Canopy Growth leases former Concession 5
Vineyard property to Niagara College
SMITHS FALLS and NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ON, Feb. 10, 2020 /CNW/ - It's proving to be a
vintage year for cultivating partnerships in Niagara.
Thanks to a new agreement, Niagara College's Teaching Winery
will take over operations at a Niagara-on-the-Lake vineyard property owned by
Canopy Growth ("Canopy Growth" or the "Company") (TSX:WEED)
(NYSE:CGC), sowing the seeds for an environmentally sustainable
site and new learning opportunities for the College's wine
students.
Canopy Growth announced today that the Concession 5 Vineyard,
located next to its Tweed Farms greenhouses in Niagara-on-the-Lake, will be leased to Niagara
College, to be operated by the NC Learning Enterprise Corporation
(NCLEC). The College – which is home to the first and only
commercial Teaching Winery in Canada, as well the first Commercial Cannabis
Production program in the country – is committed to maintaining the
vineyard according to environmentally and socially sustainable.
Canopy Growth, known as one of the world's largest diversified
cannabis companies, acquired Concession 5 Vineyard in May 2019 and was seeking to partner with an
experienced grape grower committed to maintaining the property in a
sustainable manner. It found a trusted partner in Niagara College,
which has been a leader in wine education for 20 years and has been
running a Teaching Winery and vineyards on its recently renamed
Daniel J. Patterson Campus in
Niagara-on-the-Lake since
2002.
"Ensuring the vineyard continued to operate in a sustainable
manner was very important to Canopy Growth as well as the community
of Niagara-on-the-Lake," said
Jeff Ryan, vice president of
Government and Stakeholder Relations at Canopy Growth. "This
partnership maintains the historical use of the property and we
could not be more satisfied that it will become a hub for learning
to be enjoyed by Niagara College's students for decades to come.
"
"With grape growing and wine production integral to Niagara's
economy, we applaud Canopy Growth's decision to preserve the
vineyards on this Niagara-on-the-Lake property," said College
president Dan Patterson. "We are
proud to be a part of this historic new partnership that bridges
Niagara's established wine industry with its emerging cannabis
production industry, and we're dedicated to applying our expertise
in a manner that will benefit our students and the community."
Steve Gill, general manager of
NCLEC– including the Teaching Winery, Teaching Brewery, and
Teaching Distillery – noted the importance of the wine and cannabis
production sectors working together in Niagara and pointed to the
new partnership as a testament to what can be achieved.
"This partnership is a win-win-win," said Gill. "Our wine students
gain experience at a second Niagara vineyard, Canopy benefits from
our dedication to minimizing impact on its greenhouse operations,
and Niagara-on-the-Lake residents
gain good neighbours through our commitment to maintaining the
vineyards with sustainable farming practices."
While the NCLEC will not operate retail on the Concession 5
property, the new space will become a secondary production site for
the College's Teaching Winery and will enhance learning
opportunities for students in the College's Winery and Viticulture
Technician program.
Students will be exposed to additional environmentally and
socially sustainable practices on the Concession 5 site, as well as
a different terroir and different grape varietals than the
College's existing on-campus Teaching Winery. Concession 5 Vineyard
is located on the fertile sub-appellation of Four Mile Creek –
while NC's on-campus vineyards is located in St. David's Bench –
and its vineyards contain grape varietals that aren't grown at the
College's Teaching Vineyards, such as Pinot Gris and Pinot
Noir.
College winemaker Gavin Robertson
noted that farming practices will be implemented on the property
that exclude any chemical herbicides or insecticides and will use
mechanical or cultural means to control weeds and insects. He noted
that the Teaching Winery has been employing many sustainable
practices on campus – since it shares a small area with a
greenhouse, vegetable gardens, and a bee yard at the College – and
the new partnership is an opportunity to expand their efforts at a
different location.
"Through this collaboration with Canopy Growth, we are enhancing
our understanding of sustainable farming practices and the social
licence to operate as responsible land stewards in the context of
the Ontario grape industry in a
way that also benefits how we operate our campus vineyard," said
Robertson, who is also an alumnus of the Winery and Viticulture
Technician program (2011). "This knowledge also translates to the
curriculum level and has increased our capacity to deliver lessons
in sustainable farming to our students."
