TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Growpacker Inc. ("Growpacker" or the "Company"), a contract manufacturer of various THC and CBD infused edibles and beverages in the United States, is pleased to welcome Keith Villa as a strategic advisor to the company.
Keith created Blue Moon Brewing Company in 1995 as an operating unit of Coors Brewing Company, which later became MillerCoors. Keith is a third generation Coloradan with a Ph.D. in brewing science from the University of Brussels, a degree held by only a handful of people in the world.
Blue Moon’s Belgian White Ale, garnished by a Valencia orange slice, grew to become the #1 selling craft beer in the United States. During this time, Keith became a well-known brewmaster in the industry, appearing in Blue Moon advertisements, hosting beer events & dinners, serving as a celebrity & judge at beer competitions, and appearing in numerous brewing articles.
In early 2018, Keith retired from MillerCoors after 32 years and co-founded CERIA, Inc. (dba CERIA Brewing Company) with his wife, Jodi Villa. Their plan was to create an extraordinary cannabis infused de-alcoholized craft beer with THC that offered a similar onset time as alcohol. Fast-forward just 10-months later, and they have done exactly that with the Colorado launch in mid-December of CERIA’s Grainwave Belgian-Style White Ale with 5mg of THC, which will be followed by two additional styles and strengths in 2019 - an American Light Lager (2.5mg THC) and an IPA (10mg THC). These products will only be available to adult consumers 21 and up.
"We are very excited to have Keith join the team as a strategic advisor”, said Stephen Boyd, Chief Executive Officer of Growpacker. “The addition of Keith is instrumental to our company, as we believe that his experience will play a key role in developing the de-alcoholized THC-infused beverage segment, which is expected to become one of the fastest growing segments in the industry.”
Growpacker Inc., through its interest in GP Holdings, LLC, has been constructing its flagship cannabis manufacturing facility in Desert Hot Springs, California. The facility is expected to house a versatile array of processing and packaging lines that can address a multitude of product categories, including beverages (carbonated or noncarbonated teas, coffees, kombuchas, waters, beers, wines, spirits, etc), edibles (cookies, brownies, gummies, hard candies, caramels, lollipops, chocolate bars, enrobed chocolates, etc), flower products (weighted quarters, eighths, pre-rolls, etc), and other one-off type products.
The facility has been built from the ground up to adhere to FDA standards in the anticipation of a federal legalization in the near future, and is located in a city where manufacturing taxes on cannabis related products are currently zero percent, giving Growpacker a substantial competitive advantage in the manufacturing space. Growpacker expects the facility to be fully constructed by the end of Q4 2018, and expects to be in full production by the start of Q1 2019.
“We are developing one of the most versatile cannabis manufacturing facilities in California, a key infrastructure component that will accelerate the entire industry,” said Stephen Boyd. “We aim to become the go-to end-to-end cannabis manufacturing arm, which will enable companies to bring new products and brands to market exponentially faster, cheaper, and easier. The addition of Keith will bring a layer of experience that’s second to none in the industry, which will directly translate into the de-alcoholized THC-infused beverage products that we manufacture.”
About Growpacker
Growpacker Inc. is a Canadian based company, which through its American interest in GP Holdings LLC, is engaged in expanding the ancillary side of the California cannabis industry. The company offers local and international brands key services, such as formulation, manufacturing, co-packing, and distribution for THC & CBD infused products.
Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those regarding Growpacker’s future, strategy, plans, objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words “believe”, “expect”, “aim”, “intend”, “plan”, “continue”, “will”, “may”, “would”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “forecast”, “predict”, “project”, “seek”, “should” or similar expressions or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only Growpacker’s expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements.
Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially. Management provides forward-looking statements because it believes they provide useful information to investors when considering their investment objectives and cautions investors not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Growpacker. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and Growpacker assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law.
