Kaya posts J$550m sales from ganja, mushrooms and pizza in 2025

Ganja company NUGL, which trades as Kaya, reported higher revenues and also narrowed its losses for its financial year despite disruptions from Hurricane Melissa.

Kaya, which trades on the Over-the-Counter Market for small firms in the United States, gives insight into the locally regulated cannabis sector. Kaya, owned and operated by Jamaicans, made US$3.45 million (J$550 million) in annual revenue during 2025, 16 per cent higher than a year earlier. The company, however, recorded a US$48,400 loss for its December year end, a marked improvement from the loss of US$212,000 a year earlier.

“Hurricane Melissa affected several Kaya group facilities across cultivation, retail, and hospitality operations. While the storm caused material physical damage, the company has made measurable progress towards stabilisation and recovery,” stated Kaya CEO and founder Balram Vaswani in the financials about the hurricane that hit the island last October.

The Cannabis Licensing Authority has issued 166 licences up to December 2024, according to the latest data on its website. Kaya is a first mover, and among the largest licensees as it operates a cultivation farm, processing facility, and four herb houses, which are legal dispensaries.

Since the passage of the hurricane, the company started reconstructing six of seven greenhouses while also clearing debris. It “continues to operate using existing reserves of cannabis, extracts, and mushroom inventory.” It holds sufficient inventory to also supply “all” its third-party supply arrangements with affiliated and independent herb houses.

“Management expects full restoration of cultivation capacity in the first quarter of 2026,” stated the report.

Its Falmouth retail herb house was the hardest hit. The location sustained roof, structural, and equipment damage due to proximity to the storm’s eyewall, “resulting in a temporary suspension of operations”, but reopened in December.

Kaya has struggled to make a profit since it opened its first herb house in Drax Hall, St Ann, in 2018. The company has generated “cumulative gross revenue of some US$17.1 million” from 2018 to 2025 but recorded an accumulated deficit of US$8.8 million up to 2025. The losses raise questions about its ability to continue “as a going concern” in theory, but its operations show a company that is growing its capital, which stood at US$1.82 million in 2025 compared to US$1.74 million a year earlier.

NUGL, which operates a marketing site for cannabis, and Kaya reverse merged in April 2022 to form an enlarged cannabis lifestyle company. NUGL operates five subsidiaries, with the operations of the Kaya brand being its mainstay. The Kaya brand runs herb houses in Kingston, Falmouth, Drax Hall (St Ann), and the town centre in Ocho Rios. It also operates The Gap Café, a bed and breakfast located in the Blue Mountains.

business@gleanerjm.com