TORONTO, April 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- Aleafia Health Inc. will add 50,000 kg of extraction capacity with the Phase II expansion of the company’s processing facility in Paris, Ontario. The expansion will, when operational, see the company’s products and cultivation division, Aleafia Campus, maintain robust combined extraction and cultivation footprints across three facilities.
Phase II 50,000 kg Extraction Capacity Expansion
The facility has now secured a partial occupancy permit from the local government, marking the completion of an important milestone in the Phase II build-out which it expects to complete in Q3 2019. Aleafia Health will submit a Licence Amendment application to Health Canada, and will additionally require the final municipal occupancy permit prior to the operationalization of the site.
The existing Phase I facility is fully operational and licensed to cultivate, process and sell the company’s health and wellness cannabis products for medical and adult-use consumers.
The expansion is expected to significantly increase the processing, extraction and packaging of high-margin derivative products including oils, capsules, sprays and other future formats under the company’s adult-use Symbl and medical Emblem brands. Additionally, the company will offer tolling and white label services to other Licensed Producers looking to leverage the company’s extraction and packaging capabilities. Aleafia Health is currently purchasing the necessary equipment to meet or exceed the 50,000 kg capacity expansion, including milling, decarboxylation, CO2 extraction and winterization machinery. The company believes that the 30,000-square-foot building expansion will provide significantly more space than is necessary to operate the new cannabis production lines.
The additional capacity will ensure adequate extraction for cannabis sourced from Aleafia Campus indoor, greenhouse and outdoor cultivation operations along with cannabis secured via existing wholesale supply agreements, which include:
- Aleafia Campus Indoor cultivation at its licensed and operational Paris, Ontario and Port Perry, Ontario facilities
- Aleafia Campus Greenhouse cultivation at its plant-ready 160,000-square-foot Niagara, Ontario facility (upon receipt of Health Canada licence)
- Aleafia Campus Outdoor cultivation at its Port Perry 26-acre low-cost outdoor grow (upon receipt of Health Canada licence)
- Aphria Supply: Five-year, 175,000 kg supply agreement with Aphria Inc. at preferred wholesale pricing
- Tilray Supply: Three-year, 9,000 kg supply agreement with Natura Naturals Holdings Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tilray, Inc.
“In the medium term, a robust, wholly-owned cultivation footprint is vital with ongoing supply shortages,” said Aleafia Health CEO Geoffrey Benic. “However, the inevitable commoditization of cannabis will reward companies excelling at product innovation, brand-building and supply chain logistics. Our major extraction expansion will see Aleafia Health doing just that."
