A new harvest tapping into a multi-billion dollar market could be taking root in Delta.

Greenhouse operator Village Farms International recently announced it formed a joint venture with Emerald Health Therapeutics, a B.C.-based licensed producer of medical cannabis, to cultivate and distribute wholesale cannabis and cannabis extracts for medical purposes.



Also, if permitted by law, the operation plans to grow pot for “non-therapeutic” purposes.



Built in the mid-1990s and now covering over 100 acres, the large-scale greenhouse operation at the corner of Highway 10 and 80th Street is part of a company that’s among the largest growers and distributors of greenhouse produce in North America, having six greenhouses and four produce-distribution centres in B.C. and Texas.



Now peppers could be replaced with pot at the Delta operation if approvals to start growing medical marijuana is granted by the federal government. What’s more, the feds are working toward legalizing recreational marijuana and are expected to have legislation in place by the summer of 2018.



A report by Toronto-listed financial services group Canaccord Genuity Group last fall predicted the combined annual demand for recreational and medical marijuana would reach 575,000 kilograms by 2021. That leaves Village Farms with its huge greenhouse facility well positioned to take advantage of that massive, lucrative market.



In an interview following the announcement, Village Farms CEO Michael DeGiglio, noting there’s no doubting the medical benefits of therapeutic marijuana, told the Delta Optimist they don’t forsee any problems as far as growing the product. His company’s expertise on growing crops, reputation and having a ready-made facility will go a long way, he said.



“The huge investment is for security of the facility. The fencing, security camera systems, all that, is a huge investment and that would be where the biggest changes are, but nobody would notice that other than a secure fence around the facility,” said DeGiglio.



He added, “We’ve looked at this market for years and initially we saw who entered the market upon the government deciding cannabis can be grown medically. There’s been a turn from those original entrants to the market to more finance lawyers and promoters. We said it was only a matter of time until what we deemed as real companies with real track records, with a history of 30 years like us, publically traded, and are at a whole different level of professionalism, will come in.”



Village Farms plans to initially allocate 25 acres of its Delta greenhouse for cannabis production. The joint venture also outlines an option to lease or purchase an additional 85 acres.



The initial 1.1 million square feet of greenhouse cannabis production is estimated to yield more than 75,000 kilograms of product annually. Village Farms notes the joint venture has the potential to have up to 4.8 million square feet of greenhouse production, estimated to yield more than 300,000 kilograms of product annually, which the company says would supply a considerable portion of the expected future cannabis demand in Canada or for export abroad.



Village Farms would be the first legal pot operation on Delta farmland, something the municipality had tried to restrict to industrial zones but was turned down by the provincial government.



Delta already has a medical marijuana operation, Zenabis West, setting up shop in an industrial property at Annacis Island. Health Canada granted the company, operated by International Herbs Medical Marijuana Ltd., a licence to produce medical cannabis under Health Canada’s Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations at the 25,000 square foot facility.

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