Cannabis processor plans major Long Island expansion

A processor and producer of cannabis products is planning a major expansion on Long Island.

Omnium Health, which does business as Omnium Canna, is expecting to lease two additional locations here which would nearly double its existing 60,000 square feet of Long Island space.

The company, which has invested significant capital in its Long Island operations, currently has two manufacturing facilitiesin Hauppauge and another in Lindenhurst and Omnium is eyeing a new 40,000-square-foot space in Edgewood and an additional 10,000-square-foot space in Hauppauge, according to company principal Josh Udovich. The additional facilities will expand the firm’s Long Island footprint to about 110,000 square feet.

Omnium has been a state-licensed hemp processor for the last five years, making and distributing a full line of CBD products. After the state allowed legacy hemp businesses to add cannabis production in 2021, Omnium Canna was established here, and the company began shipping cannabis products to dispensaries in New York State in early 2023.

Founded by Filipino American Howard Hoffman, the company is one of the first licensed minority-owned cannabis processors and extractors in the U.S. Omnium Canna started with a Long Island staff of just four and has since grown to about 40.

“We anticipate that by the end of the year we will have over 100 employees,” Udovich told LIBN.

Although Omnium only entered the newly created New York cannabis market a few years ago as a state-licensed extractor and processor, the company’s management has decades of combined experience in the recreational cannabis industry in several other states, according to Udovich, who has a PhD in physics.

Omnium Canna is a contract manufacture of a wide variety of products for several cannabis brands, including Grn, To The Moon and Mfused. The company also produces its own branded cannabis products, including vapes, pre-rolled joints and flower under the Headhouse brand and tinctures and capsules under the Canna Clinicals brand. One of its best-selling products features CBN, a cannabisderivative that’s recommended as a sleep aid.

“That’s one of the items that’s a quick and easy introduction to cannabis for people who may not have consumed in 10 or 20 years,” Udovich said.

But like most cannabis businesses, whole flower remains one of Omnium Canna’s most popular products, with strains that include Truffle Berry, Orange Durban and GSC.

The growth of New York’s cannabis industry has been slowed by onerous local regulations, real estate challenges and lawsuits. But Udovich is optimistic that progress is finally being realized, which has prompted Omnium’s expansion.

“I think that finally we’re at a point where there’s rapid growth with about 20 to 25 stores opening every month across the state,” he said. “At the end of 2023 there were about 25 stores open and today there’s more than 140.”

Copyright © 2024 BridgeTower Media. All Rights Reserved.