Verano Announces Exclusive Partnership with Award-Winning Arizona Cannabis Operator Grow Sciences to Bring its Best-In-Class Products to Illinois

Rhea-AI Summary

Verano Holdings (VRNOF) has announced an exclusive partnership with Arizona-based Grow Sciences to introduce their premium cannabis products to the Illinois market starting June 21st. The partnership will initially launch at Zen Leaf's ten Illinois dispensaries before expanding to other retailers. Grow Sciences, operating since 2017, will bring thirteen elite cannabis strains including Prickly Pear, Florida Jack, and Jelly RTZ. The product lineup includes premium flower eighths, 1-gram flower joints, live hash rosin cartridges, hash rosin extracts, and live rosin fruit chews. All products feature hand-selected, craft cannabis with a focus on quality and natural extraction methods. The partnership represents a significant expansion for Grow Sciences and enhances Verano's product portfolio in their home state.

Positive

• Exclusive partnership brings premium, award-winning cannabis products to Illinois market
• Expansion of product portfolio with 13 new elite cannabis strains
• Access to Grow Sciences' sophisticated extraction methods and craft cannabis expertise
• Distribution through all 10 Zen Leaf dispensaries with planned expansion to third-party locations
• Addition of high-quality, solventless products to meet growing market demand

Negative

• None.

Grow Sciences flower, pre-rolls, solventless extracts, vaporizers and edibles will initially be sold exclusively at Zen Leaf dispensaries in the Illinois market

CHICAGO, June 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verano Holdings Corp. (Cboe CA: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNOF) (“Verano” or the “Company”), a leading multi-state cannabis company, today announced an exclusive partnership with Grow Sciences, a cultivator of elite genetics in craft cannabis formats, to bring a suite of the Arizona-based company’s premier flower and extract products to Illinois cannabis consumers. Beginning June 21^st, Grow Sciences’ best-in-class products - including flower eighths, joints and live hash rosin cartridges, followed by hash rosin extracts and rosin fruit chews - will be available at all ten Zen Leaf dispensaries in Illinois, followed by additional third-party dispensaries across the Land of Lincoln thereafter.

With operations in Arizona since 2017, Grow Sciences is an industry leader in cannabis genetics and extraction methods, with a focus on cultivating elite genetics and solventless products in a craft cannabis format. Through this exclusive partnership, Verano will add thirteen of Grow Sciences’ most sought-after strains to the Illinois market, including Prickly Pear, Florida Jack and Jelly RTZ.

“As one of Arizona’s premier cannabis operators, our exclusive partnership with Grow Sciences is an incredible opportunity to collaborate with a legendary West Coast brand to offer Zen Leaf shoppers and wholesale partners across Illinois an entirely new set of top-class strains, genetics and extract products,” said George Archos, Verano founder and Chief Executive Officer. “This collaborative partnership in our home state adds further momentum and depth to the robust pipeline of new products we’ve launched this year, and we look forward to introducing Illinois cannabis enthusiasts to Grow Sciences’ suite of award-winning products across our Zen Leaf footprint and beyond.”

“We’re beyond excited to expand Grow Sciences into Illinois and offer our products to a whole new group of people,” said Mike C., Grow Sciences' founder and Chief Executive Officer. “Sharing our vision and commitment to quality made Verano the perfect partner in this venture. I hope the people of Illinois enjoy this collaboration as much as we enjoyed creating it. Welcome to quality."

"When we founded Grow Sciences eight years ago we never thought we would be taking our vision to other states," said Matthew Blum, Grow Sciences' founder and Chief Operations Officer. "As we launch in Illinois, it has really hit home that Grow Sciences' mission of providing quality above everything is being realized. On behalf of the entire Grow Sciences family, thank you for welcoming us to Illinois."

The full suite of Grow Sciences products that will be available at Zen Leaf dispensaries in Illinois, followed by third-party dispensaries across the state, includes:

• Flower Eighths: Top nugs. Top shelf. Selected by hand, these trophy nugs highlight each strain's signature aroma, structure, and flavor. Harvested with care at the peak of maturity, each bud is hand-trimmed, and selected to ensure the end product not only meets quality standards, but exceeds yours. Flower will be available in seven strains: Prickly Pear, Jelly RTZ, Banana Cream Cake x Jealousy, ZKTZ Cubed, Tropical Cherry, Florida Jack and Pineapple Fruz.
  
