VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Canada’s cannabis landscape is evolving rapidly. In order to get a better understanding of how the marijuana industry is progressing, we have identified 5 emerging marijuana industry leaders in categories such as retail, cultivation, extraction, overall size, and international footprint.

Westleaf: Becoming One of Canada’s Largest Marijuana Retailers

Westleaf Inc. (TSX-V: WL) (OTCMKTS: WSLFF), a vertically integrated cannabis company focused on innovative retail experiences and engaging cannabis brands as well as cultivation, production and extraction of cannabis products, recently announced the opening of a Prairie Records cannabis retail store in Warman, Saskatchewan.

Prairie Records seeks to create a unique cannabis purchasing experience through tactile in-store features (record sleeves) and product offerings that celebrate the relationship between music and cannabis.

Two other Prairie Records store locations in Saskatoon are expected to follow, with a third location planned for Swift Current. All three locations are subject to Westleaf exercising its option to purchase agreements and provincial regulatory approval.

With plans to rollout 50 retail locations in markets across Western Canada through the end of 2020, Westleaf is positioned to become one of Canada’s largest—and most differentiated—cannabis retailers.

Village Farms International: One of North America’s Largest Cannabis Growers

As an owner and operator of seven greenhouse facilities in British Columbia and Texas, Village Farms International Inc. (TSX: VFF) (NASDAQ:VFF) is one of the largest and longest-operating vertically integrated greenhouse growers in North America. Through 50% ownership of B.C.-based Pure Sunfarms Corp.—one of the single largest cannabis growing operations in the world—Village Farms aims to become a leader in large-scale, low-cost, high-quality cannabis production.

Pure Sunfarms’ 1.1 million square foot greenhouse is expected to be in full operation this quarter, reaching a full run-rate annual production of 75,000 kg of cannabis by mid-year. The company also intends to have extraction capabilities “in place” by this time.

It’s worth noting that Pure Sunfarms also maintains options on two other greenhouse facilities owned by Village Farms, which would provide an additional 3.7 million square feet of cultivation space and a conservative projected yield of 300,000 kg.

South of the border, Village Farms boasts even more impressive capabilities.

With 5.7 million square feet of existing state-of-the-art production operations, Village Farms has one of the largest existing greenhouse footprints in the U.S. The company claims that these facilities can be rapidly converted for hemp and/or cannabis cultivation, subject to federal legalization. Should the United States continue to move towards cannabis legalization, Village Farms could quickly become a marijuana industry leader in greenhouse cannabis cultivation.

MediPharm Labs: One of Canada’s Leading Cannabis Oil Extractors

MediPharm Labs Corp. (TSXV: LABS) (OTCMKTS:MLCPF) is a leader in specialized, research-driven cannabis extraction, distillation, purification and cannabinoid isolation.

Just weeks ago, MediPharm Labs signed what is known to be the largest wholesale transaction for cannabis oil publicly announced, in which MediPharm Labs is to supply an undisclosed Licensed Producer with $35 million worth of private label purified oil concentrates, with an option for an additional $13.5 million.

As the first Canadian LP licensed under ACMPR to focus exclusively on cannabis oil extraction, MediPharm Labs has supplied a number of Canadian marijuana companies, including Canopy Growth Corporation, Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc., The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. and more.

MedioPharm Labs continues to solidify its position as a potential global leader in cannabis oil extraction, having recently entered into its first definitive international sales agreement with AusCann Group Holdings Ltd., an Australian-based pharmaceutical company that is working to produce high quality, economical, and clinically validated cannabinoid medicines.The export agreement stipulates that MedioPharm Labs will supply AusCann with “private label purified, pharmaceutical grade cannabis oil concentrates, or resin.”

Canopy Growth: The Largest Marijuana Company

With a market capitalization of over $20 billion, Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC) (TSX: WEED) hardly needs any introduction.

As the world’s largest marijuana company and a leader in the medical and recreational cannabis markets, Canopy Growth has operations in over a dozen countries. Canopy Growth is home to 10 world-class cannabis production facilities across Canada, a growing portfolio of leading cannabis brands (ie. Tweed, Tokyo Smoke, Spectrum Cannabis), and an innovative cannabis IP portfolio supported by both human and animal clinical research.

And with a sizeable investment of C$5 billion from Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE: STZ) back in November 2018, Canopy Growth also appears to have significant advantage in one of the cannabis industry’s most promising market segments: cannabis-infused beverage products.

Canopy Growth continues to expand its retail store presence in Canada. Most recently, Canopy Growth announced a multi-year agreement with Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (TSX: ATD.A) (TSX: ATD.B), a leader in the North American convenience store industry, to develop a licensed Tweed store in London, Ontario. Canopy Growth expects this store to open in April 2019.

Aurora Cannabis: The Largest International First-mover Footprint

Having been a first-mover in both Germany and Australia, Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) (TSX: ACB) has the largest first-mover presence in the global cannabis market.

Aurora is arguably the most internationally active Canadian cannabis company, boasting operations in 23 countries and the largest medical market share in both Europe and Latin America.

To aid in its international expansion, Aurora has recently announced construction of Aurora Polaris, a 300,000 square foot processing and logistics facility strategically located at the Edmonton International Airport. Designed to decrease time to market and improve operational efficiencies, Aurora expects its Polaris expansion to be completed in late 2019.

