RE:RE:I will post some of the answers from the AMAjayjay2020 wrote: jayjay2020 wrote:
Agent248 thanks for your questions. With respect to CC Pharma recording cannabis related revenue, I think I should clarify a couple of things. CC Pharma does not grow cannabis and technically wont ever record revenue from growing cannabis. CC Pharma is a distribution business. It will record revenue from distributing cannabis as soon as we are able to import cannabis into Germany under EU-GMP certification or as soon as Aphria Deutschland completes its first harvest of cannabis. In the interim period, CC Pharma is setting up its business for distributing cannabis. It also maintains a small distribution agreement with a company call EMMAC for distributing cannabis in Germany, once EMMAC secures all required permits, licenses and supply. Colcannas construction continues to advance. Irwin and I were in Colombia recently and came back very impressed with the opportunity in Colombia. What became clear during our trip is that the Colombian market has been slower to develop due determining the appropriate way to establish GMP standards in Colombia. What also became clear was just how big the opportunity in South America is (650M people, medical benefits, etc.). Taking advantage of Colombias equatorial position and using that as a growing hub to feed the continent presents a tremendous opportunity for Aphria. To do that, we will need to secure GMP certification for the grow and infrastructure, but the opportunity is just too large to not take that step. The first big step for us in Colombia was land levelling, which is complete. The next step is build-out of the greenhouses and infrastructure. Aphria has secured all required licenses for Colombia, except for GMP certification, which the government is still trying to establish. In the interim, while those steps are occurring, we are working on securing EU-GMP certification in Canada, to allow us to temporarily export product out of Canada and import it into LATAM to generate LATAM sales earlier. The government in Argentina recently passed new rules on their special access program and the advance work we did with Hospital Garrahan on the pediatric epilepsy trial has positioned us very well in LATAM to leverage the Aphria medical brand. Vic is no longer involved with Aphria, other than as a shareholder.
Hi Carl, Thanks for taking the time to visit us and congrats on the quarter. 1) When will we see an expanded Broken Coast? 2) Are there plans to buy 100% of Althea? They seem to have a lot of good things going on. 3) Can you tell us anything about ACT II? Irwin's other company... Thanks again 39 AphriaInc 36m Wrinkledpenny, thanks for the question but I have one back. How exactly does one wrinkle a penny? Broken Coast represents a tremendous brand in Canada. We are extremely proud of all the work done by the John, Kevin and the entire Broken Coast team. The brand maintains a commanding presence in the super-premium category. When considering an expansion, we take many things into consideration. One of those is the general level of supply. Obviously, if there is a sufficient level of supply, building more can create problems. In Canada, currently, it does not make a great deal of sense to start building new grow today unless it is to support growth in the super-premium category. This presents an opportunity to consider expansion for Broken Coast. The question then becomes, how much more supply is the correct amount to add. This is where we are at on the expansion plans for Broken Coast. Do you add 5,000 kgs of supply, 20,000 kgs or 50,000 kgs? This question isnt as easy as it first seems. There are also questions on the impact of scarcity on price. Add too much supply, destroy scarcity and impact your selling price. It changes the entire economics of the expansion. Once we announce the expansion at Broken Coast, we anticipate the build and license approval will take at least two years. As I mentioned in one of my other posts (or will mention), we do not publicly comment on our investment strategy as it relates to individual investments. ACT II appears to be best characterized as the tin foil hat club not having enough time on their hands. ACT II is a SPAC organized by Irwin, while he was winding down his time at Hain. It has $300 million to invest in organic brands. It has no tie to cannabis. When Irwin was first interviewed by the Board, he disclosed to them that the SPAC was being organized. He committed to the Board, that if joined Aphria and as long as he was with Aphria, the SPAC would not invest in Cannabis. Further, his involvement is limited to his role as Chair and is not involved in day-to-day operations.
