Botanist Organic Growers has unveiled plans to build an indoor organic hemp cannabidiol (CBD) facility in Manitoba, a Canadian province bordered by Ontario and Saskatchewan.

The company is buying Pineland Forest Nursery from the province of Manitoba that will be converted this spring to become the largest indoor organic hemp cannabidiol (CBD) producer in the world, according to the company.

Botanist Manitoba CBD Facility

The property covers more than 300 acres in the RM of Reynolds and includes more than 300,000 square feet of greenhouse and research facilities.

Botanist expects to hire up to 200 people over the next three years, while investing tens of millions in developing the enterprise into a complete seed-to-sale company. The company will operate cultivation, extraction and research facilities and will also employ personnel in marketing, sales and management roles, according to the company’s statement.

“We’re excited to be investing in Manitoba. The global CBD industry is still new but is expected to grow exponentially around the world in the next few years. Our goal is to make Manitoba at the center of that international expansion,” Jeremy Towning, CEO and co-founder of Botanist, stated.

“This facility offers everything we need to begin building a global leader. We look forward to engaging local growers, businesses and educational institutions to expand our operation and revolutionize this promising industry,” he added.

Botanist Future Plans

Botanist is a privately-held company with ambitions to become the largest CBD firm in the world. It plans to produce organic hemp indoors for CBD extraction.

The company expects to have its first products to market in 2019. Its first crops will be produced using indoor greenhouse facilities. Eventually, the company plans to expand production to the surrounding fields and anticipates working with area farmers for additional production in the future.

According to estimates from Chicago-based Brightfield Group, the worldwide CBD market is expected to grow to $22 billion by 2022, surpassing the cannabis market.