October 22, 2018 - Vancouver, British Columbia – PRESS RELEASE – Ascent Industries Corp. has announced the establishment of its third location in the United States in Oakland, Calif., giving the company, as it continues to expand, an entry into one of the most important cannabis markets in the world. With nearly 40 million people residing in the state of California and an already sophisticated cannabis culture, California presents a compelling opportunity for Ascent, which has strong roots in the cultivation of high-quality cannabis, sophisticated extraction technology and processes expertise, and high-quality branded products to introduce to this emerging and significant market.
On Oct. 19, 2018, Ascent signed a 10-year lease for approximately 67,750 square feet of space within a building known as the The Oakland Tinnery located in Oakland, Calif. and owned and managed by Ascent’s strategic partner, Green Sage, LLC. Once construction plans are finalized over the next 40 days, Green Sage will be applying their nearly 15 years of cannabis facility construction expertise to building out the California facility to Ascent’s specifications. Green Sage will also assist Ascent in obtaining the permits and licences required for its expansion into California.
Philip Campbell, CEO of Ascent, commented, “Ascent is very excited to be entering the California market, particularly in such a capital efficient way through our Green Sage relationship. The ability to expand in a key market, without diluting existing shareholders, allows us to expend our resources on our core strengths–producing high quality extracts and sophisticated branded products that resonate with consumers. This is only the first move with our partner Green Sage–we look forward to further expansion in California and other areas of North America as the right opportunities arise.”
The Tinnery is ideally located in the City of Oakland’s established “Green Zone,” permitting cannabis cultivation and manufacturing and easy access to service the San Francisco Bay Area, which has a population of nearly 10 million people. Oakland is one of the few and first locations in California to establish a Green Zone, as well as permit a full range of cannabis industry activities, from cultivation through to processing, manufacturing and delivery. The company believes Oakland is an ideal location to commence operations in California, providing the ability to scale across an entire value chain to achieve revenues quickly.
The company intends to create a fully integrated value chain at the California facility: producing disease- and pesticide-free starting material via plant tissue culture, cultivating high-quality cannabis indoors, extracting and manufacturing branded products, and distributing branded products through an on-premises dispensary and by local delivery via an e-commerce platform.
James Poelzer, Ascent’s Chief Business Development Officer, commented, “Launching a vertically integrated cannabis operation in Oakland will not only showcase Ascent’s extraction expertise, but also supply San Francisco Bay Area consumers with the high-quality indoor cannabis that will always be in demand. The company will gradually roll out its existing line-up of branded products, some of which are currently available in Las Vegas and Portland, and looks forward to interacting directly with California consumers to establish its brands in the state.”
Ascent management believes the opportunity available in California is currently unparalleled elsewhere in the world. On the medical front, California has a 20-year legacy of medical cannabis sales and is estimated to have over one million cannabis patients in addition to the millions of sophisticated adult-use customers resident in the state. Estimates on the value of this market vary, but BDS Analytics and Arcview Group indicated in The State of Legal Cannabis Markets–6th Edition, published in June 2018, that California could be a US$5.1 billion market in 2019 alone.
Ken Greer, Managing Director of Green Sage, noted, “We are excited to be working with our partner Ascent in Oakland, and very pleased that they have taken what was the last available space in the Tinnery. We believe that Ascent’s sophisticated brands will find a ready market in California, starting in the San Francisco Bay Area. We look forward to continuing to grow with Ascent, both in California and throughout North America.”