vouching 4d Hi Carl, Thanks for doing this and congrats on the impressive Q results Why has Aphria never taken IR and PR as seriously as other companies? I understand that Aphria does not want to "pump" their own company and that's great. I get that Aphria cares about long-term growth, but still it would nice if Aphria cared more about its public image. I know a new PR firm was hired, but not much has changed. What really went down with all the rumors about equity deals/partnerships and why was Aphria not able to secure some sort of partnership? Why did so many potential deals leak in the past? I recently had the opportunity to meet with some of the SOL guys and I was wondering if Aphria would still ever consider dealing with SOL again if the right opportunity came up? For example, As part of the LATAM assets, I know Aphria has a right to purchase the Brazilian license once that is secured. Is this something that APHA will still buy from SOL? Is Vic still involved in Aphria at all as a consultant or even someone that will visit the company once in a while? Will Irwin take up Cramer on the offer to appear on his show? I know many on reddit emailed Aphria about it. Does Irwin know he invited him on the show? I feel like it's something that's in the works lol those two go way back. As an accountant myself, is the company looking for a CPA that lives and breathes Aphria? LOL Thanks! 39 AphriaInc 31m Vouching, I wonder how many people were able to figure out your screen name and what it meant. I remember my days vouching transactions. Very tedious work but you would be shocked to find out how much you can learn out about a company by doing it. I am going to disagree with you (yes, I realize it isnt just you but most of this community). We do take PR and IR seriously, we just dont believe in self-promotional, rah-rah, press releases announcing artists in residence, the selection of an e-commerce platform or that we are announcing we are building our facilities in one place in Canada because we have access to free water (dont even get me started about the ridiculousness of selecting a place to locate a facility anywhere in Canada and basing your decision on only one variable). Since the start of Aphria, we have released news based on our (my) belief that we need to present ourselves as a mature, seasoned business, in order to appeal to institutional investors. If something material happens, we press release. We dont press release noise. Investors are smarter than that. Further, it is what appeals to strategic partners and institutional investors (something this industry is severely lacking in). I understand that some investors believe that other investors are sheep and need to be fed a constant stream of rah-rah press releases. I dont agree with that. In the last four months, investors made it very clear to us that the most important thing wasnt a glossy press release (they dont want that anymore), they want results. So, for the last four months we did that. We focused on execution in Canada. That focus helped us achieve our Q4 results. Now that we have issued those results, Tamara and her team have a series of initiatives that I believe address your concerns. I want to be clear; we arent going backwards but you will definitely see us more often going forward. A positive first step in that regard was Irwins visit on Monday to Cramer and the Mad Money set. There will be some of you who think we arent going far enough. I understand that, I am not sure we can ever make them happy. But at the end of the day, this isnt a sprint. It is a marathon. We are here for the long-term, we are building assets for the long-term, we are building brands for the long-term, we are building relationships for the long-term. It is a different kind of company than one built for a quick pop on a stock price to benefit early investors at the expense of later ones. Rumours are just that rumours. Too many people believe everything they read. Just because someone claims to know someone, who knows someone, who knows someone who is on the inside, doesnt mean it is true. If someone on the inside is providing information, they are doing what is called tipping which is illegal and could land them in jail. Not sure how many people are really willing to take that risk. If people arent willing to take the risk, why would you believe a rumour supposedly started by one. As I have said many times, getting a strategic partnership is not the be all and end all that some in the retail investment community believe. If we are going to do it, we are going to do it from a position of strength, not because if we dont we have no liquidity in less than 60 days. We will do it because the strategic partner brings things to our business that we cant bring ourselves (or would be too expensive or take too long to bring). Do they bring us brands, a route to market that we dont otherwise have access to, a distribution channel that we can leverage, bench-strength to add to our growing team, etc. Those partnerships are about putting two companies together to give each other something they dont have and make both of them stronger. I also think having one strategic partner instead of multiple partners could be a mistake. If the partners are not on the same page, there will be discontent. It may make more sense to have multiple partners with one in each different category. Having one partner who controls your business potentially closes too many other doors. We have to do what is right for shareholders in the long-term. Aphria is no longer involved with SOL on any level. The Brazilian license option does not involve SOL other than paying the pre-negotiated price. We would not be interested in acquiring it, unless we secured the full 90% ownership. If we are unable to secure the full 90%, I imagine we would exercise our option and then look to sell the asset as soon as possible. As I said in another post (or will say), Vic is no longer involved with Aphria, other than as a shareholder. In case you missed it, here is a Link to Irwins appearance on the show on Monday. Irwin and Cramer do have a long history based on his time as CEO of Hain. We were aware of Cramers offer at the time. We assessed the opportunity to go on Cramer as a key inflection point for Aphria. There wasnt much point to go on without something tangible to discuss. Our Q4 results, gave us that tangible result. I am always looking to add talent to my accounting and finance team. Send your resume to [Investors@aphria.com](mailto:Investors@aphria.com), if you are interested. A condition of employment would be giving up your posting ability on the subReddit about Aphria (although if the community found out you were an employee; I am sure the weight they attached to your comments would lessen - you appear to be a well-respected poster).