SMITHS FALLS, ON, Jan. 3, 2018 /CNW/ - Every year at Canopy
Growth Corporation (TSX: WEED) ("Canopy Growth" or the "Company")
we reflect back on our progress to keep our investors and
stakeholders up to date.
In January 2014 we looked back
on calendar year 2013 and our successful efforts to acquire one
of the first ever Canadian cultivation licenses and the efforts of
our construction teams to hit a Christmas deadline for a Health
Canada inspection to bring our production online. As 2013 came to a
close we looked excitedly at all we could accomplish in the years
to come, with one eye on our dwindling bank accounts wondering if
we would ever make it to find out. Thankfully for our shareholders,
we did and then some.
Looking back on calendar year 2014, we could proudly
reflect on being the first publicly listed federally regulated
cannabis company in North America,
and the first to complete a bought deal. While access to capital is
simpler today, going first is never easy and it took an incredible
amount of perseverance to earn investor confidence in the cannabis
sector in 2014. Our very first sale occurred in May 2014 and by the close of the year we had
expanded the product offering in the Tweed shop to thirteen
products by year end. Moving quickly, 2014 was also the year Tweed
diversified to become the first owner of both indoor and greenhouse
licensed operations, by finalizing the acquisition of Tweed Farms
and conducting our first harvest from that site.
Calendar year 2015 began with fewer than 3,000 registered
customers. By the mid point of the year Canopy completed the
sector's first acquisition of a licensed entity, acquiring Bedrocan
Canada in a management-supported all equity deal. By combining
companies and focusing on market share, we were proudly serving
more than 8,000 Canadians by year end. 2015 was also the year Tweed
became one of the first licensed producers of cannabis oils, and
settled into a groundbreaking partnership with DNA Genetics, the
world's most awarded cannabis breeders.
Calendar year 2016 saw another major partnership with
iconic cannabis connoisseur Snoop Dogg. The 2016 calendar year saw
the start of international expansion with valuable inroads being
made in Brazil, Australia and Germany, where we were the first Canadian
company granted permission to export dried cannabis flowers to that
jurisdiction.
Which brings us to the year that was: 2017.
Through calendar year 2017, Canopy Growth grew its domestic
presence across the country to include existing and planned
cannabis production facilities in seven Canadian provinces,
totaling over 5.6 million sq. ft. of diversified cannabis
growing operations. This massive expansion is in part facilitated
by leveraging unparalleled greenhouse expertise through two joint
ventures: (i) BC Tweed Joint Venture, a two-site development
program in partnership with an established BC-based large-scale
greenhouse producer led by Victor
Krahn; and (ii) a partnership with Quebec-based Les
Serres Stephane Bertrand, a multi-generation greenhouse
operator with experience in organic production.
Facilities expansion also includes major investments in
infrastructure to support extraction, resin refinement and oil
production, Softgel capsules, and significant distribution
infrastructure to support our own exponential growth. Last year we
also launched CraftGrow, a program that leverages all of this
infrastructure in a mutually beneficial way by bringing new
producers' products to our existing customers, and have welcomed
9 CraftGrow Partners into this collaborative program.
Canopy Growth's Canadian Production Platform
Facility
|
Type
|
Status
|
Approx. Size
(sq. ft.)
|
Tweed Hershey
Drive
|
Indoor
|
168k
licensed
|
450,000
|
Tweed NFLD
|
Indoor
|
Underway
|
150,000
|
Tweed NB
|
Indoor
|
Underway
|
50,000
|
Vert Cannabis
(St.
Lucien)
|
Indoor
|
Licensed
|
10,000
|
Vert Cannabis
(Les
Serres Mirabel)
|
Hybrid
Greenhouse
|
Underway
|
700,000
|
Bowmanville
Facility
|
Indoor
|
Licensed
|
60,000
|
Scarborough
Facility
|
Indoor
|
Licensed
|
50,000
|
Creemore
Facility*
|
Indoor
|
Licensed
|
15,000
|
Tweed
Farms
|
Hybrid
Greenhouse
|
350k
licensed
|
1,000,000
|
Tweed
Grasslands
|
Indoor
|
Licensed
|
60,000
|
Tweed
Edmonton
|
Indoor
|
Underway
|
100,000
|
Tweed BC Joint
Venture – Site 1
|
Hybrid
Greenhouse
|
Underway
|
1,300,000
|
Tweed BC Joint
Venture – Site 2
|
Hybrid
Greenhouse
|
Underway
|
1,700,000
|
Total:
|
|
|
5,645,000
|
*in partnership with
Green House Seeds and Organa Brands
|
Additionally in Canada and
based out of our Yorkton facility,
we continue to hold hemp production licenses, unique CBD hemp
genetics and proprietary crop-scale processing know-how to ensure
that as CBD and hemp laws change, we are positioned to bring
large-scale CBD hemp production to market
expeditiously.
As we expanded across Canada,
commiting hundreds of millions of dollars into our domestic
infrastructure, Canopy also continued expanding internationally,
anchored by a large scale production facility now licensed
pending completion in Denmark,
another under construction in Jamaica, and a broad distribution
network supplying pharmacies across Germany. Work in Brazil and Chile, as well as in Australia working with leading Australian
cannabis company AusCann Holdings, gives Canopy a strong
international foundation heading into 2018.
Renewing our brand alliance and partnership with DNA
Genetics, the most awarded Cannabis Cup breeders ever,
expanding the Leafs By Snoop line to include extracted oils,
and creating a collaborative relationship with Organabrands and
Green House Seeds separated Canopy Growth from the competition
in terms of brand diversification in real, anchored brands in 2017.
