“Many analysts have been openly wondering when pharma would take over the CBD industry, but what if the opposite were true?”
Stephen Mueller, CTO of Mile High Labs, has been contemplating that possibility for a while. And it’s a question more people are asking as CBD and other cannabis-derived products have made their way into the mainstream.
This week, Mile High Labs took a major step toward answering that question, with the purchase of a 400,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art pharmaceutical production facility that they hope to transform into the epicenter of the CBD industry.
“The demand for our products has increased considerably since the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized hemp, and it’s not just a domestic phenomenon,” Mueller explained to Built In.
“CBD is a global product and we serve a global customer base. This large-scale production facility will ensure we have the capacity to provide high-quality, consistent CBD to every customer, large or small.”
This large-scale production facility will ensure we have the capacity to provide high-quality, consistent CBD to every customer.”
The new facility in question is located in Broomfield, directly between Boulder and Denver. According to a press release, the space comes readily equipped with the tools necessary to conduct “research and development, quality assurance, bottling, filling, packing, warehousing, labeling, shipping and compliance monitoring.”
Essentially, the plant can serve as a home to the complete life cycle of Mile High Labs’s products.
In addition to the space, Mueller says the company hopes to tap into local talent, as well.
“We purchased the land, the building and the assets, but we also want to tap into the knowledge and skills of the people who currently do and previously have worked there,” he said. “Our hope is to hire up to 100 people by the end of the year.”
The company’s expansion comes approximately two months after Mile High Labs took home $65 million in debt financing. In total, the firm has raised $100 million in financing since it was founded in 2016.
Mueller emphasized that the demand for CBD isn’t simply domestic, but a worldwide phenomenon that will only continue to grow. Industry statistics support this claim, with projections estimating an industry value of more than $16 billion by 2026.
Mile High Labs operates at a very high standard for quality, consistency, and purity.”
As a brand, Mile High Labs seeks to stand out from the crowd by emphasizing quality. The company’s new facility will help bolster that effort.
“Mile High Labs operates at a very high standard for quality, consistency and purity. Our facilities are GMP-certified, and production adheres to a robust quality management system,” said Mueller. “The Broomfield facility will allow us to continue to manufacture at this high level as we dramatically scale up production and begin providing private label services.”
If the trajectory of Mile High Labs is any indication, that growth will continue as companies increasingly seek to infuse CBD into their products.
