Cannabis R&D plan risks going up in smoke as drinks firm feels Irish chill
IRELAND could lose out on a major cannabis research project worth tens of millions of euro because state agencies are “lukewarm” on the plan.
Canadian company Province Brands, a biotech focused on making beverages from the waste stalks, roots and stems left over from the cannabis products industry, is in talks to establish an R&D and production facility in Ireland for the European market.
It hopes to launch cannabis-derived beer-type beverages within months and is currently closing a CAN$30m fundraising, with plans to raise a further CAN$75m. Much of this funding is earmarked to establish a European facility, similar to one in Canada it is building, as it eyes a European cannabis beverage market predicted to be worth billions.
The company’s non-alcoholic drinks come in different formats, one containing psychoactive THC — giving drinkers a mellow buzz — and one containing just CBD, a cannabis derivative legal in markets such as Ireland.
Province has pinpointed potential sites for an R&D and production facility near Drogheda and in the midlands but is now also in discussions with agencies in the UK and another European country because of what it said was a lukewarm reception from Irish authorities.
“We’re on plan for taking our products to market in late January but we are starting to move away from the idea of producing in Ireland because we’re not getting much support from the different agencies here,” said Province’s beverage consultant, Irishman Niall Phelan, who co-founded successful craft brewer Rye River.
The chances of the Irish facility getting the go-ahead were 80pc a few weeks ago but had fallen to 50-50 now.
“I’d still like to do it here but there’s hesitancy here supporting a company focused on cannabis at the minute whereas other countries are open to it.
“Ireland Inc will lose out on it if they don’t move relatively quickly,” he said.
This week Province was granted a research license by the Canadian health authorities, a key step towards the start of production of its beverages at a 130,000 sq ft facility close to Toronto.
It has also created a process that allows it to produce a version of its beverages that complies with strict laws in the Irish market.