Lady Jane Labs Wants To Make Craft Cannabis Products In New Brunswick
FREDERICTON – If the alcohol industry’s craft sector is booming in New Brunswick, Fredericton-area company Lady Jane Labs is hoping to see that happen in the legal marijuana market too.
Lady Jane, which is in the process of finishing its facility and getting Health Canada licensing, aims to have its recreational and medicinal products on the market by summer of 2020.
“We’re focusing on micro, craft, quality cannabis product, very similar to the craft product you saw in the liquor store in terms of quality and small batch,” said Chief Technology Officer Hartley Prosser. “We’re starting locally here in New Brunswick and making those craft products with the care of New Brunswickers’ hands.”
Backed by private investments, Lady Jane was founded earlier this year by CEO Hugo León de Gante, Prosser, and Jordan Dickinson, now head of genetics and extraction.
The company plans to bring in “champion strains” from Europe and the U.S. It will offer dry flowers as well as cannabis concentrate products like rosin and temple balls to New Brunswick consumers.
Rosin is a cannabis concentrate produced with a solvent-less extraction method, relying on pressure and heat instead of ethanol, butane or carbon dioxide. Prosser says this frees the product from harsh chemicals. Rosin can be put in food, vaporized, used topically, or consumed in soft gel caps.
For cultivation, Lady Jane will use the aeroponic cells, using nutrient-laden air or mist to grow their plants. Prosser says this method uses less resources but delivers a higher yield.
“We’re trying to keep our products clean at a low carbon footprint, and eventually we want to be a carbon neutral company,” says de Gante.
“We started this company because together, we have a passion for the environment, the plant, and for the medicine… and right now, Canada’s a pioneer on the world stage with legalization,” Prosser said. “So, we believe that here in New Brunswick as a producer we have a responsibility to show that this industry doesn’t have to be another polluting industry.”
Like craft alcohol, the secret sauce of craft cannabis products is in the process and recipe. Lady Jane’s offerings will include various cannabis strains, with different levels of THC and CBD in the final products.
“We want to appeal to the high THC consumer as well as the high CBD consumer, as well as people who want a nice 50-50, or any range in between,” Dickinson said. “We want to be able to give the medicine out to people who need it.”
De Gante says craft producers like Lady Jane is part of the second wave of cannabis companies since legalization. He says the cannabis industry can be an economic boon for New Brunswick.
“For us it’s never about being the biggest or the first, it’s about building on the shoulders of giants, and building better products and brand,” he said. “We see cannabis can be a trigger for the province’s economy especially for tax and job creation…It would be better if it would be an open market where small, private operators could thrive.”
Lady Jane has seen support from various organizations, including advice from Opportunities NB and other micro craft cannabis producers across the country.
“Lady Jane is part of an online community of micro-license holders and the support through the platform is significant,” de Gante says.
However, starting the company isn’t quick or easy, he added. Besides the lingering stigma, and the lack of policies around cannabis for some funding programs, it’s also challenging that Health Canada requires companies to have a facility built, with equipment in, before applying for a license, which takes a few months to process.
But the company has its eyes set on growth. Once up and running, it plans to hire 10 workers for its current 3,000-square-foot facility. To waterproof the build, the company is using eco-friendly products from Weather Skin through a partnership with distributor MDM Construction, which is owned by Saint John native Mike Mazzerole.
“The goal is to fill that 3,000-square-foot as a micro facility and scale it up at 3,000 square feet at a time, taking that conservative approach and making sure we’re not building in a capacity that we can’t afford to run,” Prosser said. “We want to be a B Corp – have our employees set with quality jobs with dental care, health plans and employee stock options.”
“We want people to be in a good environment, be happy at work, so they can go home happy,” de Gante added. “We’re focusing on being one step ahead with our technology, social responsibility and our sustainability.”