Michael DeGiglio: I think on the second part of the question, we don’t know for sure if they’re going to shy away from those specific providers. Most boards, I think have indicated that they are willing and will collect the taxes, so that’s a strong move towards enforcement and collection which we think will put pressure on those companies that are delinquent. The number is ballooning – it’s approaching $300 million, and that’s a big number. Now, it may force companies into bankruptcy – I think we’ve seen some. Canada, unlike the United States, you can scrub your taxes through bankruptcy, but we think there is discussions going on in Canada where Health Canada may take your license away or the boards won’t issue orders if that happens, because it’s really an unfair way to not pay your taxes.
There’s a lot of things in motion, and I think over the next couple months, we’ll get better color on it as this sort of aggressive move by the tax collectors was very recent, the last four to six weeks, so more to come on that.
Aaron Grey: Okay, great. Thanks. Then just in terms of international growth opportunities, a big one potentially coming with the expected German reform with opportunities to meaningfully grow the medical market, can you speak to your plans more to capitalize on the opportunity, particularly just given–you know, it seems the initiative to increase doctor and patient awareness of the brand, given the dynamics of being prescribed a specific brand versus just a broad medical prescription, where you can go to the store and buy it. Just given that backdrop, how do you plan to potentially make investments ahead of the market to really capitalize on the opportunity that potentially is there? Thanks.
Michael DeGiglio: Yes, I think we’re going to go work with distributors, either–we’re talking to so many distributors over an array of countries, even countries that are looking at legalizing in the next 12 to 15 months. The way we’ll look at that is having partners in each country and maybe there would be multiple partners that would cover a number of different countries, say in the EU – that’s worked for us well in Australia. As you know in the EU, we did issue our strain, so we’re going to invest more in taking our strains to a more global platform going forward and how we measure that. That medicinal growth for us is a key priority for this year, and we now have formed a separate entity for international export.
It’s being headed by somebody very qualified, and I think that coupled with our footprint in the Netherlands for recreational, I think will help springboard us, where Germany may go in the next or third gyration of their de-scheduling and legalization, i.e. when you have to cultivate in-country like the Netherlands, so a lot of moving parts but we’re very focused on it. You know, we continue to be frustrated at the U.S. market and nothing happening, and of course that optionality that we’ve talked about for years is very strong and very alive for us, but in the meantime we’re just not going to sit here and wait. We think there’s a great opportunity internationally and we wanted to wait until we can make very solid ground in Canada, be cash flow positive in Canada, EBITDA positive.
We’re number two market share across the board, so we feel now is the right time for us to aggressively pursue international opportunities while we continue to drive forward in Canada. We like where we stand, so more on that to come.
Aaron Grey: Okay, great. Look forward to it. Thanks very much for the answers, and I’ll jump back in the queue.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Pablo Zuanic with Zuanic & Associates. Your line is now open.
Pablo Zuanic: Good morning everyone, thank you. Mike, in terms of the 20% share target you mentioned, is that for flower or across all formats, if you can clarify that? As you do that, maybe a two-part question, as you’ve been narrowing the share gap with the industry leader, can you talk about more color in terms of formats and provinces where there’s still room for opportunity, and along those lines, infused pre-rolls, large size vape, all-in-ones are big drivers of market growth. How are you performing there and, in terms of what you can disclose, what plans you may have there, just to understand better the share comment? Thank you.
Michael DeGiglio: Thanks Pablo. Yes, the 20% was something we put out and we’re steadfast on it. We believe at some point, we can get there, and that’s across all formats. Of course flower, we still remain number one, and there’s been some shrinking of flower overall, but we almost consider pre-rolls as flower, just in another form, so I think our focus will be on flower, pre-rolls, infused pre-rolls, vapes. That’s really where we think the largest part of the market is going to be. We’re not doing anything right now in beverage, nor do we probably see that on the horizon. We continue to make strides. This will be a big year for us to continue to go forward. Innovation is at the top of that, freshness. It’s difficult, as I said in my remarks, it’s difficult to execute across the board where you have the right cost of production in order to generate positive cash flow and positive EBITDA, meeting consumer needs, understanding what the consumer is looking for, being able to invest heavily in product development.