  
• 1-Gram Flower Joints: Each 1-gram flower joint is filled with premium, single-strain bud—no shake, no trim, no larf or bottom buds. It’s the same top-shelf quality you expect from our jars, rolled up and ready to go. Pre-rolls will be available in seven strains: Prickly Pear, Jelly RTZ, Banana Cream Cake x Jealousy, ZKTZ Cubed, Tropical Cherry, Florida Jack and Pineapple Fruz.
  
  
• Live Hash Rosin Cartridges: All natural, solventless, full spectrum live hash rosin carts are a pure, all-natural extract of our craft cannabis flowers, with all of the same benefits of live hash rosin, now in the convenience of a cartridge. Live rosin carts will be available in six strains: Topanga x Mike Larry, Tallymon, Kush Mints, Gary Payton, Terp Daddy and Bananaconda.
  
  
• Hash Rosin Extracts¹: With meticulous dedication in every gram, solventless extracts are a pure, all-natural extract of craft cannabis flower. Crafted using only ice-cold water, low heat, and pressure to produce clean, tasty, broad-spectrum extracts of the highest quality, each batch is hand-crafted by dedicated lab techs who are masters of their craft. Hash rosin will be available in six strains: Topanga x Mike Larry, Tallymon, Kush Mints, Gary Payton, Terp Daddy and Bananaconda.
  
  
• Live Rosin Fruit Chews¹: Chef-designed, all natural, solventless, full spectrum, vegan and gluten free, our live rosin fruit chews are food first, which means the ingredients and taste need to be great before being infused. Available in a variety of flavors, these fruit chews are chef-crafted with high-quality ingredients and thoughtfully infused with broad spectrum solventless live hash rosin: 100mg per tin, and 10mg per piece.
  

For more information about Verano and Grow Sciences, and to place an online order, visit www.ZenLeafDispensaries.com or follow along on Instagram via @GrowSciencesIL. Product images are available for media use and download here (credit “courtesy of Verano”).

About Verano

Verano Holdings Corp. (Cboe CA: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNOF), one of the U.S. cannabis industry’s leading companies based on historical revenue, geographic scope and brand performance, is a vertically integrated, multi-state operator embracing a mission of saying Yes to plant progress and the bold exploration of cannabis. Verano provides a superior cannabis shopping experience in medical and adult use markets under the Zen Leaf^™ and MÜV^™ dispensary banners, including Cabbage Club^™, an innovative annual membership program offering exclusive benefits for cannabis consumers. Verano produces a comprehensive suite of high-quality, regulated cannabis products sold under its diverse portfolio of trusted consumer brands including Verano^™, (the) Essence^™, MÜV^™, Savvy^™, BITS^™, Encore^™, and Avexia^™. Verano’s active operations span 13 U.S. states, comprised of 15 production facilities with over 1.1 million square feet of cultivation capacity. Learn more at Verano.com.

Contacts:

Media
Verano
Grace Bondy
Director, Communications
Grace.Bondy@verano.com

Investors
InvestorRelations@verano.com

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company’s beliefs regarding future events, plans, strategies, or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company’s control. Generally, such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “future”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “projects,” “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases, or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “will continue”, “will occur” or “will be achieved”. Forward-looking statements involve and are subject to assumptions and known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual events, results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future events, results, performance, and achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements herein, including, without limitation, the risk factors described in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, in each case, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except as may be required in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice regarding forward-looking information and statements.

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¹Live rosin extracts and fruit chews will be available at Zen Leaf locations in Illinois shortly after the initial launch.

FAQ

When will Grow Sciences products be available at Zen Leaf dispensaries in Illinois?

Grow Sciences products will be available at Zen Leaf dispensaries in Illinois starting June 21st, 2025.

What products will Grow Sciences offer through Verano (VRNOF) in Illinois?

Grow Sciences will offer flower eighths, 1-gram flower joints, live hash rosin cartridges, hash rosin extracts, and live rosin fruit chews through Verano in Illinois.

Which Grow Sciences cannabis strains will be available in Illinois through this partnership?

The partnership will bring 13 strains including Prickly Pear, Florida Jack, Jelly RTZ, Banana Cream Cake x Jealousy, ZKTZ Cubed, Tropical Cherry, and Pineapple Fruz.

Where can customers purchase Grow Sciences products in Illinois?

Initially, products will be available exclusively at all ten Zen Leaf dispensaries in Illinois, with plans to expand to additional third-party dispensaries across the state.

What makes Grow Sciences products unique in the cannabis market?

Grow Sciences specializes in craft cannabis with elite genetics, solventless extraction methods, hand-selected top nugs, and all-natural processing techniques.