VANCOUVER, May 25, 2020 /CNW/ - Village Farms International,
Inc. ("Village Farms" or "the Company) (NASDAQ:VFF) (TSX:VFF) today
announced that its majority-owned joint venture for large-scale,
low-cost, high-quality cannabis production, Pure Sunfarms, has
received from Health Canada its cannabis cultivation sales licence
based on an initial production area within its second 1.1 million
square foot greenhouse facility in Delta,
British Columbia (the "Delta 2 facility"), allowing it to expand
capacity as needed through successive license amendments. The
Delta 2 facility is located
adjacent to the 1.1 million square foot Delta 3 greenhouse facility and when in
production, is expected to contribute to further lowering Pure
Sunfarms' already industry leading cost of cultivation.
"At a time when many in the industry are scaling back new
construction projects, Pure Sunfarms continues to move forward with
expansion of its future capacity to be ready to meet the
anticipated long-term demand for its products," said Michael DeGiglio, CEO, Village Farms
International. "We planned Pure Sunfarms' capacity based on our
confidence in Pure Sunfarms' ability to capture leading market
share across multiple product categories and with its consistent
ranking as the top dried cannabis brand in Ontario1, we are confident in the
merit of these expansion plans."
Pure Sunfarms to Begin Roll Out of Vape Products This
Summer
On the heels of the leading market share performance of its
British Columbia-grown dried
cannabis products1, Pure Sunfarms is now preparing to
begin the roll out of its first bottled cannabis oils, as well as
its first Cannabis 2.0 offerings this summer. Pure Sunfarms'
Cannabis 2.0 roll out will begin with the launch of a selection of
pre-filled 510 vape cartridges, available in the extract forms
of its top-selling1 dried cannabis strains, as
well as a selection of disposable vape pens – all under the highly
regarded and well trusted Pure Sunfarms brand."
"We are confident that consumers will respond to Pure Sunfarms'
Cannabis 2.0 offerings with the same enthusiastic reception that we
have seen for its dried cannabis products. The roll out of its
first Cannabis 2.0 products is just one of a number of near-term
catalysts for Pure Sunfarms that we believe will continue to drive
Pure Sunfarms' sales and profitability growth. Pure Sunfarms is the
only public Canadian cannabis company to deliver five consecutive
quarters of profitability – an incredible achievement anchored in
its industry leading cost of production and its high-quality, safe,
attractively priced products that consumers want."
Mr. DeGiglio added, "Our produce business is experiencing recent
momentum with our ability to now better take advantage of the
stronger produce pricing in the spot market. At the same
time, we are making steady, tangible progress on our CBD strategy,
as we actively evaluate viable near-term product and market
opportunities."
"In addition, we are increasingly optimistic about the prospect
of a federally legalized cannabis market in the U.S. based on
recent strong consumer usage data, the expected need for massive
economic stimulus to fuel recovery post-the COVID-19 pandemic,
including substantial job creation, as well as the benefit of
billions of dollars of additional tax revenue that would be
generated at all levels of government. California alone generated more than
$1 billion in tax revenue for the
State in just its first two years of legal cannabis sales.
Village Farms is well positioned to capitalize on what we
believe would be the largest opportunity in the history of our
Company, with one of the of the largest U.S. greenhouse footprints
located in what we believe is the best growing climate for cannabis
in the U.S., coupled with the invaluable experience of having
already built the premier cannabis business in Canada."
- Market share performance is based on calculations by Pure
Sunfarms from sales information provided by the Ontario Cannabis
Store.
About Village Farms International, Inc.
