TORONTO, Nov. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aleafia Health Inc. (TSX: AH, OTC: ALEAF) (“

Aleafia Health

” or the “

Company

”) is pleased to report its Port Perry Facility’s preliminary outdoor cannabis harvest results, where 50,000 plants have yielded approximately 31,200 kgs of dried cannabis flower at a cash cost per gram to harvest of $0.10.

“The 2020 harvest is a major step forward from our previous year’s results. It also represents a shift in focus, from producing extractable biomass, towards high quality dried flower tailored to adult-use consumers,” said Aleafia Health CEO Geoffrey Benic. “An expanded dried flower offering is a key component of our product portfolio’s broader expansion. Along with many new, innovative Cannabis 2.0 launches in the near term, this marks an incredibly exciting growth period for Aleafia Health.”

• 
  Expansion of Adult-use Dried Flower Portfolio
  
  : 7,200 kgs of THC-dominant dried flower was harvested, of which a significant portion is now allocated for sale into the adult-use market. The Company will release an enhanced dried flower portfolio, including a pre-roll line with SKUs featuring different potencies, sizes and price points, tailored to key consumer segments. In contrast, the 2019 outdoor crop did not include any THC-dominant cultivars.
• 
  Input Material for New CBD Wellness Line
  
  : Additionally, 24,000 kgs of CBD-dominant dried flower was harvested, which will be used as inputs in the Company’s 2021 CBD wellness line of new formats, and in wholesale transactions.
• 
  $0.10 Cash Cost per Gram
  
  : The Company’s low cost cultivation advantage is solidified with a $0.10 cost per gram to harvest, which comprises all operating expenses including labour, consumables, services and staff overhead.
• 
  Testing Results
  
  : Preliminary test results indicate that cannabinoid content is again comparable to the results of identical cultivars grown indoor. While these results are extremely encouraging, the Company cautions that, as with last year, potency and quality control tests for the entire crop will not be completed for another two to three weeks.

All figures are approximations as drying and weighing for the final 15 per cent of the harvested crop will be completed throughout November.

2021 Outdoor Cultivation Plans

Preparation for the 2021 outdoor cultivation season is already underway, with a number of optimizations enacted to further improve results:

• 
  Infrastructure Entirely Complete
  
  : In 2020, an additional 30,000 sq. ft. of Health Canada-licensed support buildings were completed. Used for drying, storage and propagation, they bring the licensed support infrastructure to 35,000 sq. ft.  Underground irrigation was installed throughout the entire 86 acre cultivation area, including a centralized Irrigation Facility, which delivers custom feeds to various zones dependent on cultivar type. Automation was also introduced to add efficiencies to the planting and harvesting processes. No further significant capital improvement will be required in 2021, and the infrastructure in place is built to propagate, irrigate, harvest and dry 86,000 cannabis plants and up to 100,000 kgs. The earlier start should result in a significant improvement in yield per plant, compared to 2020. Covid-19 related delays in municipal building permit authorizations led to the installation of in-ground irrigation and nutrient lines for the newly licensed Phase II expansion not being completed until July. Concurrently, a heat wave prevented planting until all irrigation was in place.
• 
  Clone Propagation on-site
  
  : This year, the Niagara Greenhouse Facility was used as a staging ground to prepare the outdoor crop. Next year, all propagation activities will be conducted in the 35,000 sq. ft. support buildings on-site at Port Perry. This will allow for pre-vegetation to occur during the winter months, leading to the plants entering the ground significantly earlier and at a more mature stage. Additionally, this allows the Niagara greenhouse facility’s perpetual harvest production schedule to continue uninterrupted.
• 
  R&D Genetics Program
  
  : Approximately 40 new genetics were planted at Port Perry this year in a separate research and development zone. Testing to determine which genetics are best suited for outdoor cultivation is underway with several promising candidates expected to be included in the 2021 crop.

For Investor & Media Relations:

Nicholas Bergamini, VP Investor Relations

1-833-879-2533


[email protected]


LEARN MORE:


www.AleafiaHealth.com

About Aleafia Health:

Aleafia Health is a vertically integrated and federally licensed Canadian cannabis company offering cannabis health and wellness services and products in Canada and in international markets. The Company operates medical clinics, education centres and production facilities for the production and sale of cannabis.

Aleafia Health owns three significant licensed cannabis production facilities, including the first large-scale, legal outdoor cultivation facility in Canadian history. The Company produces a diverse portfolio of commercially proven, high-margin derivative products including oils, capsules and sprays. Aleafia Health operates the largest national network of medical cannabis clinics and education centres staffed by MDs, nurse practitioners and educators and operates internationally in three continents.

Innovation, the heart of Aleafia Health’s competitive advantage, has led to the Company maintaining a medical cannabis dataset with over 10 million data points to inform proprietary illness-specific product development and its highly differentiated education platform FoliEdge Academy. The Company is committed to creating sustainable shareholder value; the TSX Venture Exchange named Aleafia the 2019 top performing company prior to its graduation to the TSX.

Forward Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “estimates”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes” or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company or its subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained in this news release. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including risks contained in the Company’s annual information form filed with Canadian securities regulators available on the Company’s SEDAR profile at


www.sedar.com


. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The forward-looking information included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update such forward-looking information to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation.