MJ Biz Daily
Published on June 2, 2021

New Mexico cannabis producer and retailer Ultra Health is spending more than $20 million to expand in anticipation of the state’s upcoming adult-use market.

The Albuquerque-based company said in a Tuesday news release that the expansion will be funded by working capital cash reserves and will include:

• A 28-acre parcel of land with a 225,000-square-foot building in southern New Mexico with room for “production, warehousing, R&D, maintenance, and office space.”
• A 50,000-square-foot distribution building located one hour south of Albuquerque. The facility is intended “to help distribute cannabis to Southern and Southeastern New Mexico, where demand is projected to be greater than other areas of the state.”
• Expanded outdoor cultivation capacity at a site in Tularosa, New Mexico, involving the acquisition of 150 additional acres of farmland.

In a statement, Ultra Health CEO and President Duke Rodriguez characterized the expansion as part of an effort to meet demand for both medical and recreational cannabis consumers.

“Licensees will need to deploy substantial energy and capital to ensure the proper handling of cannabis products from seed to sale, which includes a level of physical infrastructure the state and the entire industry has yet to see or fully appreciate,” Rodriguez noted.

Ultra Health said it spent more than $12 million on expansion activities in 2020, including building a new greenhouse in Bernalillo, New Mexico, and buying a new state headquarters in Albuquerque.

By the end of this year, the company said, it will have a retail presence in 28 of New Mexico’s 33 counties.