MYM Nutraceuticals CEO: MYM More than Just a Cannabis Grower

MYM Nutraceuticals CEO Rob Gietl (CSE:MYM) has a global vision for his company, which is currently building and licensing facilities in Quebec, Canada and in Australia’s New South Wales region. More recently, the company has also entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a Colombia-based company, NEWCANNA, where Gietl also foresees vast opportunities.

In the interview below, Gietl addressed the progress MYM is making in its different facilities and partnerships, and emphasized that the company is more than just a cannabis grower and distributor. Rather, MYM is focused on launching a business model of seed-to-final-sale for medicinal cannabis while also contributing to the economic stability and wellbeing of the communities in which it works.

Below is a transcript of our interview with MYM Nutraceuticals CEO Rob Gietl. It has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Investing News Network: Please give our investor audience an overview of MYM and its global cannabis operations.

MYM Nutraceuticals CEO Rob Gietl: MYM is a global seed-to-final-sale company; we are not just growers and distributors. Within our portfolio we have a master breeder, which is an individual dedicated to producing seeds for either resale or growth with specific strains and tissue culture. We also have a master grower, which will oversee our three current facilities: our 10,000-square-foot Laval, Quebec project with a submission for an additional 26,000 square feet; our 1.5 million-square foot greenhouse grow in Weedon, Quebec; and the 1.2 million-square-foot grow under our partnership in Australia. At this stage, we are entirely focused on producing medical cannabis; our current business model has no consideration for the recreational market.

Beyond our grow cycle, we will also have the capacity for extraction of raw oils, which will be another revenue stream as we sell those to other manufacturers or export them once we have our import-export license. We also have a manufacturing facility in Ontario, in which we will produce final consumables such as ingestibles and topicals for humans under our Joshua Tree brand or under our pet line, Dr. Furbaby. The latter has been developed for cats and dogs and its products treat a variety of ailments.

Lastly, we also have a distribution network that has been set up through HempMed for the distribution of all of these products.

INN: Please tell us about your facilities in Laval and Weedon in Quebec. At what stage of development and licensing are these facilities at?

RG: For the Laval facility, we are working in two stages. Phase 1 is a 10,000-square-foot indoor grow, which has been fully built out and we expect to see the results for our application submission by the end of February 2018. The second phase will see the build of an additional 26,000 square feet, for which we are submitting an application in March. Based on the construction schedule, we expect to be operating at full capacity by Q3 or Q4 of 2018.

The Weedon project, meanwhile, will be built out in three stages. The first phase will include the Canna Center, an education center that will house an auditorium for lectures and discussions. It will also host a museum on hemp in Canada, an associated research center and supporting infrastructure such as a hotel and restaurant.

This first phase will also cover the first of the greenhouses, 300,000 square feet in size. Weather permitting, we should also have the opportunity to start building Phase B of the facility, which will cover an additional 600,000 square feet of greenhouse grow capability.

INN: Please tell us about your Australian-based partnership for the development of the Solaris facility. What role will this facility play in your operations?

RG: In Australia we have partnered with Solaris Nutraceutical, of which we now own 35 percent. We have been collaborating on our intellectual property, procedures and extraction methods and are working towards consideration for export and distribution so as to enter various markets. The Solaris facility will be fully operational in 2019 and we have just received support from the Australian federal government for an economic job impact in the Northeast region of New South Wales for $2.5 million, which we have matched to move forward with the program.

INN: Please tell us about your recently announced MOU with NEWCANNA in Columbia. What opportunities do you see in the Columbian market?

RG: The primary appeal for Colombia is that it is a centrally-located region that is very economically viable with regards to cost of production. The growing conditions—lots of sunlight and favorable soil conditions—are viable for producing a high-quality product and it will give us the opportunity to further our production, extraction, manufacturing, distribution, sales and research capabilities.

INN: What is next for MYM and how does that fit into the company’s long term plans?

RG: Unlike other cannabis companies, MYM is more than just a grower. For the Weedon facility, we are working with the provincial and municipal governments on a project that will—according to the recently announced Deloitte study—create 2,000 jobs, contributing to the economic status of the community.

We have also been working very closely with Quebec’s Sherbrooke University and the University of British Columbia regarding potential research initiatives and the possibility of conducting clinical trials for the treatment of pain management, cancer, seizures, Crohn’s disease, colitis and diabetes.

On the Colombian side, we are going to work with numerous family farms in a co-op, helping them to meet their quota and developing better housing and infrastructure for them, including schools. MYM’s capability to continue growing and developing our operations across the world is going to provide us with opportunities for business but will also allow us to contribute to the growth of various communities through economic impact, health studies and by creating more possibilities for the different partners we work with.

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