Village Farms is one of the largest and longest-operating
vertically integrated greenhouse growers in North America and the only publicly traded
greenhouse produce company in Canada. Village Farms produces and distributes
fresh, premium-quality produce with consistency 365 days a year to
national grocers in the U.S. and Canada from more than nine million square feet
of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) greenhouses in
British Columbia and Texas, as well as from its partner greenhouses
in British Columbia, Ontario and Mexico. The Company is now
leveraging its 30 years of experience as a vertically integrated
grower for the rapidly emerging global cannabis opportunity through
its majority ownership of British
Columbia-based Pure Sunfarms Corp., one of the single
largest cannabis growing operations in the world. The Company
also intends to pursue opportunities to become a vertically
integrated leader in the U.S. hemp-derived CBD market, subject to
compliance with all applicable U.S. federal and state laws, Village
Farms has established two joint ventures, Village Fields Hemp and
Arkansas Valley Green and Gold Hemp, for outdoor hemp cultivation
and CBD extraction and is pursuing controlled environment hemp
production at a portion of its Texas greenhouse operations, which total 5.7
million square feet of production area.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and is
subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. This press
release also contains "forward-looking information" within the
meaning of applicable Canadian securities law. We refer to such
forward-looking statements and forward-looking information
collectively as "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking
statements may relate to the Company's future outlook or financial
position and anticipated events or results and may include
statements regarding the financial position, business strategy,
budgets, expansion plans, litigation, projected production,
projected costs, capital expenditures, financial results, taxes,
plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Particularly,
statements regarding future results, performance, achievements,
prospects or opportunities for the Company, the greenhouse
vegetable industry or the cannabis industry are forward-looking
statements. In some cases, forward-looking information can be
identified by such terms as "outlook", "may", "might", "will",
"could", "should", "would", "occur", "expect", "plan",
"anticipate", "believe", "intend", "try", "estimate", "predict",
"potential", "continue", "likely", "schedule", "objectives", or the
negative or grammatical variation thereof or other similar
expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. The
forward-looking statements in this press release are subject to
risks that may include, but are not limited to: our limited
operating history, including that of our Pure Sunfarms Corp. joint
venture for the production of cannabis in Canada (our "Joint Venture") and our start-up
operations of growing hemp in the United
States; the legal status of our Joint Venture; risks
relating to obtaining additional financing, including our
dependence upon credit facilities; potential difficulties in
achieving and/or maintaining profitability; variability of product
pricing; risks inherent in the cannabis, hemp and agricultural
businesses; the ability of our Joint Venture to cultivate and
distribute cannabis in Canada;
existing and new governmental regulations, including risks related
to regulatory compliance and licenses (e.g., our Joint Venture's
ability to obtain licenses for its Delta 2 greenhouse facility as well as
additional licenses under the Canadian act respecting cannabis to
amend to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Criminal Code
and other Acts, S.C. 2018, c. 16 (Canada) for its Delta 3 greenhouse facility), and changes in
our regulatory requirements; risks relating to conversion of our
greenhouses to cannabis production for our Joint Venture; risks
related to rules and regulations at the U.S. federal (Food and Drug
Administration and United States Department of Agriculture),
state and municipal levels with respect to produce and hemp; retail
consolidation, technological advances and other forms of
competition; transportation disruptions; product liability and
other potential litigation; retention of key executives; labor
issues; uninsured and underinsured losses; vulnerability to rising
energy costs; environmental, health and safety risks, foreign
exchange exposure, risks associated with cross-border trade;
difficulties in managing our growth; restrictive covenants under
our credit facilities; natural catastrophes; the ongoing and
developing COVID-19 pandemic; and tax risks.
The Company
has based these forward-looking statements on factors and
assumptions about future events and financial trends that it
believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations,
business strategy and financial needs. Although the forward-looking
statements contained in this press release are based upon
assumptions that management believes are reasonable based on
information currently available to management, there can be no
assurance that actual results will be consistent with these
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements necessarily
involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which
are beyond the Company's control, that may cause the Company's or
the industry's actual results, performance, achievements, prospects
and opportunities in future periods to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These
risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the factors
contained in the Company's filings with securities regulators,
including this press release. In particular, we caution you that
our forward-looking statements are subject to the ongoing and
developing circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which
may have a material adverse effect on our business, operations and
future financial results.
When relying on
forward-looking statements to make decisions, the Company cautions
readers not to place undue reliance on these statements, as
forward-looking statements involve significant risks and
uncertainties and should not be read as guarantees of future
results, performance, achievements, prospects and opportunities.
The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate
only to events or information as of the date on which the
statements are made in this press release. Except as required by
law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise
publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which
the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events.
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SOURCE Village Farms International, Inc.