- Kelowna 1 facility on track to complete total of 20 grow rooms by end of Q3 2019
- Canada-wide shortage of premium adult-use cannabis products underscores need for immediate expansion
- Multiyear deal to supply medical cannabis for Shoppers Drug Mart will provide Canadian patients with highest quality medicinal cannabis
- Worldwide consumer cannabis spending expected to accelerate to nearly $17 billion at a CAGR of 38 percent in 2019, reaching $31.3 billion in 2022
Canadian cannabis product manufacturer The Flowr Corporation (TSX.V: FLWR) (OTC: FLWPF) is riding a bright green wave as the cannabis industry continues to make history in Canada and throughout the world. The cannabis industry had much to cheer about in 2018, as Canada became the first industrialized country in the world to greenlight recreational cannabis for adult use and the United States legalized hemp and hemp-based cannabidiol products by signing the Farm Bill into law. Global sales of cannabis are expected to grow 38 percent in 2019 to nearly $17 billion, with sales projected to surpass $31 billion by 2022, according to Arcview Market Research (http://ibn.fm/qlmJ6).
The Flowr Corporation joined in that global celebration with its own good news after receiving approval from Health Canada to open additional grow rooms at the company’s Kelowna 1 cultivation facility. The additions will raise the total number of premium cannabis flower rooms to 10, which are expected to more than double current capacity, according to a company news release (http://ibn.fm/kWAGX). Kelowna 1 is Flowr’s initial cultivation facility, which is under construction in the world-famous Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. Flowr expects to have the facility complete with a total of 20 grow rooms prior to the end of the third quarter of this year. When complete, Flowr expects the approximately 85,000 square foot facility to produce at a capacity of approximately 10,000 kilograms of premium cannabis flower on an annualized basis.
The buildout is strategically planned to accommodate the growing demand for Flowr’s products from its provincial partners and to meet its new medical cannabis supply agreement with Shoppers Drug Mart, as noted in a news release by Tom Flow, co-CEO of Flowr Corporation. Shoppers Drug Mart is Canada’s largest retail pharmacy chain, with 1,300 locations from coast to coast (http://ibn.fm/N6n2f).
“The shortage of premium adult-use cannabis we predicted has become a reality since last October and ramping up our facilities will provide much-needed, high-quality product to the market,” Flow stated in the news release.
Shortages in the Canadian cannabis supply line became apparent almost immediately after recreational adult-use sales become legal in October 2018, with some stores opening on a limited basis and provincial sales licenses placed on hold or restricted for a time as supply and demand forces worked to catch up to each other (http://ibn.fm/m2269). Recently released Health Canada cannabis inventory and sales data reveal a complicated shortage versus rebound supply problem as producers, government regulators and consumers try to settle on a workable solution (http://ibn.fm/AJkYv).
Supply and demand may be an even more difficult balancing act when it comes to premium, high-quality cannabis products, which many cannabis users tell market researchers they prefer. According to Deloitte’s 2018 cannabis report, a majority of current cannabis users expect to pay more and are willing to pay a premium for products that are grown and processed under Canada’s new regulatory guidelines and sold through legal channels (http://ibn.fm/GeuUQ).
Flowr Corporation is once again proving to be an industry leader, as the company recently announced the hiring of Deron Caplan, North America’s first PhD whose research focused on cannabis production. Caplan joins Flowr as director of plant science, a role that will prove symbiotic to each as the company grows its brand and continues to emphasize the wisdom of generating premium, non-irradiated cannabis at high yields.
Caplan earned his doctorate at the University of Guelph in August 2018 and was the primary author of the first peer-reviewed paper on indoor cannabis production published in North America. He has written numerous articles on cannabis published in scientific journals, is a sought-after cannabis expert by media outlets and has testified on cannabis production before the Canadian Senate’s Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry (http://ibn.fm/j0Pnc). Caplan is an expert on growing substrates, fertilization protocols, propagation techniques and irrigation management protocols for cannabis production under a controlled environment. While earning his doctorate, he, along with his academic advisors, invented four growing substrates specifically formulated and tested for cannabis production.
“Flowr is focused on producing premium quality cannabis at scale with industry-leading efficiency and that requires remaining a leader in both cultivation techniques and genetics,” Flow said in announcing Caplan’s new role at Flowr Corporation. “We believe that adding Deron to our existing team and alliance with Hawthorne Canada strengthens our position at the forefront of understanding the tools and techniques needed to grow great cannabis.”
This commitment to producing a premium, ultra-high-grade cannabis product led to a research and development partnership with Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG) subsidiary Hawthorne Gardening. In October 2018, the two companies broke ground on North America’s first research and development facility dedicated to advancing cannabis cultivation techniques (http://ibn.fm/QQLFk).
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Flowr.ca
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