Vertical Integration: The Key to Uniting Cannabis Players Along the Seed-To-Sale Supply Chain
Despite regulation differencesacross each of the legal marijuana markets (and those possibly soon to be legal), the advantages for vertical integration in the cannabis sector are growing. Several companies are seizing upon opportunities at different levels of the seed-to-sale supply chain including Abattis Bioceuticals Corp. (CSE: C.ATT, OTC: ATTBF, Forum), Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX: WEED) (OTC: TWMJF), Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX: ACB) (OTC: ACBFF), Green Growth Brands (CSE:GGB)(OTC:XTHCF), and The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG).
In order to maintain high quality control, several of the cannabis sectors’ biggest players are consolidating as many steps of production to retail process as possible. For any of the gaps along the way, innovators like Abattis Bioceuticals Corp. (CSE:ATT) (OTC:ATTBF) have positioned themselves to offer a wide array of services and products to the sector.
A well-played vertical integration strategy can help cannabis companies not only maximize efficiency and reliability but can also give an edge over competitors. When done right, this can create a massive advantage in the cannabis industry, which is already logistically challenging as it is.
For many companies that can’t handle all steps in this process, options are available, such as Abattis Bioceuticals Corp. (CSE:ATT) (OTC:ATTBF), which has interests in everything from fertilizer through NutriVida Corp., to proprietary seeds and strains through Select Strains Inc., to extraction and laboratory services with XLABS Therapeutics, a line of vape products, and a whole line of cannabis-infused products. But not all companies can handle the variety of services that Abattis does.
SEED-TO-SALE STRAIN ADVANTAGES
Prior to the acquisition, Abattis had secured cannabis growth assets, including cultivation asset Gabriola Green Farms Inc. earlier in 2018, and later in November 2018 through the acquisition of cannabis testing, research, cultivation and seed and strain optimization company Select Strains Inc.
The acquisition of Select Strains further augmented Abattis’ portfolio of vertically integrated cannabis assets. Select Strains helps Abattis to brand and leverage unique craft cannabis strains, in an increasingly generic, highly competitive cannabis market. If competitors are in need of a new strain, or help in growing products, Abattis has all the tools to offer them along the way.
“Acquiring Select Strains broadened the product offering that Abattis will be able to provide to its clients and through our ever-growing distribution network,” stated Robert Abenante, President and CEO of Abattis upon the acquisition.
He added, “Access to proprietary strains, clone catalogues and seed inventories adds to the breadth of our unique product offerings and presents a very exciting opportunity to provide superior quality products to cannabis consumers worldwide. Moreover, the inclusion of Select Strains seed and strain library is yet another step towards achieving Abattis’ goal of providing full-scale vertical integration in the cannabis markets and will certainly add to our future medical-grade Gabriola facility.
OVERCOMING VERTICAL HURDLES
Fully vertically integrated cannabis companies often own cultivation facilities which also house extraction labs that these companies use to ship processed extracts to the company’s own retail outlets for sales.
But even the cultivation facilities themselves require inputs that sometimes even the largest companies cannot self-provide. For instance, with fertilizers or growing equipment. This is where companies such as Abattis Bioceuticals Corp. and The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company can provide the missing pieces of the growing process.
Abattis Bioceuticals recently announced the acquisition of fertilizer and nutrient company NutriVida Corp. NutriVida offers a complete line of plant products as well as a custom service packages for soil & hydroponic systems to facilitate the harvest of large, healthy crops without sacrificing the environment. NutriVida also has a wide array of proprietary fertilizer brands specifically formulated for cannabis and cannabis cultivation, as well as other horticultural areas.
“We are very excited about the NutriVida acquisition,” said Abattis CEO, Robert Abenante. “As we shift our focus and resources into revenue generation, the NutriVida acquisition complements our recent acquisition of Select Strains Inc. as well as our efforts to become a robust vertically integrated cannabis cultivation company.”
A FULLY INTEGRATED POWERHOUSE
Since the beginning of Mr. Abenante’s tenure as President & CEO, Abattis has aggressively been building itself into a fully vertically-integrated cannabis company.
