Village Farms International Announces Pure Sunfarms’ Receipt of Health Canada Approval Enabling It to Commence Cannabis Extraction Operations

Village Farms International, Inc. (NASDAQ: VFF) (TSX: VFF) announces that Pure Sunfarms has received from Health Canada an amendment to its standard cannabis processing license that authorizes the sale of cannabis extract, as well as edible and topical cannabis products, produced by Pure Sunfarms at its processing operations located within its Delta 3 production facility, to provincial/territorial boards and directly to authorized retailers.  The amendment permits Pure Sunfarms to begin internal extraction operations for its recently launched vape and bottled oil products, as well as additional Cannabis 2.0 products, which Pure Sunfarms expects to launch in the months to come.

Village Farms is one of the largest and longest-operating greenhouse growers in North America, and is leveraging its decades of experience as a large-scale, low-cost intensive agriculture and vertically integrated produce supplier to pursue high-value, high-growth plant-based Consumer Packaged Goods opportunities in cannabis and CBD in North America and selected markets internationally.

In Canada, British-Columbia-based Pure Sunfarms is one of the single largest cannabis operations in the world, the lowest-cost greenhouse producer, one of the best-selling brands, and has generated profitability for six consecutive quarters.

In the U.S., subject to compliance with all applicable U.S. federal and state laws, Village Farms is pursuing a strategy to become a leading developer and supplier of branded and white-labeled CBD products  targeting “big box” and other major retailers and consumer packaged goods companies, and with one the largest greenhouse operations in country, is well positioned for the potential federal legalization of high-THC cannabis.

Internationally, Village Farms is strategically targeting selected, nascent, legal cannabis and CBD opportunities with significant long-term potential, with an initial focus on the Asia-Pacific region through its investment in Australia-based Altum International.

“The receipt of this license amendment enables Pure Sunfarms to begin the production and sale of its internally processed vape and bottled oil products and, importantly, is the final approval required to fully execute our Cannabis 2.0 product strategy,” said Mandesh Dosanjh, President and CEO, Pure Sunfarms.  “We will continue to explore the introduction of a variety of additional Cannabis 2.0 products to the market to meet the evolving preferences of the Canadian cannabis consumer – always with the goal to provide consumers with pure, BC-grown cannabis products at an affordable price.”

“This approval comes on the heels of Pure Sunfarms’ recent launch of its first extracted products – co-manufactured vapes and bottled oils – which have had strong initial sell-through in each of the provinces in which they have been launched,” said Michael DeGiglio, CEO, Village Farms International. “We have always recognized the value of Pure Sunfarms having its own internal extraction operations.  It not only enables the generation of a significantly higher gross margin on extracted products but also provides control over the entire production process to ensure the highest levels of quality and safety. It also enables Pure Sunfarms to expeditiously launch additional strains, formats and SKUs of Cannabis 2.0 and bottled oil products.”

Pure Sunfarms’ extraction operations, located within its 65,000 square foot, state-of-the-art processing center (housed in its 1.1 million square foot Delta 3 greenhouse facility), are capable of processing 35,000 kilograms of biomass annually.