Creso Pharma Limited (ASX:CPH) Chief Operating Officer John Griese discusses the company's licence to cultivate cannabis at its state-of-the-art Mernova Medical facility in Windsor, Nova Scotia.
Jessica Amir: Thanks for tuning into the Finance News Network. I’m Jessica Amir. Today I’m joined by Creso Pharma
(ASX:CPH) Chief Operating Officer, John Griese. Hi John, welcome back.
John Griese: Hello Jessica. It’s good to be here.
Jessica Amir: I believe you’re surrounded by two feet of snow at Toronto in Canada. But firstly let’s talk about your recent announcement about the approval to cultivate cannabis at the Creso Pharma facility. Just tell us about that.
John Griese: We have been working very hard over the last few months, submitting our application and meeting all the requirements of Health Canada. And our facility was recently licensed to produce and cultivate cannabis and we are really excited by that.
Jessica Amir: Central to the licence approval is your Mernova medical facility in Nova Scotia. Just tell us a little bit about the facility and its cultivation capacity?
John Griese: Super excited by the facility. It's got to be one of the top five facilities in Canada. Purpose built over the course of the last year. Good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards and built with a high degree of efficiency, and the capability to produce some of the highest quality material of any facility in Canada. That facility has been built on 24,000 square feet - that’s expandable up to 200,000 square feet. So right now we have the ability to produce around 4,000 kilograms of material per year which we think that we can take up to almost ten times that.
Jessica Amir: What is the size of the recreational cannabis market in Canada and beyond?
John Griese: The cannabis market in Canada is growing daily. As more and more supply becomes available and more licensed providers gain their licences and start to produce. Deloitte has targeted the market to be upwards of $8 billion over the course of the next five years. The forecast beyond that globally is off the charts at plus $100 billion depending on who you speak to. We know right now that in Canada supply is shortfall and we are really looking forward to being able to fill the gap for some of the consumers here in Canada.
Jessica Amir: When are you expecting your first crop from the facility, and who are likely to be your first customers?
John Griese: We have been planning for this day for quite sometime and we entered into a supply agreement with TerrAscend Canada (CSE:TER; OTCQX:TRSSF) a few months ago, which actually locks down approximately half the capacity of our facility as soon as it’s available. And we expect our first crop will be available in between 12 and 16 weeks. So we have already got committed supply and revenues. And then we’ve also been in conversations with the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC), which is the retailer for eastern Canada. And we expect to be able to position our products in the NSLC.
Jessica Amir: Just lastly John before we let you go, is there anything else that you want to add today?
John Griese: This is just the first step in the evolution of our Mernova facility, for Creso Pharma. We’re super excited that we’re going to be able to produce and generate revenue, on material from that site but it is just the first step right now. Canada will be regulating edible cannabis before the end of this year. And as you know, Creso Pharma has commercial edible products for sale internationally, globally today. And we’re looking to produce those products in that facility for the Canadian marketplace and expect to be a leader on the edible cannabis side of things for Canada.
Jessica Amir: John Griese, thanks so much for the update and well done on the success.
John Griese: Thank you very much Jessica.
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