Medical cannabis company Little Green Pharma will be building a brand new production facility after they were awarded a $300,000 grant from the Western Australia government.
Yesterday, it was announced that twenty-five food and beverage manufacturers have been given a share of the $4.2 million Value Add Agribusiness Investment Attraction Fund. This included Perth-based medical cannabis company Little Green Pharma – Australia’s first locally-grown cannabis producer.
Despite operating for less than five years, Little Green Pharma (ASX: LGP) currently produces over 10,000 bottles of CBD oil annually. Back in July, the company was given the approval to expand its South-West manufacturing facility – a project that is currently ongoing. Once completed, they will produce over 110,000 bottles of CBD oil annually.
After being awarded a state government grant, the company is looking to build another giant cultivation facility in the state’s south-west. However, this won’t be a regular cannabis manufacturing facility. The facility will produce medical cannabis seed-to-sale, with cannabis crops grown, harvested and manufactured onsite.
Once the facility is operational, it will produce medical-grade cannabis products. These will be sold throughout Australia, Europe and the UK, under new changes to cannabis export laws. Longterm, this is expected to significantly increase Little Green Pharma’s production capacity.
Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan is confident the facilities will be an asset to Western Australia’s medical cannabis industry going forward. During construction, the project is expected to support up to 40 jobs, with 8 more roles added once the facility is operational.
These new medical cannabis processing facilities will be a first for the south-West and will help establish the region as a leader in medicinal cannabis production and processing.
If recreational cannabis is legalised within the next few years, these economic benefits would be tenfold – as cannabis would generate Australia $2 billion in tax revenue annually.
Despite Little Green Pharma celebrating the grant as a golden goose, the companies share price is down 2.86%, at $0.33 as of 4 pm August 4th.
