Halo Collective Inc. ("Halo") (NEO: HALO) (OTCQX: HCANF) (Germany: A9KN) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bophelo Bioscience & Wellness (Pty) Ltd. ("Bophelo"), has signed a processing and distribution agreement with Cantourage GmbH, ("Cantourage") one of Europe's leading providers of medical cannabis. With this agreement, Bophelo has secured a path to market to the rapidly growing European medical cannabis market for products cultivated at its current 5-hectare campus with future expansion of 200 hectare in the Kingdom of Lesotho in Southern Africa. Bophelo plans to export cannabis starting material to Cantourage for processing into certified medical cannabis products with the first EU sales targeted for 2022.
Bophelo's agreement with Cantourage is the latest step forward in Halo's initiative to reorganize its international assets (the "International Reorganization") into an ethically-sourced company called Akanda Corp. ("Akanda"), which is underpinned by trusted brands. Bophelo achieved Good Agriculture and Collection Practice ("GACP") in August 2021. Over the coming quarters, Akanda plans to leverage Bophelo to ramp production volumes from its grow scalable campus situated in the Mafeteng Special Economic Zone ('SEZ') for destination to Europe. The European market is expected to reach $3.8 billion in annual sales by 20251.
"We are moving quickly to establish a presence in Europe for our high-quality medical cannabis products, and working with the seasoned industry veterans of Cantourage enables us to navigate the European regulatory system and reach patients promptly and cost-effectively," commented Tej Virk, CEO, Co-Founder and Director of Akanda. "We are most excited about bringing some of the award-winning brands including DNA Genetics dried flower to the UK and broader European market. CanMart in the UK is a fully licensed strategic manufacturing and fulfillment center positioned to import, distribute and export EU GMP medical cannabis products. Cantourage is the ideal partner, well-known for providing cultivators Fast Track Access to the European medical cannabis market, which requires stringent EU GMP quality standards."
"By partnering with Akanda and Bophelo, Cantourage intends to provide doctors and patients with greater choice of therapy options and cultivars," commented Philip Schetter, CEO of Cantourage. "In addition, we will be able to offer products which were grown in a sustainable and eco-friendly way thanks to their admirable business practices and Lesotho's climate conditions, which are excellent for the cultivation of medical cannabis."
About Cantourage
Cantourage is a leading European medical cannabis company. The Berlin-based company was founded in 2019 by industry pioneers Dr. Florian Holzapfel, Norman Ruchholtz and Patrick Hoffman. Cantourage enables producers from across the world to bring their product into the growing and profitable European market more quickly and cheaply, while guaranteeing and further developing highest European quality standards. It offers products in all relevant market segments: dried flowers, extracts and Dronabinol.
About Cannim
Established in 2017, Cannim was founded on the vision of moving cannabis from the darkness into the light and helping bring the benefits of medicinal cannabis to the world. Since that time, Cannim has invested in farms, GMP production facilities and initiating research in Jamaica and Australia utilizing expertise for these activities from Israel, Jamaica, the USA, UK and Australia. It operates with an international network of EU GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) manufacturers and channels to market. Cannim's circular integrated business is built on three key pillars of Safety, Science Scale © and is focused on delivering premium quality products, consistently and reliably to patients globally. This long-term vision is integral to Cannim's approach to improving its consumers' health and wellness, delivering 'Better Balanced Bodies' and establishing world-leading medicinal and wellness cannabis brands.
