Village Farms divests produce business to focus on cannabis

Village Farms International is divesting its fresh produce business to focus solely on its cannabis operations.

The move will allow Village Farms to increase its exposure to international cannabis markets through its export sales and Netherlands operating assets while maintaining incremental upside through its ownership in Vanguard Food, according to a Monday news release.

Vanguard Food is a privately held “joint venture between Kennedy Lewis Investment Management, Sweat Equities, and Village Farms International,” according to a separate news release.

“Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Village Farms,” CEO Michael DeGiglio said in a statement.

“For the past eight years, we have carefully built our cannabis business based upon our learnings from over 35 years in controlled environment agriculture, and now we are ready to move forward independently from produce.”

Village Farms’ wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, Pure Sunfarms, is among the world’s largest cannabis operators with 2.2 million square feet of greenhouse production, the release noted.

The company, which has offices in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Lake Mary, Florida, exports medical cannabis from its European Union Good Manufacturing Practice-certified facility in Canada to international markets, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Israel, Australia and New Zealand.

Shares of Village Farms trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market as VFF.