NAPANEE, Ontario – VIVO Cannabis Inc. (TSX: VIVO) (OTCQX: VVCIF) (“VIVO” or the “Company”) today announced its wholly-owned subsidiary, Canna Farms Limited (“Canna Farms”), has received all necessary Health Canada approvals to commence operations in its Phase 5 expansion, and that its wholly-owned subsidiary, ABcann Medicinals Inc. (“NCC”), has begun commercial production in its ethanol extraction suite.
Facility Expansion Approval in Hope, British Columbia
The Phase 5 expansion consists of 10,000 square feet of production space customized to incorporate Canna Farms’ two-tier growing systems, as well as vegetative rooms, mother rooms, storage vaults and processing rooms.
The two-tier growing system project was initiated in early 2019 and underwent extensive research and development to ensure that Canna Farms’ yield, potency and product quality standards are maintained.
“Health Canada’s approval of Phase 5 is a major milestone for the Canna Farms team because our two-tiered approach will allow us to grow twice as many plants in the same footprint as most conventional cultivators, allowing us to meet the growing demand for craft quality cannabis,” said Dan Laflamme, President of Canna Farms.
“In addition to our two-tiered production, Phase 5 is equipped with three processing rooms to provide space for our automated pre-rolled machine, expected to be commissioned this summer, and for expanded production of our solvent-less extracts including kief, bubble hash, and various forms of rosin,” explained Mr. Laflamme.
The new facility expansion is expected to start operating immediately as clones and processing equipment have already been sourced in preparation for licensing, accelerating VIVO’s use of the space by several weeks.
New Extraction Suite in Napanee, Ontario
The commissioning of NCC’s ethanol extraction suite has also been completed and commercial production is underway. The extraction system has the capacity to process up to 200 kilograms of dry biomass per day. Additionally, distillate is now being produced at NCC using a new distillation column. The resulting high quality, low production cost resins and distillates will be used as inputs for VIVO’s oil, vape cartridge, and other Cannabis 2.0 products and will complement Canna Farms’ solvent-less concentrates.
“We are excited to bring our ethanol extraction processes on-line, particularly given the strong demand for the concentrates that we are now producing,” said Gary McMullen, NCC President. “The team in Napanee is proud to now be able to process our home-grown strains into multiple premium quality product formats. Bringing the manufacturing of these extracts in-house rather than using third-party suppliers is expected to significantly reduce our product costs and allow us to tightly control our product quality.”
About VIVO Cannabis
VIVO Cannabis is recognized for trusted, premium cannabis products and services. It holds production and sales licences from Health Canada and operates world-class indoor and seasonal airhouse cultivation facilities with proprietary plant-growing technology in Hope, British Columbia and Napanee, Ontario. VIVO has a collection of premium brands, each targeting different customer segments, including Canna Farms, Beacon Medical, Fireside, Fireside-X, Lumina and Canadian Bud Collection. The Company is expanding its production capabilities and distribution network. Harvest Medicine, VIVO’s patient-centric, scalable network of medical cannabis clinics, has serviced over 100,000 patient visits. VIVO is pursuing several partnership and product development opportunities and is focusing its international efforts on Germany and Australia. The Company has a healthy balance sheet and is well-positioned to accelerate its path to profitability. For more information visit: https://www.vivocannabis.com/