The Abattis structure not only includes aforementioned NutriVida, Gabriola and Select Strains, but also includes it’s retail arm Vergence, lab services through joint ventures with XLABS Therapeutics and Northern Vine, a custom branded vaporizer line through the acquisition of Green Tree Therapeutics, blockchain technology through its investment in CannaNUMUS which proposes a compelling solution to help the industry reduce administrative overhead costs, as well as a joint venture with Blockstrain (TSX-V:DNAX) which will allow the company to track and trace it’s robust cannabis genetics library.
If all of that isn’t enough to convince you that Abattis is one of the most vertically integrated cannabis companies in Canada, the Company is also working with the world-renowned University of British Columbia to perform cutting-edge research and development on nanoemulsified cannabinoid-infused oils.
The company touches upon every aspect of the cannabis sector, from seeds, to fertilizer, to cultivation, to cannabis-infused products, to vapes, to research, to extraction, to distribution. Abattis Bioceuticals Corp. (CSE:ATT) (OTC:ATTBF) gives a concrete example of a fully vertically-integrated powerhouse cannabis company.
FURTHER CANNABIS VERTICAL INTEGRATION
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)
Already a household name for lawn care and home gardening, Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is betting its fertilizer can help cultivate a different kind of grass. Through its subsidiary Hawthorne Gardening Co., Scotts partnered with Flowr Corp. to build a 50,000 sq ft research facility in British Columbia, which will be used to test Hawthorne’s lights and nutrients on cannabis. Through solid results from its marijuana related business interests, Scotts helped boost its company-wide sales by 15% from 2017 to $433.9 million in the September quarter.
Canopy Growth Inc. (TSX: WEED) (NYSE: CGC)
Though excitement still hasn’t died down on its deal with Constellation Brands, Canopy Growth isn’t done making acquisitions itself. Its latest major purchase was its entry into the cannabis vaporizer market with a C$220 million all-cash acquisition of Storz & Bickel, who are widely recognized as the global leader in vaporizer design and manufacturing. The German-based company are most well known as the designers and manufacturers of medically approved vaporizers, most notably the Volcano® Medic and the Mighty® Medic. The company exports devices to 50 markets around the world.
Abattis Bioceuticals Corp. (CSE: ATT) (OTC: ATTBF)
Abattis has positioned itself to be a potential leading, fully-integrated medicinal cannabis company. The company’s flagship 26,000 sq ft cultivation asset is located on beautiful British Columbia’s Gabriola Island is expandable across 8 acres. On the facility, Abattis plans to grow medical-grade marijuana as well as select craft strains of infamous “B.C. Bud”. In addition, Abattis has been aggressively building its portfolio of complimentary assets which includes the acquisition of 140 genetic strains, fertilizer/nutrients company NutriVida, an Abattis-branded vaporizer line (now sold nationally in Shefield and Sons), launching its first proprietary cannabinoid therapeutic, COMFORT™, and providing service agreements with Northern Vine Canada Inc., and are continuing to develop cannabinoid-infused products such as cannabinoid-rich beer and infused sunscreen. Abattis has also made key investments into XLABS Therapeutics (ONT) Inc., building one of Canada’s largest cannabinoid manufacturing labs as well as into certain blockchain service and cryptocurrency platforms solely focused on cannabis product and service transactions.
Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) (TSX:ACB)
Alberta-based cannabis giant Aurora Cannabis recently expanded its vertical reach, through an investment in High Tide Inc., a retail-focused cannabis and lifestyle accessories company. High Tide is developing an expanding network across Canada of cannabis and cannabis accessory retail stores, as well as manufacturing and distributing branded cannabis accessories. Among the assets that High Tide brings to the Aurora table, is its Famous Brandz division, which is a premier manufacturer and distributor of licensed, branded smoking products through partnerships with celebrity and entertainment brands like Snoop Dogg, Guns N’ Roses, and Paramount Pictures.
Green Growth Brands (CSE:GGB) (OTC:XTHCF)
Sector newcomer Green Growth Brands has been swiftly gobbling up assets, and establishing itself on a nation-wide scale in the US. From its acquisitions of high-profile dispensaries and grow facilities in Nevada to its entry into Massachusetts through the acquisition of Just Healthy LLC, GGB has been filling in the map in multiple districts, as its retail-based management team works on unrolling its corporate strategy. The company deals in brand building, and also has in its stable the proprietary technology that came with the company it entered the scene through a reverse-takeover with, Xanthic Biopharma, which can make cannabinoids water soluble for use in new edible and beauty products.
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