Food In Canada

Partners’ joint venture to offer low-cost cannabis production

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BC greenhouse grower Village Farms and partner Emerald Health Therapeutics have created a joint venture to produce large-scale, low-cost, high-quality cannabis

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Vancouver – Two BC firms have partnered to produce “large-scale, high-quality, low-cost cannabis.”

In a statement, Village Farms International Inc. announced that it has partnered with Emerald Health Therapeutics Inc. and the joint venture is a go.

As part of the partnership, says the statement, Village Farms “will initially contribute a 1.1 million sq.-ft. (25 acre) greenhouse facility in Delta, BC located on a 50-acre parcel of land (with ancillary buildings), which will be converted to ACMPR-compliant production (Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations) and, if permitted by applicable law, production for the non-therapeutic adult-use market.”

Emerald “will initially contribute an aggregate of $20 million in cash…to fund conversion of the Initial Greenhouse and each party will have a 50 per cent ownership stake in the joint venture.”

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Village Farms is a large vertically integrated greenhouse grower and the only publicly traded greenhouse produce company in Canada, says the statement. The company has greenhouses in BC and Texas and partner greenhouses in BC, Ontario and Mexico. It produces and distributes premium-quality produce to national grocers in the US and Canada 365 days a year.

Emerald Health Therapeutics, says the statement, owns Emerald Health Botanicals, which holds a license under the ACMPR to cultivate and sell medical cannabis flower and oils out of its facility in Victoria. Emerald focuses on extraction and downstream product development. Emerald is “also developing 32 acres in the Lower Mainland to grow its unique strains of cannabis with the intention of treating medical conditions and developing consumer products.”

Highlights

The statement lists several details of the joint venture agreement, which include:

• 1.1 million sq. ft. of initial potential greenhouse cannabis production (estimated to yield more than 75,000 kg of product annually) upon completion of full licencing and greenhouse conversion;
• Formation of the joint venture strategically positions Emerald for rapid production capacity expansion in partnership with world-class greenhouse operators, preparing it for the future non-therapeutic market and existing undersupplied medical cannabis market;
• Emerald has significant cannabis industry experience, including a portfolio of high quality genetics and refined standard operating procedures, with a flawless record of operations under Health Canada’s stringent ACMPR regime;
• In the future, the joint venture has the potential to have access to up to 4.8 million sq. ft. of greenhouse cannabis production (estimated to yield more than 300,000 kg of product annually), which would supply a considerable portion of the expected future cannabis demand in Canada or for export abroad; and
• The joint venture expects its production will address a diverse array of cannabis products, including dried cannabis and quality inputs for extraction-based products, currently the fastest growing segment in the Canadian medical cannabis market and expected to be a meaningful part of the non-therapeutic adult-use market.


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