Village Farms International, Inc. (NASDAQ: VFF) has further expanded its international presence by shipping British Columbia-grown cannabis to a United Kingdom distributor.
The cannabis and vegetable producer announced sending the first shipment to 4C Labs on Wednesday. It contained Pure Sunfarms and The Original Fraser Valley Weed Co. branded pot merchandise.
Village Farms sells flower, vape cartridges, pre-rolls and extracts through its Pure Sunfarms subsidiary. The latter brand exclusively sells bud and cone-style joints.
The company shipped Pure Sunfarms cannabis to Germany in May this year after entering the Israeli market in early 2023. Village Farms established a footprint in the Australian market in late 2021.
“Through our wholly owned subsidiary, Pure Sunfarms, we are now exporting our preferred Canadian-grown cannabis products to four international medical markets, including Germany, Australia and Israel,” Village Farms CEO Michael DeGiglio, said. “Which together with the U.K., represent a population of more than 185 million.”
The Original Fraser Valley Weed Company’s Big Red joints. Image via Village Farms
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Village Farms sets sights on the Netherlands
The Canadian company 4C Labs has established a substantial distribution network in the U.K. and Europe. The company’s name refers to care, commitment, choice and change.
The Village Farms subsidiary Leli Holland holds one of 10 licenses for distribution of recreational cannabis in the Netherlands. Despite the assumption among some that cannabis is already legal there, it currently sits in a legal grey area. Coffee shops in Amsterdam have functioned this way for years.
A 4-year legalization pilot program in the country was initiated on Dec. 15. Certified growers will supply 80 of the country’s 550 coffee shops with cannabis in the coming months.
There will be a period in June and July where those shops will be required to transition to selling only regulated cannabis as part of the program.
“There’s no tax, which is very exciting,” DeGiglio said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Commodities last month. “I think we can be highly profitable in the Netherlands.”
The company is currently not fulfilling the Nasdaq exchange’s US$1.00 minimum share price requirement. Village Farms stock is worth US$0.79 and has dropped by over 44 per cent in the past year.
rowan@mugglehead.com