Second-year Winery and Viticulture Technician student
Sydney Neumann values the hands-on
experience she is gaining at the Teaching Winery where she works on
wine projects and participates in winery operations as well as
vineyard work. She was thrilled to hear that students will have
access to a second vineyard where they can enhance their learning
of viticulture practices.
"In my first year, we had the opportunity of harvesting Pinot
Noir from this site and it was a great way to get my hands dirty so
early in the program," she said. "I know the new vineyard will
provide a place for practical learning of viticulture and get
students active in watching a vine growth cycle, pruning, scouting,
harvesting, and other practices … this sort of learning is what
inspires me and is, what I believe, will inspire other
students."
Neumann also believes it is important that the vineyard will be
maintained in an environmentally sustainable manner.
"It is essential to teach students how to work in a vineyard in
a sustainable fashion that doesn't negatively impact the
environment," she said. "I, like many others, strongly believe this
is the future of the industry."
Here's to Future (Educational) Growth.
About Niagara College
Niagara College's Teaching Winery (2002) is the first and only
commercial teaching winery in Canada. It is located at the College's Daniel
J. Patterson Niagara-on-the-Lake Campus, along with the NC Teaching
Brewery (2012) and the NC Teaching Distillery (2018) which
were also the first of their kind in Canada.
Niagara College also made history in 2018 by launching
Commercial Cannabis Production graduate certificate program in fall
2018 – the first of its kind in Canada. The program was designed to meet
significant demand for qualified and professional workers in
Canada's pioneering cannabis
industry.
Niagara College offers more than 130 diploma, bachelor degree
and advanced level programs; as well as more than 600 credit,
vocational and general interest Part-Time Studies courses. Areas of
specialization include food and wine sciences, advanced technology,
media, applied health and community safety, supported by unique
learning enterprises in food, wine, beer, distilling, horticulture
and esthetics. For more information
visit niagaracollege.ca.
About Canopy Growth Corporation
Canopy Growth (TSX:WEED, NYSE:CGC) is a world-leading
diversified cannabis, hemp and cannabis device company, offering
distinct brands and curated cannabis varieties in dried, oil and
Softgel capsule forms, as well as medical devices through Canopy
Growth's subsidiary, Storz & Bickel GMbH & Co. KG. 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 operations in over a dozen countries across
five continents.
Canopy Growth's medical division, Spectrum Therapeutics is
proudly dedicated to educating healthcare practitioners, conducting
robust clinical research, and furthering the public's understanding
of cannabis, and has devoted millions of dollars toward cutting
edge, commercializable research and IP development. Spectrum
Therapeutics sells a range of full-spectrum products using its
colour-coded classification Spectrum system as well as single
cannabinoid Dronabinol under the brand Bionorica Ethics.
Canopy Growth operates retail stores across Canada under its award-winning Tweed and Tokyo
Smoke banners. Tweed is a globally recognized cannabis brand which
has built a large and loyal following by focusing on quality
products and meaningful customer relationships.
From our historic public listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange
and New York Stock Exchange to our continued international
expansion, pride in advancing shareholder value through leadership
is engrained in all we do at Canopy Growth. Canopy Growth has
established partnerships with leading sector names including
cannabis icons Snoop Dogg and Seth
Rogen, breeding legends DNA Genetics and Green House Seeds,
and Fortune 500 alcohol leader Constellation Brands, to name but a
few. Canopy Growth operates eleven licensed cannabis production
sites with over 10.5 million square feet of production capacity,
including over one million square feet of GMP certified production
space. For more information visit www.canopygrowth.com
Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the
meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Often, but
not always, forward-looking statements and information can be
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achieved. Forward-looking statements or information involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause
the actual results, performance or achievements of Canopy Growth or
its subsidiaries to be materially different from any future
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements or information contained in this news
release. Examples of such statements include statements with
respect to future land-use. Risks, uncertainties and other factors
involved with forward-looking information could cause actual
events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
information, including the Company's ability to satisfy provincial
sales contracts or provinces purchasing all cannabis allocated to
them, and such risks contained in the Company's annual information
form dated June 25, 2019 and filed
with Canadian securities regulators available on the Company's
issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company
believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the
forward-looking information or forward-looking statements in this
news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on
such information and no assurance can be given that such events
will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The
forward-looking information and forward-looking statements included
in this news release are made as of the date of this news release
and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update
such forward-looking information or forward-looking information to
reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless
required by applicable securities laws.
SOURCE Canopy Growth Corporation