JMCC Group Chair & CEO Diane Scott announced today that the company is building a state-of-the-art distribution centre on the Channel Island of Jersey to serve medical cannabis patients in the United Kingdom and business partners in the European Union. The move makes it the first private Canadian medical cannabis company to own its entire plant-to-patient supply chain. JMCC European Distribution Limited is a joint venture between JMCC (Canada) Corp as majority owner and Jersey’s Green Island Growers Ltd., a local producer of high-quality medicinal cannabis.
The joint-venture project augments JMCC Group’s Global Distribution division in Jamaica, where the company also cultivates and processes its medical-grade cannabis. (A distribution partnership covering Australasia will be announced shortly.) The Global Distribution division also offers world-class logistics and warehousing services to third-party customers such as licensed producers, distributors and medical cannabis product manufacturers. Its first customer agreement will also be announced later this month.
The distribution centre’s launch is scheduled for early April, when JMCC will begin supplying medicinal cannabis to patients registered in the United Kingdom’s Project TWENTY21, as the only Canadian company and exclusive supplier from the Caribbean region. As part of its planning to serve the UK and EU markets, JMCC spent “an immense amount of time” talking to a variety of customers and other importers to identify the best distribution channel, Ms. Scott said.
“We couldn’t find one that we were comfortable with in terms of ensuring the quality, safety and security standards we want for our product, right up to the point that it’s in the pharmacist’s or patient’s hands. So we decided to build it ourselves. And then we searched until we found the right partner to help.”
Jersey passed reforms in late 2018 to permit doctors to prescribe cannabis for medical purposes. Green Island’s founders are fourth-generation greenhouse farmers and the largest in the Channel Islands. They bring in-depth experience in finance, engineering and marketing, as well as indoor and greenhouse cultivation. For the past several months, they have been working with JMCC Global Distribution specialists on the planning, design, and setting up of the new warehousing and distribution centre, which will be GDP-certified upon completion. (“GDP” or Good Distribution Practice describes the minimum standards a wholesale distributor must meet to ensure that the quality and integrity of medicines is maintained throughout the supply chain.)
“We’re very excited to be partnering with JMCC on this distribution venture,” said Green Island Director Neel Sahai. “Like JMCC, we believe that ensuring an exceptional customer experience depends on seamless logistics. JMCC’s extensive knowledge in this area, combined with our local experience is the perfect partnership.”
Final Link in JMCC Vertical Integration
The creation of JMCC Global Distribution represents the final step in the company’s vertical integration, following the creation last summer of JMCC Scientific, which encompasses the company’s medical cannabis product R&D and manufacturing operations. The Scientific division has already signed supply contracts in the UK and Australia.
“At JMCC, we’re always looking for ways to ensure the quality of our patient experience, as well as deliver our products at competitive prices. With this step we now control every step in our process – from plantlet to delivery to customer.”
“Accomplishing this as a private company was a challenge but we’re proud of the outcome,” Ms. Scott said. “We’ve had to keep very focused on what we were trying to achieve, including making the decision to stay medical-only. But, thanks to our phenomenal teams in Canada, Jamaica and around the world, as well as opportunities like the invitation to support Project Twenty21 and finding some great partners in the right places, it’s all come together quite nicely for us.”
Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, JMCC Group is a fully integrated medical cannabis company, operating within a self-contained supply chain – from propagation and cultivation of raw material supply, product development, manufacturing and packaging, and through to global logistics and distribution. Founded in 2016, today, JMCC is the leading global provider of premium Jamaican medical cannabis products and services to the world. Learn more at www.jamaicanmedicann.com.
Green Island Growers Ltd. is a fast-growing medical cannabis company in Jersey. It is also applying to the Jersey Cannabis Agency for a license to grow pharmaceutical grade cannabis for medical purposes. Ideally situated between the United Kingdom and Europe, Green Island is also a partner in JMCC European Distribution Limited and will operate that company’s GDP-certified distribution centre on Jersey under the guidance of JMCC’s global Distribution division. Learn more at be www.greenislandgrowers.co.uk
