Organic Certification Enables Premium Pricing and Margins
BUFFALO, N.Y., Feb. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 22nd Century Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: XXII), a leading agricultural biotechnology company focused on tobacco harm reduction, reduced nicotine tobacco, and improving health and wellness through modern plant science, announced today that is has received USDA Organic Certification under 7 CFR Part 205 for its hemp production at Needle Rock Farms. USDA Organic Certification will allow 22nd Century to command a premium price and margin for its hemp biomass.
“Organic certification is a valuable asset that enables premium pricing for the biomass grown at our Needle Rock Farms location. It also expands our capabilities to create disruptive hemp/cannabis plant lines tailored to the most exacting customer requirements at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional breeding methods,” says James A. Mish, chief executive officer of 22nd Century Group. “Similar to the work done in order to commercialize other major crop lines, our disruptive hemp/cannabis plant lines can be tailored to express consistent levels of desirable major and minor cannabinoids, improved structural characteristics, heightened disease resistance and other key traits necessary for the economic and predictable production at commercial scale.”
The Company completed harvest of its first two customized hemp/cannabis plant lines in the fourth quarter of 2021, and is now selecting an expanded roster of plant lines for the 2022 growing season. The plant lines selected will express commercial traits aligned to specific requests of the end customers, expanding 22nd Century’s revenue generation opportunities as it continues to lead the hemp/cannabis industry in commercial plant line innovation.
With control of the most comprehensive and innovative upstream cannabinoid value chain in the hemp/cannabis industry, 22nd Century is unlocking commercial success for large-scale cultivation and extraction as the hemp/cannabis industry scales with the continued success of global legalization and commercialization efforts.
About 22nd Century Group, Inc.
22nd Century Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: XXII) is a leading agricultural biotechnology company focused on tobacco harm reduction, reduced nicotine tobacco and improving health and wellness through plant science. With dozens of patents allowing it to control nicotine biosynthesis in the tobacco plant, the Company has developed proprietary reduced nicotine content (RNC) tobacco plants and cigarettes, which have become the cornerstone of the FDA’s Comprehensive Plan to address the widespread death and disease caused by smoking. The Company received the first and only FDA MRTP authorization of a combustible cigarette in December 2021. In tobacco, hemp/cannabis, and hop plants, 22nd Century uses modern plant breeding technologies, including genetic engineering, gene-editing, and molecular breeding to deliver solutions for the life science and consumer products industries by creating new, proprietary plants with optimized alkaloid and flavonoid profiles as well as improved yields and valuable agronomic traits.
Learn more at xxiicentury.com, on Twitter @_xxiicentury, and on LinkedIn.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements typically contain terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “consider,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “explore,” “foresee,” “goal,” “guidance,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “preliminary,” “probable,” “project,” “promising,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “would,” and similar expressions. Actual results might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth in “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 11, 2021. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
Mei Kuo
22nd Century Group, Inc.
Director, Communications & Investor Relations
T: 716-300-1221
mkuo@xxiicentury.com
Darrow Associates Investor Relations
Matt Kreps
T: 214-597-8200
mkreps@darrowir.com
