Vireo Health Completes Expansion of Cannabis Cultivation Facility in New Mexico & Announces Opening of Two Green Goods Dispensaries in Albuquerque and Las Cruces

– Pending regulatory approval, the new facility will increase flower output by up to eight times –

– Vireo to begin sales at two recently completed retail dispensaries, pending regulatory approval –

– Creates significant growth opportunities due to passage of adult-use legislation in New Mexico –

MINNEAPOLIS – April 12, 2021 – Vireo Health International Inc., (“Vireo” or the “Company”) (CSE: VREO, OTCQX: VREOF), the leading physician-founded, science-focused multi-state cannabis company, today announced the completion of a planned expansion of the Company’s cultivation and processing facility in New Mexico. The Company also announced that two recently completed retail dispensaries in Albuquerque and Las Cruces are ready to open, pending regulatory approval. Once approved, Vireo will have four operating dispensaries in the state of New Mexico.

Vireo’s local affiliate, Red Barn Growers, has completed expansion of a new cultivation site near Gallup, New Mexico, which includes six polycarbonate hoop houses used for year-round cultivation and creates an additional 12,600 square feet of cultivation space. Construction is complete and the new site will be populated with plants once approval is granted by the New Mexico Department of Health. The new facilities will support increased demand at its existing dispensaries in Santa Fe and Gallup, as well as the two new locations in Albuquerque and Las Cruces.

“The strategic investments in our cultivation and retail operations in New Mexico will create additional opportunities to drive profitable growth in a market that is benefiting from the tailwinds of favorable regulatory changes,” said Vireo Health Chairman and CEO, Dr. Kyle Kingsley. “These expansion projects will create new jobs in our operating communities and allow Vireo to meet increasing demand for cannabis products in the state of New Mexico generated by the recent passage of adult-use legislation in the state.”

The cultivation expansion will enable Vireo to grow the maximum number of plants allowed by the state and will increase the Company’s output capacity of cannabis flower by up to eight times more than existing production levels. The expansion will also add more than 30 new jobs, a mix of full-time and part-time positions. Pending regulatory approval, Vireo will also open two new retail locations, located in Albuquerque and Las Cruces, the most populous cities in New Mexico. The Albuquerque dispensary is located in a 1,995-square-foot shop, and the Las Cruces location will be in a 2,490 square foot storefront, becoming the largest Vireo Health retail space in the state. The new dispensaries are expected to create another 30 jobs.

About Vireo Health International, Inc.

Vireo Health International, Inc. is a physician-led cannabis company focused on bringing the best of technology, science, and engineering to the cannabis industry. Vireo manufactures proprietary, branded cannabis products in environmentally friendly facilities, state-of-the-art cultivation sites and distributes its products through its growing network of Green Goods™ and other retail locations and third-party dispensaries. Vireo’s team of more than 400 employees, led by scientists, engineers, and cultivation experts, is focused on efficiency and the creation of best-in-class products, while driving scientific innovation within the cannabis industry and developing meaningful intellectual property. Today, Vireo is licensed to grow, process, and/or distribute cannabis in eight markets and operates 16 dispensaries nationwide. For more information about Vireo Health, please visit www.vireohealth.com.

Media Inquiries
Albe Zakes
Vice President, Corporate Communications
albezakes@vireohealth.com
(267) 221-4800

Investor Inquiries
Sam Gibbons
Vice President, Investor Relations
samgibbons@vireohealth.com
(612) 314-8995

Forward-Looking Statement Disclosure

This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable United States and Canadian securities legislation. To the extent any forward-looking information in this press release constitutes “financial outlooks” within the meaning of applicable United States or Canadian securities laws, such information is being provided as preliminary financial results and the reader is cautioned that this information may not be appropriate for any other purpose and the reader should not place undue reliance on such financial outlooks. Forward-looking information contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as “plans,” “expects” or “does not expect,” “is expected,” “look forward to,” “budget” “scheduled,” “estimates,” “forecasts,” “will continue,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “does not anticipate,” “believes,” “should,” “should not,” or variations of such words and phrases or indicates that certain actions, events or results “may,” “could,” “would,” “might,” ”should,” or “will” “be taken,” “occur,” or “be achieved.”  Forward-looking information may include, without limitation, statements regarding the operations, business, financial condition, expected financial results, performance, prospects, opportunities, priorities, targets, goals, ongoing objectives, milestones, strategies and outlook of Vireo, and includes statements about, among other things, the value of assets, the amount of liabilities, the designation of certain businesses or assets as “core” or “non-core,” decisions about allocation of capital and other resources, future developments, the future operations, potential market opportunities including the potential effects of the approval of adult-use cannabis in one or more markets, potential opportunities to monetize assets, strengths and strategy of the Company. Forward-looking information is provided for the purpose of presenting information about management’s current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Forward-looking information includes statements with respect to the opportunities for the Company to leverage increasing scale to improve sales growth and operating performance; the anticipation that the medical-only state markets in which the Company’s subsidiaries operate could enact recreational-use legislation over the near-to mid-term future; the anticipated benefits of strategic initiatives; the effects of reduction of corporate overhead and SG&A expenses; improvement to unit economics; expansion of retail dispensaries in key markets; the expectation that such expansion will drive stronger revenue growth, operating margins and free cash flow; the anticipated closing of certain divestitures and the timing thereof; the anticipated benefits of the land purchase option acquired by the Company in New York; the Company’s anticipation that it will enter into definitive loan documents with Green Ivy Capital and receive proceeds from a resultant loan; the expectation that a preliminary base shelf prospectus will become final or that any securities will be sold under a base shelf prospectus; the anticipated share issuance and proceeds related to the Company’s redemption of all subordinate voting share purchase warrants issued to participants in the March 10, 2020, private placement; the transition of the Company’s financial reporting from IFRS to U.S. GAAP; and updates on actual and proposed development initiatives, including estimates of the timing of completion of such initiatives. Forward-looking information includes both known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company or its subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements or information contained in this press release. Financial outlooks, as with forward-looking information generally, are, without limitation, based on the assumptions and subject to various risks as set out herein. Our actual financial position and results of operations may differ materially from management’s current expectations and, as a result, our revenue and cash on hand may differ materially from the revenue and cash values provided in this press release. Forward-looking information is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management, believed but not certain to be reasonable, in light of management’s experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors relevant in the circumstances, including assumptions in respect of current and future market conditions, the current and future regulatory environment; and the availability of licenses, approvals and permits.

Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct, including preliminary financial expectations regarding the annualized reduction of corporate overhead and SG&A expenses. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks related to preliminary financial results being subject to the completion of the Company’s financial closing procedures and not being audited or reviewed by the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm; the timing of recreational-use legislation in markets where the Company currently operates; current and future market conditions, including the market price of the subordinate voting shares of the Company; risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic; federal, state, local and foreign government laws, rules and regulations, including federal and state laws in the United States relating to cannabis operations in the United States; limited operating history; changes in laws, regulations and guidelines; operational, regulatory and other risks; execution of business strategy; management of growth; difficulty to forecast; conflicts of interest; risks inherent in an agricultural business; liquidity and additional financing; foreign private issuer status and the risk factors set out in the Company’s listing statement dated March 19, 2019, filed with the Canadian securities regulators and available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and in the Company’s registration statement on Form 10, filed November 5, 2020 on EDGAR with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.