The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Greener pastures in Cape Breton
Businessman back home to start cannabis venture
SYDNEY – A Cape Breton man has traded the bright lights and crowded streets of Hong Kong for a quiet patch of hometown real estate where he will soon be growing cannabis.
That doesn't mean you will find Michael Fong tending to his crops in a remote forest hollow or wilderness area. The 52-year-old Sydney native has procured the necessary licences to produce cannabis in a new Fort Knox-like building in the Sydport Industrial Park in Edwardsville, located across the harbour from the coal piers.
Fong is the founder and chief executive officer of Origin Coast Inc. This week, the company took receipt of Health Canada licences for micro-cultivation, micro-processing and sale for medical purposes. That means it can begin producing premium craft, small-batch cannabis flowers.
“We have micro licences, which limits our cultivation to 200 square metres of canopy and processing to 600 kilograms per year,” said Fong, who had the Sydport facility built to meet the operation's logistical demands and necessary security protocol.
“But we can apply to Health Canada at any time to amend the licence to ‘standard,' which would eliminate the caps. That will likely depend on market response.”
So, how does a successful Hong Kong-based businessman go from doing corporate work in skyscraper boardrooms to tending crops in a greencoloured but otherwise bland windowless building in a relatively quiet Cape Breton business park?
For Fong, it was all about coming home and fulfilling a promise.
“I left here almost 30 years ago to live in Hong Kong, where I worked in venture capital and finance before spending 20 years in the video game industry,” he said.
“I decided that I wanted to come back home to be closer to my folks. I wanted to come back, I wanted to do something for the community, I wanted to try to help with economic development and to bring a new, sustainable industry into the area. And then with the legalization of cannabis in Canada, everything started to fall into place and that's why I decided to start Origin Coast.”
“I decided that I wanted to come back home to be closer to my folks. I wanted to come back, I wanted to do something for the community, I wanted to try to help with economic development and to bring a new, sustainable industry into the area... ”
Michael Fong
PROMISE KEPT
Fong said his decision to set up a business back home also fulfills a promise he made years ago to the late Father Greg Macleod, one of the island's most dedicated sons when it came to promoting economic development in Cape Breton.
“He was a close friend of mine, of my family's, and he had always wanted me to come home and do something good for the community and I feel that this is it,” said Fong, whose father, John, spent more than 60 years working at and eventually owning the former Maple Leaf Restaurant that was located on Charlotte Street in Sydney.
While he is not sure about how Father Greg might have reacted to the nature of his new business, Fong said he sees the cannabis industry as a natural fit for Cape Breton.
“The good thing is that it's not limited by proximity to markets, as Cape Breton has always had issues in terms of the industries that can be successful here because of its proximity to markets, given its location,” he said.
“Cannabis presents a great opportunity, given the low cost of real estate and property, given the skilled labour we have here, particularly in the agricultural sector and, of course, given the very passionate growers and consumers here in Cape Breton. So, I think this is a golden opportunity for this area to put itself on the map in this industry.”
The operation, which will employ up to six people full time and about four part-timers once up and running, aims to produce what Fong calls “outstanding craft cannabis” for connoisseurs across the country. He said the high-end market is underserved.
To start, Origin Coast will sell its product to other producers who will move it into the market under their own brand names.
“For now, we are going to focus on growing, cultivating a craft, premium-quality smallbatch product, or flower, that we will for the time being grow and sell to other large, licensed producers across Canada,” said Fong.
“And once we receive a sales amendment, we can sell directly to the consumer by having our own branded products on the shelf in places such as the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation.
“I look to build this brand locally, certainly nationally, and then hopefully, in the later phases down the road, internationally as opportunities arise around the world and markets open up.”
LISTING PROCESS
According to NSLC spokeswoman Beverley Ware, the Crown corporation works closely with local suppliers by providing advice and sales data to assist them in their plans to launch within the province. She said the listing process is different from alcohol, which has a scheduled formal product call.
“Once they are ready to list with us, the licensed producer applies to us for a sales licence,” said Ware.
“The producer must be able to ensure a consistent supply of their product to receive the sales licence. Once the producer has its licence, there are some forms to fill out so that the company can set up in our system. With the listing approved and the producer set up in our system, we can then issue a purchase order.”
Fong said he is hoping his product will be sold under the Origin Coast brand name in NSLC stores by early 2022.
As for the company name, he said it is a tribute to the fact there is a lot of talk among industry insiders about the origins of certain strains of cannabis, while recognizing that the product was cultivated on the East Coast of Canada.