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‘Flyin’ Hawaiian’ sets his eye on Maui Wowie: Former Phillies star forms cannabis ‘joint venture’

First sales are expected in late 2019.

Shane Victorino laughs during stretching before Game 2 of the NLCS. (Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer)
Shane Victorino laughs during stretching before Game 2 of the NLCS. (Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer)Read more
    by Sam Wood
    Published 

Shane Victorino, the speedy outfielder who helped rocket the 2008 Phillies to the World Series, has launched a second career as a major investor in a cannabis company.

On Tuesday, the “Flyin’ Hawaiian” announced that his investment group, Legacy Ventures Hawaii, was partnering to form a “strategic joint venture” with Arcadia Biosciences to “grow, extract, and sell superior hemp products.” The combined team will be called Archipelago.

Arcadia has a licensed outdoor hemp cultivation facility in Hawaii. The Aloha State has a long history of growing potent cannabis, most notably the legendary sativa-dominant strain called Maui Wowie.

The global legal marijuana market may be worth $66.3 billion by the end of 2025, according to the Grand View Research. The cannabidiol (CBD) market in the U.S. alone may be worth $16 billion by the same year, according to an analysis published in February by Cowen & Company. But the market has already become crowded with competitors and some experts believe that the price of cannabis is likely to drop drastically in the future.

Victorino, who played with the Phillies from 2005 through most of 2012, said Hawaii’s year-round growing climate would give the new company a competitive advantage over mainline cultivators — and give the island-harvested crop access to emerging CBD and hemp markets in Asia.

“Archipelago recognizes the tremendous market opportunity for premium Hawaiian CBD,” said Victorino. “We believe hemp has the potential to transform Hawaii’s economy — and the lives of its farmers and local communities — by creating an entirely new agricultural segment based on bringing innovation, scientific integrity, and investment to the islands.”

Victorino is a principal in Legacy, which is an equity partner in Vapen CBD, a division of Vapen MJ Ventures.

Vapen MJ is a producer of cannabis THC and CBD products, sold in Arizona, that include high-potency flower, edibles, and extracts.

Matt Plavan, president of Arcadia Specialty Genomics and chief financial officer of Arcadia Biosciences, heralded the venture with Victorino’s Legacy.

“Hawaii has special significance for Arcadia; it’s where we first began our hemp research and cultivation and it’s where we continue to see the greatest opportunity for innovation and growth in industrial hemp,” Plavan said in a statement.