These relationships will ensure our house of brands remain top of
mind for consumers in the legal recreational market and - perhaps
more importantly - position Canopy Growth as a veritable one-stop
shop for provincial cannabis retailers entering the market in 2018.
This win-win offering began to bear fruit late in 2017 when Canopy
signed landmark supply deals with the provinces of New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, including an ability to obtain
rare retail licenses in Newfoundland & Labrador.
Canopy maintained its leading market share with more
Canadians, approximately 69,000 registered customers as of
calendar year-end, choosing Tweed Main Street as their source for
medical cannabis. The industry-first TweedMainStreet.com
consolidating a number of unique production sites and brands into a
single online store, today boasts forty seven unique products
and sells a gram every 3.9 seconds on average.
In public markets, Canopy Growth was as always, a sector leader
in ethical, responsible growth, generating billions of dollars of
value for its shareholders as the best performing stock in
Canada on the TSX/S&P Index in
2017. A C$245 million
strategic investment from Constellation Brands, widely
viewed as a game-changer for the cannabis industry, applied a stamp
of approval from a Fortune 500 company as well as a strategic ally
that will be invaluable entering the post-prohibition era in
Canada.
The Road Ahead in 2018
Can we top 2017? Absolutely, and we will work as hard as we have
in years past to do so.
Looking ahead to 2018, global opportunities are becoming
increasingly important to overall growth, and are increasingly
viable, as laws change around the world. In Europe, Latin
America, and the Australian continent, 2018 will be a year
of establishing global leadership positions for Spectrum Cannabis
and Tweed.
In Europe, licensed
production in Denmark will
help ensure that the Company can meet the needs of patients and
regulators seeking established producers and stable medical
cannabis genetics produced in Europe for Europe. On that note, a previous release
referred to Spectrum Denmark's licence as the "first" such license
for a Canadian company in the EU, but this was incorrect. Tilray
had previously announced it is licensed in Portugal. We look forward to friendly
competition as we both bring exciting products to market in
Europe. Hi, Zack.
Latin America will
mature as a market opportunity in 2018. Existing positions in
Chile and Brazil will act as a basis for the region.
Similarly, Australian cannabis laws and regulations are
being finalized and the Company will work hard to ensure that it
can continue to bring its global leadership to this region of the
world in 2018. Operating in the United
States – or any jusrisdiction without federally permissible
cannabis laws - continues to be off limits for Canopy Growth.
Operating in the United States
represents undue risks and could jeopordize the Company's ability
to attract major institutional investors and could potentially
limit future listings on major securities exchanges.
And of course, 2018 will be a historic year in Canada. Canopy plans to capitalize on the
opportunities presented by the regulated recreational market, a
multi-billion dollar opportunity. It will do so by continuing to
grow quality products presented by brands people know and trust,
all while maintaining a supply of these products supported by a
massive production platform.
Our recipe for success has been built on going to where the puck
will be and creating opportunity through leadership. From its
inception, the management of Canopy Growth Corporation has been
steadfastly focused on establishing authentic brands that resonate;
building the diversified capacity to support those brands in a
rapidly growing market; leading the Canadian cannabis sector with
integrity to push the cannabis dialogue forward; and creating
something uniquely Canadian that we can proudly bring to the
world.
In 2018, the roadmap designed in Canada will be deployed ambitiously here in
Canada and around the world.
Here's to Future Growth in 2018 and Beyond.
About Canopy Growth Corporation
Canopy Growth is a
world-leading diversified cannabis and hemp company, offering
distinct brands and curated cannabis varieties in dried, oil and
Softgel capsule forms. From product and process innovation to
market execution, Canopy Growth is driven by a passion for
leadership and a commitment to building a world-class cannabis
company one product, site and country at a time.
Canopy Growth has established partnerships with leading sector
names including cannabis icon Snoop Dogg, breeding legends DNA
Genetics and Green House seeds, and Fortune 500 alcohol leader
Constellation Brands, to name but a few. Canopy Growth operates
seven cannabis production sites with over 665,000 square feet of
production capacity, including over 500,000 square feet of
GMP-certified production space. The Company has operations in seven
countries across four continents. The Company is proudly dedicated
to educating healthcare practitioners, conducting robust clinical
research, and furthering the public's understanding of cannabis,
and through its partly owned subsidiary, Canopy Health Innovations,
has devoted millions of dollars toward cutting edge,
commercializable research and IP development. Through partly owned
subsidiary Canopy Rivers Corporation, the Company is providing
resources and investment to new market entrants and building a
portfolio of stable investments in the sector. From our historic
public listing to our continued international expansion, pride in
advancing shareholder value through leadership is engrained in all
we do at Canopy Growth.
Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This news
release contains forward-looking statements. Often, but not always,
forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words
such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected",
"estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or
"believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that
certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might"
or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors which may cause the actual results, performance or
achievements of Canopy Growth Corporation, Tweed Inc., Tweed Farms
Inc. or Bedrocan Canada Inc. to be materially different from any
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by
the forward-looking statements. Examples of such statements include
future operational and production capacity, the impact of enhanced
infrastructure and production capabilities, and forecasted
available product selection. The forward-looking statements
included in this news release are made as of the date of this news
release and Canopy Growth Corp. does not undertake an obligation to
publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new
information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by
applicable securities legislation.
SOURCE Canopy Growth Corporation