OTTAWA — Hexo Corp. is mulling a private label strategy as part of its U.S. expansion.

The chief executive of the Ottawa-based cannabis company says he's considering approaching multi-state operators in the U.S. to partner on Hexo-powered brands.

Sebastien St-Louis says such an arrangement would leverage Hexo's technology to help multi-state operators boost their product quality and margins while lowering costs.

He says Hexo can't act on these types of deals until the U.S. sees more regulatory approvals around cannabis, but the market is moving quickly so he's optimistic.

His comments were made at a farm-to-market investment conference BMO Capital Markets hosted today and come as the U.S. creeps toward the federal legalization of cannabis.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been pushing for federal legalization, but U.S. President Joe Biden has instead supported decriminalizing marijuana use and expunging prior criminal records linked to pot.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:HEXO)

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