Australis Capital Inc (CSE:AUSA, OTCQB:AUSAF), doing business as Audacious, announced that, together with its partner Hempire, it has successfully completed its first harvest of adult-use cannabis in New York State.
Following the harvest, the company has shipped its flower for processing and manufacturing into vapes and edibles.
It said this process will be overseen by Anthony DeMeo, one of the original trailblazers in the cannabis industry with an “exemplary reputation” for the quality of his extract products.
DeMeo currently also holds the position of co-chair of Commercial Extraction and Manufacturing at Oaksterdam University, a recognized leader in cannabis education.
READ: Australis Capital announces start of cannabis cultivation in Broome County, New York
In a statement, Audacious CEO Terry Booth commented: "We are very pleased with the rapid execution of our New York project with Hempire. This harvest sets us up to establish our brand with dispensary owners and generate revenues from adult-use cannabis sales in New York state.
"We will continue to expand our project and are exploring options for winter cultivation to further boost our growth. With our manufacturing managed by Anthony, who is highly regarded in the medical and legacy cannabis space, consumers can look forward to a highly positive user experience of the Audacious products," he added.
Audacious’ Bob Luciano, also known as ‘Mr Natural’, was present at the harvest. "These were good looking plants with beautiful trichome expression, especially considering they were grown outdoors. This will provide great raw material for a magician such as Anthony to process into high-quality derivative products,” he said.
The company said it is in negotiations with dispensary license candidates to secure pre-sales of its product.
The Office of Cannabis Management and Cannabis Control Board recently reiterated that the first adult-use marijuana sales will happen before 2023, while governor Kathy Hochul is on record stating that the timeline remains on track, with about 20 dispensaries coming online per month after the initial launch.
DeMeo, a founding member of Green Therapeutics LLC, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a five-year licensed cannabis operations veteran. He works with multiple businesses to develop robust operating procedures, and secure licensing, Audacious said.
He has been awarded medical and retail cannabis licenses in multiple states (Production, Cultivation, Distribution, and Dispensary), and created a formula for a successful cannabis manufacturing operation which has resulted in some coveted awards at the cannabis cup.
He comes with ample experience from a very highly regulated medical industry and has extensive experience in laboratory science, quality control procedures, developing optimal process flow, and writing standard operating procedures, the company added.
It said DeMeo has worked with the majority of the cannabis extraction methods, including various solvents, ice water, and mechanical separation, and has developed and optimized post-processing techniques to produce high-quality concentrates, distillate, and isolate.
“New technologies are introduced every year, Anthony's analytical skills are rare and of great benefit to Audacious with a hands-on approach in determining viability for commercial operations,” the company said.
Audacious is a next-generation multi-state operator (MSO) growing the cannabis industry of tomorrow from the ground up.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com