The £2m. facility will be located in premises on the Pitronnerie Road industrial estate and operated by licensed cannabis firm The House of Green.
Once completed it will become the processing and extraction centre for the company’s raw product.
This will be grown at its vineries around Guernsey and from sites owned by its partner growers across the Channel Islands.
A facility of this kind does not currently exist this side of the Atlantic outside the pharmaceutical industry.
The team compiled by the House of Green draws knowledge from industry experts in the US, particularly California.
Chief operations officer Gary Tucker comes from the mountains of northern California and the world-renowned cultivation area known as the Emerald Triangle.
He has worked in the medicinal cannabis cultivation and processing industry since 2012 and previously for Cura Cannabis Solutions – a billion dollar Portland-based company.
‘We have about £2m. worth of equipment we plan on bringing in here which will enable us to process between 600-800lbs of raw product in an eight-hour window,’ he said.
‘This becomes an oil base that we can then make into tinctures, balms, salves, even CBD and alkaline waters.
‘It is my first time bringing this kind of model overseas.
'While it can be a slow process at times it is important to stay ahead of the game because the European market is about to take off and, once the frenzy begins, the cost of everything goes up.’
The idea for the House of Green is to produce the ingredients from which a multitude of products are possible.
‘Other people have ideas – well we can make it,’ he said.
‘We create ingredients, so to speak.
'We have the ability through our patented processes to strip out all of the various cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids in the product and create raw base ingredients.’
Despite promises that the cultivation and harvesting of CBD would start in the summer, the new industry has been slow to take off.
Chief executive Paul Smith said:
‘There have been a number of delays.
‘This is a new industry and everyone is finding their feet.
'We are the first ones in Guernsey with this model capable of undertaking operations on a large, industrial scale.’
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