Sproutly Canada, Inc.’s move to establish a joint venture with Global Canna Labs Limited, the Caribbean’s largest medical cannabis producer, allows the Vancouver-based company to advance its vision and expand its business outside Canada.

The companies have signed a letter of intent (LOI) to establish a joint venture that will focus on developing, producing, distributing, marketing and selling cannabis-infused beverages, edibles and topical products derived from Sproutly’s fully licensed APP Technology.

“The signing of the definitive agreement and establishment of the joint venture is expected to occur in January 2019,” notes a statement from Sproutly.

The plan is that products will be sold in Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean, with potential expansion into European countries that permit importing cannabis products from Jamaica. “The list of jurisdictions and product lines will be finalized and disclosed in the definitive agreement,” Sproutly reports.

Expected to be structured as a newly formed, jointly owned company with its own Board of Directors, Sproutly and Global Canna Labs will each have a 50% ownership interest in the joint venture. Specifically, Global Canna Labs will be responsible for cannabis biomass production and procurement, as well as day-to-day operations; Sproutly will provide access to the APP Technology, supplying reagents and beverage/product formulation capabilities for products to be formulated from Infuz20 and Bio Natural Oil.

Further, Global Canna Labs will be “responsible for all costs relating to producing final products for sale, including any equipment needed to produce beverages, edibles or other cannabis derivatives, and will leverage its existing production facility and staff for the joint venture. These costs will be decided upon by the board along with the determination of the product lines to be produced,” the statement explains.

The partnership will allow “Sproutly to expand its business outside of Canada with a leading, low-cost cannabis cultivator in Jamaica that has proven distribution across the Caribbean and soon to be European Union,” Keith Dolo, Sproutly’s CEO and director says in the company’s press release.

“This partnership will enable Sproutly to diversify its product portfolio and accelerate its global distribution network from a low-cost regulated jurisdiction,” Dolo continues.

“We have explored a number of options regarding extraction and cannabis technology solutions for beverage and derivative products—APP Technology is, in our view, the superior choice for beverage formulations,” Paul Glavine, CEO of Global Canna Labs, comments in the statement.

“With our current supply and expansion plans to over 1 million square feet of cultivation, we see this partnership with Sproutly as a step towards utilization of our large-scale production towards a finished-product strategy,” Glavine adds.

Global Canna Labs currently has 31,000 square feet of greenhouses, with an additional 27,000 square feet of expansion planned. The company is strategically located in Montego Bay Jamaica, “which is ideal for its proximity to a global logistics hub,” notes the statement.

Sproutly Canada, for its part, is looking to become a leading supplier to the cannabis beverage and edibles market. The business focus of the Toronto-based company “is to execute on partnerships with local and globally established consumer brands to leverage their existing customer bases, further expand brand loyalty, assist with marketing and support distribution networks,” the statement adds.