Liberty-360 Facility Expansion and Processing Capacity Update
-- Liberty's commercial kitchen to support planned portfolio of edibles, confectionery goods, beverages and more to be introduced across Florida
TORONTO, Sept. 9, 2020 /CNW/ - Liberty Health Sciences Inc. (CSE: LHS) (OTCQX: LHSIF)www.libertyhealthsciences.com ("Liberty" or the "Company"), a provider of high quality cannabis, today provided an update on the expansion and readiness of its operations for its state-of-the-art cannabis cultivation and processing capabilities at its LHS360 facility.
The multi-phase expansion plan sets the stage for Liberty to grow its LHS360 cultivation facility, located on a 387-acre parcel in Gainesville, by another 300,000 square feet by the end of calendar year 2021. This will double its capacity and bring the total cultivation space to 490,000 square feet.
The initial phase of the development, the Greenhouse expansion project, will add 14,400 square feet of space and hold approximately 3,750 plants. An additional set of greenhouses will follow, adding another 57,600 square feet of grow space and house 15,000 plants. The greenhouses are fully equipped with light deprivation and climate control systems to allow for five harvest cycles annually.
One of the existing 20,000 square foot greenhouses was recently retrofitted with new LED light fixtures, an upgraded irrigation infrastructure, newly installed shade cloth and poly roofs, and 140 tons of HVAC. Extra environment sensors were also installed, creating a hybrid grow environment between indoor and greenhouse, allowing for the best of both worlds. The greenhouse will house the Company's premium Seed Junky™ Genetics.
The latest expansion will create more than 200 new jobs to support the growing operation and 26 retail stores, with plans for another ten locations to come online before year end.
"This expansion will greatly increase our supply of premium cannabis and edibles to better serve our patients," said Victor Mancebo, Chief Executive Officer of Liberty. "The team has been working hard on a multitude of projects that are now starting to come to fruition. Like any fast-growing organization, we have not been immune to shifting timelines and setbacks. Obviously, the pandemic has caused delays, but we have persevered and continue to build an operationally sound and profitable enterprise. We continue to stay inspired and focused on achieving our goals and anticipate exciting future results."
The Company also started construction on three-tiered specialized dry rooms, which will provide a total dry area capacity of 9,000 square feet, accompanied by customized drying structures, controlled environments, and specialized dehumidifiers. These drying rooms will be added to the existing 10 drying rooms that have been approved by the Florida Department of Health.
"We received DOH approval for six Grow Pods for advanced in-door farming that will add to our propagation and vegetation space and will house more than 16,000 clones and our mother plants," said Mancebo. "We have also received approval and completed an advanced culture tissue lab, where we will cure, cross, and preserve strains. The lab will act as a safety vault to safeguard and activate strains based on the season in Florida or environmental pressures that may arise."
Liberty also received Florida Department of Health approval for its Ethanol Extraction Lab, which can extract more than 100 kgs of biomass material per day. This will provide an influx of distillate oil used for oil-derived products, including edibles. This new lab will be 10-times more productive than the Company's current CO2 extraction platform. It will help alleviate processing bottlenecks and allow the Company to expand its current 277 SKU's, with plans to add an additional 150.
"As a result of our partnership with Seed Junky™ Genetics, our official first harvest is slated to begin in late-October," said Mancebo. "We anticipate the premium flower-derived products will be on our shelves by early November. We have successfully conducted an R&D harvest, and from that sample we saw a four-times multiple on dry yields. As time progresses, the Seed Junky™ strains will continue to permeate our facility, creating ample inventory, not only for flower derived products, but for extraction purposes as well."
In the ramp-up to introducing myriad edibles to Liberty stores, the Company has also completed construction on its commercial kitchen and is in the process of obtaining its Florida Department of Agriculture (FDACS) license, which will be followed by the Florida Department of Health approval.
ArcView Market Research reports that by 2022 the cannabis edibles market is projected to quadruple in the US and Canada to $4.1 Billion.
About Liberty Health Sciences Inc.
Liberty is the cannabis provider committed to providing a high-quality cannabis experience based on our genuine care for all cannabis users and a focus on operational excellence from seed to sale. For more information, please visit: www.libertyhealthsciences.com.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "plan", "intend" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected closing date and the sale of the specified assets in Florida and Ohio. There is no certainty that the transactions will be completed by the anticipated closing date or at all. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions; adverse industry events; marketing costs; loss of markets; future legislative and regulatory developments involving medical marijuana; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favorable terms; the medical marijuana industry in the United States generally, income tax and regulatory matters; the ability of Liberty to implement its business strategies; competition; crop failure; currency and interest rate fluctuations and other risks. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions, or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
SOURCE Liberty Health Sciences Inc.
Media Contacts: Dwain Schenck, (203) 223-5230, [email protected]; Victor Mancebo, Chief Executive Officer, (352) 388-4178, [email protected]
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