– Third Provincial Supply Agreement Extends
Pure Sunfarms' Presence into Third Largest Cannabis Market in
Canada and Expands Access to
Nearly Two-Thirds of Canadian Population –
VANCOUVER, Nov. 27, 2019 /CNW/ - Village Farms
International, Inc. ("Village Farms" or the "Company") (TSX:VFF;
Nasdaq:VFF) today announced that its majority-owned joint venture
for large-scale, low-cost, high-quality cannabis production, Pure
Sunfarms, has entered into a supply agreement with the Alberta
Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis Commission ("AGLC") to
supply recreational adult-use cannabis products
to Alberta's licensed private retailers, including
Alberta's only legal online source
for recreational cannabis, AlbertaCannabis.org. The AGLC is the
wholesaler to private retailers and the only authorized online
retailer in Alberta. Pure Sunfarms expects to begin shipping
its branded packaged dried flower, inclusive of pre-rolls, which
are anticipated to enter Pure Sunfarms' product lineup, to the AGLC
in the coming weeks and months.
Alberta represents
approximately 12% of Canada's
population, however with a network of more than 330 retail stores
(by far the largest retail store network of any Canadian province)
represented 21% of total retail trade cannabis sales in
Canada for the nine-month period
from January to September
20191. As a result, Alberta has by far the highest per capita
sales of legal recreational cannabis amongst the four largest
Canadian provinces during that same period1.
Alberta saw month over month sales
growth for September 2019 of
4%1.
"Today's supply agreement with Alberta presents a strong opportunity for Pure
Sunfarms to expand our reach across Canada," said Mandesh Dosanjh, President and
CEO, Pure Sunfarms. "The province has led the way since
legalization, and we believe that Albertans will welcome our
product with the same enthusiasm we've seen to date in Ontario and B.C. Our high-quality cannabis –
hand selected for flavour, potency and consistency – at an
affordable price has been in high demand since our branded retail
launch in September."
"Alberta has done an
outstanding job of rapidly establishing a large retail cannabis
store network – more than 330 locations strong – and this new
Supply Agreement for Alberta
allows Pure Sunfarms, already a leading brand in Ontario and BC, to expand into another of the
top three Canadian cannabis markets," said Michael DeGiglio, CEO, Village Farms
International. "We are confident that the Pure Sunfarms value
proposition – high quality, safe products that consumers want, at
an attractive price – which has resonated so well out of the gate
in Ontario and BC, will be
similarly embraced by the Alberta
market. We look forward to watching the performance of the
Pure Sunfarms brand in Alberta, as
well as in BC, and especially in Ontario, where Pure Sunfarms is already the
top-selling dried flower brand, as that province moves in the near
term to aggressively expand its retail store network, which should
propel sales growth there."
Pure Sunfarms' supply agreement with Alberta is its third provincial supply
agreement. Combined with its previously announced supply
agreements for Ontario and
British Columbia, Pure Sunfarms
now has access to approximately 64% of the Canadian population.
Pure Sunfarms also continues to advance discussions with other
provincial distributors for potential supply agreements.
Pure Sunfarms Brand and Product Performance
As previously reported, Pure Sunfarms was the top performing
brand of dried flower by both kilograms sold and dollar sales with
the Ontario Cannabis Store ("OCS") in October 2019, achieving 16% market share (by
kilograms sold). Pure Sunfarms' dried flower products outsold
the second ranked dried flower brand's products two to one (by
kilograms sold). In addition, Pure Sunfarms' Afghan Kush was
the top selling dried flower product with the OCS in October and
three of the seven top selling dried flower products with the OCS
in October were Pure Sunfarms products. In B.C., Pure
Sunfarms sold out its first order to the BC Liquor Distribution
Branch ("BCLDB") (which has since re-ordered multiple times) in
under three weeks to rank among the top ten brands by sales for all
product categories in October.
Notes
1. Statistics Canada.
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 position in 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 USA, LLC, and
Arkansas Valley Green and Gold Hemp LLC, for multi-state outdoor
hemp cultivation and CBD extraction and plans to pursue controlled
environment hemp production at its Texas greenhouse operations, which total 5.7
million square feet of production area, subject to legalization of
hemp in Texas.
Cautionary Language
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute
forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable
securities laws ("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, 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, Pure Sunfarms, the greenhouse vegetable industry or
the cannabis and hemp industries 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", "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.
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 U.S. and Canadian securities regulators, including as detailed
in the Company's annual information form and management's
discussion and analysis for the year-ended December 31, 2017.
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 only
relate 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.
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SOURCE Village Farms International, Inc.