Cannabis industry award for New England medicinal growers

The internationally recognised supplier of plant-based medicines whose main growing facility is based in Armidale took home industry awards for research and development Project of the Year and Cultivator of the Year.

They were shortlisted for four major Cannabiz awards including: Cultivator of the Year, Manufacturer of the Year, Business Leader of the Year, and R&D Project of the Year.

"It's a testament to the hard work and dedication our amazing team has been putting in over the past 12 months", site manager Jim Cameron said.

A highly productive and successful 2023-2024 financial year saw ANTG grow over 1800kgs of wet flower, and trimmed 3000kgs of de-budded flower in the highly specialised facility which will provide patients with 15,000 jars of product.

Hidden behind a 10-foot high barbed wire electrical fence, the giant greenhouse utilises optimal high-altitude light much like the mammoth Guyra tomato greenhouse.

Inside the propagation room, intense Led lights ensure the specially bred cultivars grown hydroponically in Rockwool, ranging from low THC to high CBD flower varieties reach absolute potential

However, according to Director, Communications and Community, Helen Kapalos, other horticultural enterprises probably do not face the same societal and political stigma as the medicinal cannabis industry does.

In 2015, Ms Kapalos directed and produced a film on medicinal cannabis.

"Life of its Own-The truth about medicinal marijuana" was acquired by Netflix, SBS Television, SBS On Demand, and multiple international educational platforms.

The film was inspired during the making of a TV network news story that detailed a young man's difficult decision to use cannabis for his terminal illness and to ease the debilitating nausea he experienced following chemotherapy.

"Medicinal cannabis is one of the most stigmatised and controversial issues," Ms Kapalos

"We know that demands for alternative therapies are sky-high.

"If there is a pressing issue in the industry that is coalescing industry leaders at the moment that have a focus on domestic production is it asking governments to support efforts to help genuinely revitalise manufacturing but also looking at policy reform."

Ms Kapalos said ANTG is currently working with both the NSW and QLD governments around policy reform for the Hemp Act to try and cut down or alleviate some of the onerous legislation from the ODC that is required through the licensing scheme.

ANTG's operations span R & D, cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution of branded 'Australian Natural' products and imported 'global selects' products in Australia, New Zealand, and the European Union.

The company operates three facilities across Australia and has supply agreements in place in Australia, South Africa, and Columbia.

ANTG boasts the largest product portfolio in the country, featuring eight innovative products, including both THC and CBD flowers and oils.

They are the largest exporter of medicinal cannabis in the country supplying close to 90 per cent of exports and are the first Australian company to export flower to the EU.

"The irony of all this is that imports are absolutely succeeding initial expectations and probably will remain at those high levels that have been seen since legalization.

"What a lot of key players and producers are seeing at the moment (ANTG being one of them) is that we are pioneering this industry in a lot of ways and it's certainly great to be a part of."