TORONTO, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Thrive Cannabis (“Thrive”, “Company”), a licensed producer of premium craft cannabis concentrates and dried flower, based in Simcoe, Ontario, is pleased to bring Canada’s consumers a line of premium small-batch products with the launch of Greybeard Cannabis Co., its flagship recreational brand.

Grown, processed, and formulated to exacting standards, Greybeard products are the culmination of a lifetime spent learning and experimenting with cannabis cultivation and technological innovation, based on craft principals and with a singular focus on achieving the highest quality standards. This has resulted in a portfolio of unique concentrate formulations that skillfully capture the cannabinoid and terpene profiles of the Company’s outstanding cultivars. Greybeard is proud of the rebellious past of the cannabis industry and intends to continue advancing its development in Canada’s legal adult-use market.

The Company, which recently received its concentrates sales license, has completed supply arrangements with provincial buyers and a large pharmacy chain. The Company anticipates its first suite of Greybeard products to be available to consumers in Ontario, by July 2020.

“The launch of Greybeard is a huge milestone in our pivot to becoming a branded, direct to market producer, and we are excited to share our passion for quality and innovation with Canadian consumers,” said Geoff Hoover, Thrive CEO.

The Greybeard Philosophy

Greybeard is about honouring the wisdom of experience and the elevated cannabis products that result from applying that level of generational knowledge. Greybeard celebrates those who insist on doing things the right way, not the easy way. The history of any industry is made up of rebels and mavericks who stayed true to their craft, and cannabis is no exception.

“Greybeard is our pledge to be the modern-day torch bearer for a quality-first philosophy that this industry sorely needs.”

-       Art Bluhm, Thrive Founder

The Live Resin Extract Advantage

Thrive was one of the first licensed producers in Canada to grow outdoors in 2019, and Greybeard’s first suite of products will be based on Live Resin Extracts made from cannabis grown at the Thrive farm in Simcoe, Ontario. What makes Live Resin unique is the lack of a drying stage in its production which greatly increases the terpene content of the final product. During harvest the cannabis crop is flash-frozen to seal in the cannabinoids and terpenes until they are ready to be extracted. Greybeard’s proprietary hydrocarbon extraction process not only results in highly aromatic and flavorful concentrates that truly highlight the unique characteristics of each strain, but it brings a consistency and purity that Thrive believes will allow it to offer Canadian consumers unique products that exceed what is available on the legal market today.

“Terpenes are the most important modulator for any strain and any extract. The flavour and aroma of a concentrate, as well its effect on the consumer – be it feeling energized, sleepy, or hungry, all come down to terpene profile more than THC percentage. We have developed proprietary technology that enables us to retain terpenes and flavonoids to an extent that sets us apart from the crowd. Basically, we don’t add back terpenes, we retain them - our products are authentic, not constructed - and that difference matters,” said Tyson Cramer, Thrive CTO/COO.

Live Resin Terp Slush

Thrive has developed a 1.0 g Live Resin dab product called Terp Slush that will be the first of its Greybeard concentrates to reach retailers this summer. Live Resin Terp Slush is an elevated version of HTFSE (High-Terpene Full-Spectrum Extract).

Greybeard’s proprietary hydrocarbon extraction process uses fresh-frozen cannabis, resulting in a highly flavourful Live Resin Dab product that retains twice the terpene content as compared to CO₂ extracted dried flower. This allows Greybeard to capture a lush and vivid representation of its Kish and SLK cannabis trees at the peak of their outdoor bloom in each jar of Live Resin Terp Slush.

One of the key advantages of Terp Slush is its wonderfully granular consistency that makes it a breeze to use in dab rigs and pens. To make dabbing more efficient, Greybeard will package each gram of Terp Slush in air-tight glass jars with CR lids that include a special anti-stick, flexible liner that will allow customers to harvest any accumulated concentrate, resulting in little to no wasted product.

Greybeard Live Resin Vapes

In addition, Greybeard will launch two strains of universal 510 thread Live Resin Vape Cartridges (0.5g) that start from the same premium Live Resin as its Terp Slush dab products.

Thrive SVP Marketing, Sung Kang, explains the appeal of Live Resin Vapes this way: “There will always be demand for vapes that focus on delivering high THC with just a little bit of added flavour, but the market is saturated with it. Our Live Resin vapes will showcase the high terpene content we work hard to grow in the field and capture in every Greybeard Live Resin Vape cart. This delivers a significantly differentiated user experience that consumers in more mature concentrate markets, such as Colorado and California, value highly, as the consistent growth in market share of these types of products clearly shows.”

Initial Distribution and Future Products

Thrive expects its Greybeard Live Resin Terp Slush and Live Resin Vape products to be available in Ontario first, with distribution beginning the summer of 2020. Subsequently, the brand will also launch All-Flower Pre-rolls that contain only buds and no trim, in five-packs of half gram sized joints. Greybeard’s Pre-rolls will be made from buds not used in its 7.0 g Top Cola Flower product, which features the large pristine buds, grown in its indoor facilities, that Thrive has become known for.

“Why bother growing big, beautiful buds, just to chop them up for 3.5 g packs? We would rather showcase one large 4-6 g bud in each jar to let cannasseurs enjoy the best that craft cannabis has to offer,” said Todd Masse, Thrive CCO.

About Thrive Cannabis:

Thrive Cannabis is a privately held, vertically integrated cultivator and processor of premium and ultra-premium craft cannabis and cannabis concentrates, founded in 2018, with production facilities in Simcoe, Ontario. Thrive holds production, sales and outdoor cultivation licenses from Health Canada. Thrive Cannabis is currently developing premium products for the Canadian recreational market that will commence distribution in 2020. To learn more, visit us at thrivecannabis.ca  

For more information about Greybeard visit www.greybeardcannabis.com.

For Thrive Investor Relations Inquiries, please contact:
Geoff Hoover, CEO - Thrive Cannabis
Email: ghoover@thrivecannabis.ca

Waylon Iserhoff, SVP Finance - Thrive Cannabis
Email: wiserhoff@thrivecannabis.ca

For Thrive Media & PR Inquiries, please contact:
Media Relations
Email: PR@thrivecannabis.ca

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT AND FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Thrive Cannabis is not a reporting issuer (or the equivalent thereof) in any jurisdiction, is not listed on any stock exchange, and may never become a reporting issuer or listed on any stock exchange, therefore, any securities issued by Thrive Cannabis will be subject to an indefinite hold period which may never expire.

This News Release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful.

This News Release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking information, including, without limitation, statements relating to Thrive Cannabis': (i) business strategy, objectives, and expected growth; (ii) ability to secure and/or maintain all appropriate cannabis licenses in its jurisdiction(s) of operation; (iii) continued growth of the cannabis market; (iv) the effectiveness and popularity of Thrive Cannabis’ business strategy and its ability to bring its products to commercial production; and (v) the ability to reduce production and energy costs through economies of scale.

Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements of Thrive Cannabis be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including without limitation: (i) business strategy, objectives, and expected growth; (ii) ability to secure and/or maintain all appropriate cannabis licenses in its jurisdiction(s) of operation; (iii) continued growth of the cannabis market; (iv) the effectiveness and popularity of Thrive Cannabis.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the above forward-looking information, or any statements related thereto, which should not be construed as exhaustive and speak only as of the date of this News Release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement.