Village Farms International, Inc. (NASDAQ: VFF) said Tuesday it has acquired full ownership of Leli Holland, B.V., one of 10 licensed cannabis producers in the Netherlands’ new regulated program.
The company upped its stake to 100% from 85%, nailing down its position in what CEO Michael DeGiglio called “one of the most attractive limited-license cannabis market opportunities across the entire globe.”
Village Farms also reported completion of a cultivation facility in Drachten, featuring five flower rooms and space for drying, manufacturing and packaging. Pending final inspections, the company expects to begin cultivation in October and make its first sales in early 2025.
The move comes as the Netherlands transitions from its longstanding policy of tolerating cannabis sales in “coffeeshops” to a more tightly regulated system. Village Farms plans to supply approximately 80 Dutch coffeeshops in participating jurisdictions.
“After decades of tolerating the unintended consequences of a backdoor decriminalisation policy, the new Dutch program represents an historic evolution of regulations,” DeGiglio said in a statement.
Orville Bovenschen, president of Leli Holland and Village Farms subsidiary Pure Sunfarms, noted the company’s Dutch heritage.
“Village Farms has been operating highly-sophisticated, large-scale greenhouses in North America for over 35 years,” he said, “but our first growers were Dutch immigrants who moved to Canada and the U.S. at a time when greenhouse cultivation was a completely new concept.”
Beyond the Netherlands, Village Farms has been expanding its international reach, carried by its EU GMP certification from the District Government of Dusseldorf, obtained in 2022. The company began exporting cannabis to Germany last year and currently ships to four countries.
[[{“value”:”The company’s looking to dig deeper into Europe via the Dutch cannabis producer.
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