This Michigan Cannabis Processor Is Expanding Footprint, Large Operators Seek To Eliminate New Competitors

Michigan-based vertically integrated cannabis company Exclusive Brands has added a 14,000 square foot manufacturing space to its's Ann Arbor Campus alongside its existing 46,000 square foot processing facility.

The company completed the two-year buildout of the new processing facility and opened on May 6, 2022, at 3755 Varsity Drive in Ann Arbor.

Why It Matters

Exclusive Brands said the now 60,000-square-foot facility would provide over 100 new local employment opportunities throughout the Detroit region. The new space will also double the company's product output.

The facility features leading industry machinery, including a state-of-the-art live rosin press. Moreover, it will now have the processing capacity to produce one million gummies per month as well as one million vapes per month.

"Michigan's market continues to represent one of the largest opportunities in the US cannabis industry," Narmin Jarrous, chief development officer of Exclusive Brands said. "Our newly expanded Ann Arbor space will facilitate extraction and packaging for our full portfolio of brands, including our ever-evolving brand partner Kushy Punch and lifestyle cannabis and CBD brand, Neno's Naturals."

Exclusive Brands also launched a 30-acre Arlington cultivation site in 2020.

"We don't want to be anyone's headache," Jarrous said back then. "We do our best to communicate everything — we only want to bring positive energy into the city."

The company's efforts include enhancing portfolio brands, including its Strain Kings cannabis flower, Terpene Tanks concentrates and Platinum-brand vapes.

Large Operators Want To Eliminate Competition While Marijuana Prices Plummet

In the meantime, Michigan Legislative Service Bureau has come up with a way to prohibit the state's Cannabis Regulatory Agency to approve new cultivation licenses.

The draft bill, which came on the heels of a request from a lobbyist for some of the state's largest growers, includes a moratorium on licenses for an undetermined period of time, reported Crain's Detroit.

While it lacks legislative sponsors, at least for now, the legislation is expected to be introduced this fall.

Meanwhile, Michigan's cannabis supply continues to expand with recreational marijuana prices further dropping and marijuana sales following suit.

In August, the average price of $1869 per pound fell 3.9% sequentially and fell 47.5% from a year ago, a recent report from the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency revealed.

The new data also showed that the state's cannabis sales "slipped 1% compared to July and increased 26% year-over-year to $207.9 million in August."

Photo: Courtesy of Kindel Media by Pexels