Study Highlights Natural Variability in Cannabis Plants and Supports Call for Science-Based Labelling
DELTA, British Columbia, July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pure Sunfarms Corp. (“Pure Sunfarms”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Village Farms International, Inc. (Nasdaq: VFF) and one of Canada’s leading cannabis producers, has published groundbreaking peer-reviewed research in Scientific Reports (Nature Portfolio), highlighting the natural variability of THC potency within cannabis plants and reinforcing the need for more transparent and accurate labelling across the industry.
The study, led by the Village Farms Canadian Cannabis Research, Development & Lab team, analyzed dried cannabis flower from commercial-scale production. By measuring potency from the top, middle, and bottom of the plant known as strata, researchers observed significant variation in THC levels within individual plants and across different strains.
“Cannabis is an agricultural product. It’s alive, variable, and influenced by its environment, just like any crop. Expecting one statistic like a fixed THC percentage to define it is both unrealistic and misleading,” said Orville Bovenschen, President of Village Farms Canadian Cannabis. “Our research reinforces what growers have always known: potency varies, and it’s our goal to bring scientific rigour to an industry ready to move beyond potency as the sole measure of quality.”
The current legal framework in Canada requires licensed producers to display a single THC percentage on cannabis packaging. The findings from this study suggest this practice of fixed-number labelling does not account for the biological variability inherent to cannabis plants and misrepresents the actual cannabinoid content a consumer experiences. This provides a foundation for evidence-based policy discussions and regulatory evolution.
The full study, titled “Variability of Total THC in Greenhouse Cultivated Dried Cannabis” is now publicly available through Scientific Reports, part of the Nature Portfolio of journals.
About Pure Sunfarms
Pure Sunfarms is a global leader in cultivation, operating one of the largest cannabis facilities in the world. With a focus on high-quality B.C. grown cannabis, the company combines decades of agricultural and legacy experience with large-scale operational excellence in its state-of-the-art greenhouses located in Delta, British Columbia.
Known as a top-selling brand of recreational dried flower across Canada, as well as a top licensed producer, Pure Sunfarms is renowned for producing popular cultivars like its Pink Kush.
Pure Sunfarms products are currently available across Canada. The company also produces cannabis products for other licensed producers in Canada and maintains EU GMP certification for exports to medicinal markets internationally.
Pure Sunfarms is the licensed producer of record for Pure Sunfarms, The Original Fraser Valley Weed Co., Soar, and Super Toast. Pure Sunfarms is a wholly owned subsidiary of Village Farms International, Inc. (Nasdaq: VFF).
www.puresunfarms.com
About Village Farms International
Village Farms leverages decades of experience in Controlled Environment Agriculture as a large-scale, vertically-integrated supplier of high-value, high-growth plant-based Consumer Packaged Goods. The Company built a strong foundation as the leading and longest-tenured fresh produce supplier to grocery and large-format retailers throughout the US and Canada, but now focuses its agricultural expertise on high-growth cannabinoid opportunities internationally.
In Canada, the Company’s wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, Pure Sunfarms, is one of the single largest cannabis operations in the world (2.2 million square feet of greenhouse production), the lowest-cost producer and one of Canada’s best-selling brands. The Company owns an incremental 2.6 million square feet of greenhouse capacity in Canada for future expansion, and also owns 80% of Québec-based, Rose LifeScience, a leader in the commercialization of cannabis products.
Internationally, Village Farms is targeting selected, nascent, legal cannabis opportunities with significant growth potential. The Company exports medical cannabis from its EU GMP certified facility in Canada to international markets including Germany, the United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, and New Zealand. The Company is expanding its export business to new countries and customers, and making select investments in international production assets. In Europe, wholly-owned Leli Holland has one of 10 licenses to grow and distribute recreational cannabis within the Dutch Coffee Shop Experiment.
In the US, wholly-owned Balanced Health Botanicals is one of the leading CBD and hemp-derived brands and e-commerce platforms in the country. Subject to compliance with all applicable US federal and state laws and stock exchange rules, Village Farms plans to enter the US THC market via multiple strategies, leveraging its Texas-based greenhouse assets (2.2 million square feet of existing greenhouse capacity and 950 acres of owned, unoccupied land for future expansion).
Village Farms Clean Energy (VFCE), through a partnership with Atlanta-based Terreva Renewables, creates renewable natural gas from landfill gas at its Delta RNG facility. VFCE receives royalties on all revenue generated. This partnership reduces Vancouver’s greenhouse gas emissions by 475,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, equivalent to removing more than 100,000 vehicles off the road or the energy use equivalent of powering 51,300 homes for one year.
The Company also holds a 37.9 percent equity ownership interest in Vanguard Food LP, a privately held joint venture with private investment firms which seeks to create a premier branded CPG foods company through M&A. Vanguard Food LP expects to continue acquiring other produce assets and operations with the support of its private investment firm partners, and will review various products and companies across many production methods while expanding its platform.
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