When we last caught up with
Adastra Labs Holdings Ltd. (
CSE.XTRX,
OTC: XTXXF,
Forum) and their CEO Michael Forbes
back in December, our Stockhouse audience got an in-depth look at one of the most innovative leaders in cannabis science.
Stockhouse Media’s Dave Jackson was joined, this time, by the company’s Sales Director, Paul Dhillon, to take another deep dive into this intriguing cannabis play and what really makes Adastra tick.
(CLICK IMAGE TO PLAY VIDEO)
TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
SH: To start off with, Paul, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your history with the company?
PD: Sure. Yeah. I'm super passionate about cannabis and all things, cannabis, the industry, the culture, the people. So what drew me towards this industry was just seeing how it changed people's lives for the better. It was a miraculous cure for some of loved ones of friends and it really made the world a better place and I wanted to be a part of that. I was very fortunate. I met the crew over here at Adastra. They're all very passionate people here in the organization and we really do care about the end consumer and the consumer experience and that's why quality and value are front and center in a lot of the stuff we bring to the market.
SH: You’ve just completed a significant expansion at your processing facility in Langley B.C. Can you expand on this initiative for our investor audience?
PD: Yeah, so we've even seen a steady increase in demand for our products across the country. So we've stepped up to the challenge and we are increasing our production capacity along with some other fun stuff. So we've added some new equipment that has really increased our hydrocarbon production by 66%. We're also working on refining our processes as much as we can and that's allowed us to increase our cart filling by 50% as well.
SH: The company says this expansion will bring Adastra closer to exceeding its goal of $5 million per month in sales by summer 2022. Beyond expansion, what’s the secret sauce here to hit this mark?
PD: It's a lot of fundamentals. It's a really interesting question. I mean, we are making increases in our production capacity and adding on equipment but in addition to that, we pay a lot of attention towards continuous incremental improvement. So we really like to focus on our process, figure out where the choke points are, where we can improve and really hone in on the one factor that's going to end in a much better result and we focus on that factor until we've essentially reached a critical mass and we're ready to move on to the next factor. So we really like to just hone in focus and improve. It's a lot of feedback loops to paying attention to what we're doing, how we're doing it and how we can do it better next time.
SH: Paul, the company started off 2022 strong by signing co-packing agreements which allows Adastra to process concentrates products for existing Canadian brands. Can you walk us through the co-manufacturing portfolio and its inherent benefits?
PD: Yeah, it's a great question. We do a lot of great work here. The industry as a whole is really starting to take notice. Like I said earlier, we really do focus on quality and value and some of the other big-name brands out there have taken notice, right? And they'd love to offer some of the great products that we can bring to market. So we've had a few companies reach out and we have signed deals. I mean, I'd love to talk about the names we're involved with but unfortunately, I can't at the moment but the co-manufacturing's been a really strong revenue stream for us as well going forward. We have all this great capacity here and we want to do our best to really continue to increase our capacity and just bring as many products as we can to the market, be it through our inhouse brands or working with our co manufacturing partners.
SH: Adastra received its sales licence in March 2021, a research licence for organoleptic testing in April, and a flower sales license amendment from Health Canada in December 2021. Now, the Company looks set for strong growth in 2022. How are you placed to expand operations to meet demand?
PD: We're making the necessary changes like we have already discussed. The cool thing about the amendments to our sales license is we can offer more products than just concentrate. So we are looking at flower really closely and pre-rolls actually, so we're really excited to tap into segments of the market that essentially are much larger than the concentrate field. It really helps us extend our reach and increase our revenue.
SH: The company has announced that you’ll be commissioning a high-capacity automated pre-roll machine this April. You say this is designed to keeps costs down and provides more precision. How so?
PD: Yeah, it's actually a really innovative machine and it's one of the first of its kind, not only can they pack and fill joints at scale and at an incredibly fast pace but it can actually do inline infusions as well. So as we've seen in more mature markets, the trend is shifted from threes to infused pre Rolls and as a premier concentrate producer, that's really the field we want a play in. So this machine is going to allow us to bring innovative new products to market that we just haven't even seen in the rec space in Canada yet and I'm talking about innovative stuff like donuts in our pre-rolls. So what this machine allows us to do is leave a stream of oil that goes down the center of our pre-roll and when you burn your pre-roll, that oil will melt and it leaves a little recess. It looks a lot like a donut. when you look at it from the ash.
SH: Can you update our investor audience on any new products releases and maybe a sneak peak at what coming down the pike?
PD: Yeah, well we've been working on really quality concentrates for quite some time now. So we do have a lot of really exciting stuff that's going to be in the market really soon here. We've got diamonds, terp sauces, we've got full spectrum pens. We're doing some really cool stuff in our formulations when we produce our vaporizer cartridges and we're essentially what we're doing is we're deracinating diamonds and we're putting diamonds into a cart and that just creates for a real full spectrum experience that is showcasing everything the plant has to offer and we're really excited about these cartridges. The first one we launched was our Santa Cruz Haze and it's actually been performing extremely well in market. So we're just excited to widen that offering as well as offer, like I said earlier, new formats of concentrates, be it diamonds, terp sauces, sugar waxes, and more shatter.
SH: And finally, Paul, if there’s anything I’ve overlooked please feel free to elaborate.
PD: Yeah. I kind of skipped on the Organoleptic testing earlier but it's actually a really interesting development here. What this allows us to do is actually test our products and evaluate them before they hit the market and that's as we know vital to launching successful products and not only that but the cool thing about us here Adastra is that we're not a cultivator, right? We're not stuck to having to sell what was grown last week and it allows us to be agile and respond to market pressures. This way we can go out there and we can hunt for the best lots to offer to the provinces and our retailers. This really helps us increase the quality and deliver value.
For regular updates, visit
adastralabs.ca/home.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.