoke's products will start listing under a section called cannabis" on the Uber Eats menu, though the products won't be available for delivery. Instead, customers will have to place orders on the Uber Eats app and confirm their age before collecting the product at Tokyo Smoke stores.
The companies say the orders will be filled within an hour, a promise designed to improve convenience and tamper the growth of the illicit pot market.
The Ontario Cannabis Store estimates the illicit market handled about 52.9 per cent of Ontario's cannabis purchases between Apr. 1 and Jun. 30.
Tokyo Smoke, owned by weed giant Canopy Growth Corp., has 56 stores across Ontario including 13 in Toronto.
The partnership marks Uber's first venture in North America's growing cannabis industry. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has long suggested Uber could enter the marijuana business under the right circumstances, telling CNBC last spring that it could deliver pot in the U.S. when the road is clear for cannabis, when federal laws come into play."
Those ambitions are more straightforward in Canada, where companies do not have to navigate fragmented state laws on legalization to do business.
We are partnering with industry leaders like Tokyo Smoke to offer safe, convenient options for people in Ontario to purchase legal cannabis," said Lola Kassim, general manager of Uber Eats Canada.
By combining a streamlined ordering process through the Uber Eats app with Tokyo Smoke's in-person pickup service, we're creating a new end-to-end experience for responsible cannabis ordering across the province."
Ontario's pot delivery rules are rapidly evolving, opening the door for Uber Eats to deliver Tokyo Smoke product soon enough.
The province temporarily allowed delivery and pickup of marijuana products during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in October proposed a plan to make those changes permanent. The legislation has yet to be passed.
Recent research from Public First, a U.K. consulting company, shows that driving while under the influence of cannabis products remains common, with 14 per cent of pot users admitting to having driven a vehicle within two hours of consumption.
When Canadian cannabis laws evolve to include delivery, options like Uber Eats are expected to help decrease impaired driving and improve safety on the road," the company said in a press release.
Jacob Lorinc is a Toronto-based reporter covering business for the Star. Reach him via email: jlorinc@thestar.ca