Cannabis research facility unique across the globe
The Okanagan is now home to one of the most advanced cannabis cultivation facilities in the world.
Licensed producer The Flowr Corporation announced Tuesday the completion of the first cannabis research and development facility of its kind in North America.
The facility is expected to be operating at full capacity this spring, and Flowr has already received the required licences from Health Canada.
The company started construction on the facility two years ago. It’s located on Flowr’s campus on the border of Kelowna and Lake Country. The new facility is set to advance indoor cannabis cultivation techniques and systems.
It’s part of a strategic alliance with Hawthorne Gardening Company.
The R&D facility includes state-of-the-art laboratories, indoor grow suites, and training areas. There, Flowr will test cannabis growing systems and techniques with Hawthorne’s advanced lighting, fertilization and irrigation systems, growing mediums, and research protocols.
Lance Emanuel, Flowr’s president and the interim CEO, says the work done at the facility will be imperative to the company’s entry into U.S. cannabis market – once it’s permissible.
The operations will be led by Dr. Deron Caplan, the company’s director of research and development. He’s the first person in North America to earn a PhD focused on cannabis cultivation and production.
It will be staffed by Flowr scientists, five of whom have PhDs in various plant biology, plant genetics and plant biochemistry disciplines.
In an interview late last year – shortly before stepping down for personal reasons – former Flowr CEO Vinay Tolia said this is the last significant expansion that’s currently planned for the Okanagan.
“We don’t want to be like some of these other cannabis companies that really overbuilt their facilities,” he said. “For any business to survive longterm it’s got to be profitable, so if we want to keep growing in Kelowna and make everyone happy that’s got to be our main priority.”