Premium Quality Cannabis Company to Create Between 100 and 200 Jobs by 2020
CHARLOTTETOWN, CANADA / ACCESSWIRE / MAY 18, 2018 / Canada's Island Garden today unveiled a new FIGR brand, which reflects the scientific rigor and decades of agronomic excellence for which the Company is known.
Since the acquisition of 75 percent of Canada's Island Garden by Canadian Cultivated Products, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Alliance One International, the companies have been working on a new naming and branding concept. Canadian Cultivated Products will be rebranded to FIGR Cannabis, Canada's Island Garden to FIGR East and Goldleaf Pharm, a sister company in Simcoe, Ontario, to FIGR Norfolk.
"Our Company has always believed that creativity can figure out almost anything. Our new FIGR brand represents our Company's efforts to provide products of a consistent quality that are handcrafted with unconventional thinking" said Edwin Jewell, president of Canada's Island Garden. "We pride ourselves on the unique combination of generations of horticulture excellence and modern agricultural practices to create high-quality products which customers can trust and enjoy."
FIGR products will become available to the public in Canada as soon as sales for the recreational adult market are legalized. Sales to medical patients in Canada will remain under the current branding of Canada's Island Garden.
The new brand was announced at the groundbreaking of FIGR's significant expansion in Prince Edward Island. Phase 1 of the expansion, which includes a 166,000-square-foot greenhouse and 54,000-square-foot warehouse, is a CAD$35 million investment. The warehouse is being constructed to also accommodate Phase 2 of the expansion, which would add an additional 90,000 square feet of greenhouse space. Phase 1 will increase the facility's annual production capacity to 18,000 kilograms. Upon completion of Phase 2, FIGR is anticipated to have an annual production capacity in excess of 35,000 kilograms.
"Our new state-of-the-art facilities will allow us to cultivate cannabis that consistently meets and exceeds legal requirements and Canadian consumers' desires for a premium cannabis brand. With additional capacity, we are committed to taking PEI premium-grown, hand-crafted cannabis across Canada and, over time as legal markets develop, worldwide," said Jewell. "As the Canadian cannabis market opens up, we are proud to offer PEI residents product that is produced by their fellow Islanders. These new facilities will offer full-time, year-round employment for Islanders."
Both facilities will feature the latest technological advancements in horticulture and cannabis production to allow for the production of a high-quality and sustainable product for consumers. The facilities will be optimized to create comprehensive transparency and traceability from plant to final product and include security protections to maintain proper control of the facility.
The new greenhouse will provide an additional controlled environment for planting, growing and harvesting the plant as well as space for research and development where the company can continue to improve crop quality. Irrigation and environmental conditions will be monitored and controlled by specialty systems to maximize yield, and sunlight and natural ventilation will help reduce production costs while maintaining a high-quality product.
The warehouse, which was designed specifically for smooth cannabis production and processing, will provide space for trimming, drying, packaging, oil extraction, propagation of cuttings and storage of finished product. In addition, it will house FIGR's administrative staff offices.
The greenhouse and warehouse, which are the first step in a greater expansion plan, are anticipated to be operational by spring 2019. FIGR expects to create between 100 and 200 jobs over the course of the next three years.
Alliance One International is an agricultural company that delivers value-added products and services to businesses and customers and is a trusted provider of responsibly sourced, independently verified, sustainable and traceable products, ingredients and services. AOI's indirect stake in Canada's Island Garden is one step in its journey to broaden its business portfolio by focusing on consumer-driven agricultural products.
About Canada's Island Garden
Based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada's Island Garden is Prince Edward Island's only federally licensed producer of cannabis. In January 2018, the Company announced a supply agreement with the Province of Prince Edward Island to provide a high-quality supply of cannabis to Islanders. For more information, visit www.canadasislandgarden.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about future plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that are not historical facts. Such statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated expected or projected. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements: the impact of regulation and litigation and risks and uncertainties associated with the expansion of the FIGR brand, including the risk of obtaining anticipated regulatory approvals in Canada, as well as the anticipation of enactment of Canadian legislation legalizing the production and sale of cannabis for adult recreational use and potential relaxation of restrictions prohibiting medical or adult recreational use of Cannabis in other jurisdictions.
Media Contact:
Edwin Jewell
Canada's Island Garden
(902) 628-7129
SOURCE: Canada's Island Garden Inc.