Future Marijuana Leaders Must Specialize

Upon taking a closer look into some of the firms leading Canada’s marijuana industry, it becomes clear that even in the face of billion dollar cannabis companies, specialized firms have significant opportunity to become a profitable part of the global marijuana value chain.

For example, Westleaf, and its innovative retail concept, Prairie Records, could provide LPs with an engaging platform to connect with consumers in a way that today’s brick-and-mortar cannabis stores simply cannot. In doing so, retail brands such as Westleaf could very well act a “distribution hub” of sorts for some of Canada’s largest marijuana companies (ie. Canopy Growth, Aurora Cannabis).

Retail cannabis brands will likely garner increased attention as the marijuana industry develops, as direct access to the end-consumer in the marijuana value chain is worth its weight in gold.

Moreover, although vertical integration is undoubtedly a requirement of today’s leading cannabis companies, firms that subvert a unique focus or growth story to vertical integration do so at their own peril, as marijuana companies without a particular focus or expertise will fail to stand out from their competitors—and thus struggle to find their place as a leader in the global marijuana market.

The original post can be found here: https://mugglehead.com/5-emerging-marijuana-industry-leaders/

Disclosure: Directors of Mugglehead own shares of Westleaf Inc. and other marijuana stocks not mentioned in this release.

About Mugglehead

Mugglehead.com is a digital publisher dedicated to cannabis news, investments, culture, and science, owned by Mugglehead Media Corp. We publish original content, including video, interviews and articles. Because many of the companies and trends we cover are related to investments and stocks within the cannabis industry, please review our disclaimer and forward-looking statements below.

Original content created by Mugglehead Media Corp. © 2019 is protected by copyright laws.

For interviews, advertising opportunities, and coverage requests – including brand and product reviews – contact us at: muggle (at) mugglehead.com

We have lots in store for 2019 so be sure to check us out!

Visit us at https://mugglehead.com daily for all things cannabis-related.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/muggleheadmedia

Twitter: https://twitter.com/muggleheadmedia

Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Statements

Mugglehead Media Corp. and Mugglehead.com (collectively, Mugglehead) is a news and media publisher dedicated to cannabis. It is not registered as an investment adviser, broker-dealer or other financial or securities professional with any financial or securities regulatory authority. You understand that no content published by Mugglehead constitutes a recommendation that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. Mugglehead does not render general or specific investment advice and does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any industry or company mentioned on this Site.

It is not intended to provide tax, legal, insurance or investment advice, and nothing on the Site should be construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. None of the content we publish is provided with a view to inviting, inducing or encouraging any person to make any kind of investment decision. You are solely responsible for determining whether any investment, security or strategy, or any other product or service, is appropriate or suitable for you based on your investment objectives and personal and financial situation. You should consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific legal or tax situation. You should also consult a licensed professional, such as a financial advisor or broker-dealer, when dealing in any securities or making any investment decisions. We do not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned on Mugglehead.com or any of our newsletters or content will perform as we expect, and any comparisons we have made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect.

This news release is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or commodities. To the extent that anything in this press release may be deemed to be investment advice or a recommendation in connection with a particular company or security, such information is impersonal and is not tailored to the needs of any specific person.

You understand that an investment in any security is subject to a number of risks, and that discussions of any security published on the Site will not contain a list or description of relevant risk factors. In addition, some of the securities about which content is published by us have a low market capitalization, insufficient public float and/or are thinly traded. Such securities are subject to more risk than securities of larger companies, including greater volatility, lower liquidity and less publicly available information. Content we publish may have an effect on the price of such securities.

From time to time, Mugglehead (on behalf of itself and any partner, director, officer or insider of Mugglehead) may have a financial or other interest in the party or parties featured on the Site, within the meaning of National Instrument 31-103 – Registration Requirements, Exemptions, and Ongoing Registrant Obligations, published by the Canadian Securities Administrators, as a result of ownership of securities in, compensation received or receivable from or other financial arrangement with such party or parties featured in this press release. We will disclose if we have a position in any such party or parties, as at the date of publication of this press release; however, we may not update this disclosure after such date.

In addition to historical information, this press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements with respect to third parties regarding product plans, future growth, market opportunities, strategic initiatives, industry positioning, customer acquisition, the amount of recurring revenue and revenue growth. In addition, when used on the Site, the words ”will,” ”expects,” ”could,” ”would,” ”may,” ”anticipates,” ”intends,” ”plans,” ”believes,” ”seeks,” ”targets,” ”estimates,” ”looks for,” ”looks to,” ”continues” and similar expressions, as well as statements regarding a third party’s focus for the future, are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Each of the forward-looking statements we make in this press release involves risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those disclosed by the companies featured in this release in their public securities filings. You should carefully review the risks described therein. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date such statement was published. Mugglehead undertakes no obligation to publicly release any updates or revisions to the forward-looking statements or reflect events or circumstances after the date of their publication, except as required by law.

From time to time, reference may be made in this press release to prior articles or opinions we have published. These references may be selective, may reference only a portion of an article or opinion, and are likely not to be current. As market information changes continuously, previously published information and data, and any references thereto, may not be current and should not be relied upon.

If you ever have any questions or concerns about our business or publications, we encourage you to contact us.

For interviews, advertising opportunities, and coverage requests – including brand and product reviews – contact us at: muggle (at) mugglehead.com