The Company received approval from the New Jersey CRC to commence operations at its second cultivation and production facility on May 25, 2022, along with the approval to begin using post-harvest automation equipment. The introduction of this equipment will reduce the "harvest to shelf" time for products, making it easier to meet the rapidly-growing patient and customer demand.
"After ten years of navigating the ever-evolving cannabis industry in various markets, we have so many lessons learned and have been able to bring those to bear in how we approach New Jersey, knowing how it will serve as a model for those east coast states transitioning to adult use in the near term. We are proud of how we managed to scale alongside the demand in the last month and are thrilled to be able to serve more patients, customers, and wholesale partners with our newest cultivation facility and equipment," said Nicholas Vita, CEO, Columbia Care. "As always, we owe a debt of gratitude to the CRC as well as local officials and our communities for their support in our efforts to make New Jersey one of the strongest cannabis markets in the world and a beacon for the industry."
Both Cannabist locations began adult use sales on April 21 as one of the first seven operators to receive initial approval in the state and have continued to expand their hours. Each dispensary will continue to have medical-only hours, along with medical-only parking spots, pick-up lines and dedicated phone lines to ensure that patient access remains unaffected.