HIGHLIGHTS
- Jeannette VanderMarel says she resigned for personal reasons
- Ms. VanderMarel will stay with 48North as board director
- Ms. VanderMarel was co-CEO for nine months
The co-head of 48North Cannabis Corp. resigned for personal reasons on Tuesday, nine months after joining the helm of the licensed producer that saw a significant capacity boost from the purchase of Good and Green, the pot cultivation company that she co-founded.
Effective immediately, the 48North board of directors accepted Jeannette VanderMarel’s resignation as co-chief executive officer (CEO), leaving Alison Gordon as sole CEO. Ms. VanderMarel will remain part of the company as a board director, 48North said.
“For personal reasons, I have made the difficult decision to step aside as co-CEO but am incredibly proud of the work we (have) done together, seeing the farm through concept to its current state of readiness," Ms. VanderMarel said.
The move comes one month after Charles Vennat was appointed chief corporate officer and just ahead of the company’s first outdoor harvest.
Ms. VanderMarel co-founded Canadian cannabis producers Good and Green, which Ontario-based 48North bought for $10-million in December, 2018, and The Green Organic Dutchman Ltd. (TGOD). Both companies focus on natural and sustainable production techniques. Ms. VanderMarel took on the position as co-CEO for 48North at that time, alongside Ms. Gordon.
The acquisition gave 48North a 46,000 square foot indoor facility on five acres of commercial land in Brantford, Ont., as well as a 100 acre farm in Southwest Ontario. For 48North, this marked its second purchase of a licensed cannabis producer.
It is on this farm that 48North planted one of Canada’s first legal outdoor cannabis crops earlier this year, with expectations to harvest more than 40,000 kilograms of organic pot at a low per-gram production cost.
“We’re proud of what we accomplished under her leadership," Ms. Gordon said.
Licensed producers in Canada are competing for market share by reducing the cost of growing cannabis, most of which is cultivated indoors where energy is required to heat and light the crops. Though outdoor farms are subject to the unexpected weather conditions, crops can be grown with sharply lower input costs and reduce the cost of production.
Most outdoor cannabis farms are expected to be harvested for cannabinoid extraction to be used in concentrated products, which require lower quality cannabis and are on track to be legalized this October.
When 48North bought Good and Green, Ms. Gordon said: "Jeannette brings with her a deep knowledge of both the production and retail sides of the business, and a proven track record of delivering results."
Ms. VanderMarel’s cannabis cultivating background goes back further than Good and Green. In 2012, she co-founded The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd., which is now a Health Canada licensed producer, trades on TSX Exchange and has applied to be listed on NASDAQ in the United States.
Last week, Aurora Cannabis Inc. said it disposed of its remaining TGOD shares that represented 10.5 per cent of the TGOD’s shares, stating it had become “less important to our core strategy.”
Prior to entering the legal cannabis industry, Ms. VanderMarel was a registered nurse, Family Advisory Council chairperson at McMaster Children’s Hospital, and co-founder and inaugural chair of the Ontario Lavender Association, according to the 48North website.