Canopy Growth (TSX: WEED) (NYSE: CGC) has received a new license from Health Canada to grow cannabis at an outdoor site in northern Saskatchewan.
Following the approval, the company planted the first cannabis cuttings at its 7 million sq. ft. (160 acres) cultivation field in the province.
The outdoor cannabis grow operation in Saskatchewan is in addition to Canopy’s major hemp production platform, which scaled up from the 4,000 acres to over 5,000 acres in 2019.
The successes of the company’s hemp operations will inform its outdoor cannabis strategy, as it seeks to optimize the methods used to cultivate current and future crops at the outdoor site.
Once the entire outdoor cannabis cultivation, production and extraction system is fully licensed and incorporated into Canopy’s current operational platform, it will produce CBD at scale to support value-add products like beverages, chocolates, and vape devices at higher margins than are achievable using inputs from indoor and greenhouse facilities, which are optimized to produce flower products.
Canopy Expanding Canadian Operation
Canopy said that its entire Canadian operation continues to expand as the company accelerates its efforts to supply the domestic and international cannabis markets.
The company has increased its footprint to include more than 950,000 sq. ft. of total licensed or pre-licensed production, and non-licensed operating space at its Smiths Falls Campus in order to support advanced manufacturing, encapsulation, cultivation, production, secure storage, logistics, distribution, and other functions needed to serve the Canadian market from coast-to-coast.
Canopy devoted tens of thousands of square feet to the production of chocolates. Once federal regulations over cannabis infused concentrates, edibles and beverages are implemented in late 2019, the company estimates a monthly production capability of more than 850,000 chocolates with the option to scale up.
In addition, the company reported approximately 70,000 sq. ft. of secure storage space for streamlined logistical and supply-chain operations to serve the Canadian market, and approximately 125,000 sq. ft. of bottling space at its new beverage production facility which will, once licensed and operational, have the capacity to produce more than 5 million beverages per month.