Cresco Labs (CSE:CL) (OTCQX:CRLBF) has completed its first harvest from its expanded cultivation facility in Lincoln, IL. The state will begin sales of legal adult-use cannabis on January 1 and is projected to be a $2-4 billion dollar market once it has matured and is expected to be one of the largest cannabis markets in the country.
Cresco has an advantage in the marketplace as the only operator in the state with three cultivation facilities and currently has 25% of the share in the medical market. It has 35,000 square feet of cultivation space across the three facilities.
“Cresco Labs has worked tirelessly to bring additional capacity to the Illinois cannabis market. The beneficial changes in the medical law created a rapid increase in demand that has recently outpaced supply. With this first harvest out of the expanded Lincoln facility, we are thrilled to bring this additional capacity to the patients of Illinois and the consumers in the soon to launch adult-use program,” said Charlie Bachtell, Cresco Labs CEO and Co-founder. “With the scale of this expansion phase, additional incremental production from the expansion areas will gradually increase ramping up for market distribution starting now and accelerating late Q1 through Q2. The ability to restock shelves reliably to ensure customers always have access to product is key to both generating solid financial results and building long term customer loyalty with medical patients and adult-use consumers.”
According to the company’s statement, “The company embarked on an ambitious expansion plan that will bring the total area under cultivation to approximately 243,000 square feet by year-end. At the Lincoln location alone, Cresco has created the largest cultivation facility in Illinois at roughly 224,000 sqft and added over 140,000 sq ft of additional indoor and greenhouse cultivation space. Cresco is legally entitled to expand its three facilities to have an aggregate total of 630,000 sqft of flowering canopy – the largest capacity footprint in the state.”