Columbia Care opens second NJ cultivation facility

Columbia Care Inc. started operations at its second New Jersey cultivation and production facility in Vineland, the company announced June 7.

The opening of the 270,000-square-foot site coincides with the expansion of adult-use shopping hours to the maximum allowed by the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission at Columbia Care’s Cannabist dispensary locations in Deptford and Vineland.

The CRC approved Columbia Care to commence operations at the facility on May 25. The CRC also approved the company to begin using new post-harvest automation equipment, which is intended reduce the harvest-to-shelf time for products.

“After 10 years of navigating the ever-evolving cannabis industry in various markets, we have so many lessons learned and have been able to bring those to bear in how we approach New Jersey, knowing how it will serve as a model for those East Coast states transitioning to adult use in the near term. We are proud of how we managed to scale alongside the demand in the last month and are thrilled to be able to serve more patients, customers, and wholesale partners with our newest cultivation facility and equipment,” said CEO Nicholas Vita. “As always, we owe a debt of gratitude to the CRC as well as local officials and our communities for their support in our efforts to make New Jersey one of the strongest cannabis markets in the world and a beacon for the industry.”

Both Cannabist locations began adult-use sales on April 21 and continue to offer medical-only hours, parking spots, pick-up lines and dedicated phone lines to ensure that medical cannabis patients have access to their medicine.

In addition to the new cultivation and production facility, the company also operates a 50,000-square-foot location, also in Vineland.

Columbia Care will open a third retail location later this year.