Aphria Announces First Cannabis Harvest For Germany

The second growing facility for medical cannabis is about to deliver – but is this all going to be enough?

Aphria, now merged with Tilray, is edging ever closer to actually delivering medical cannabis product grown domestically – but they are still not quite there yet. Delivery appears to be now promised for Q1 this year, but there are many hurdles still, between now and then.

That said, beyond the individual successes of any company that has made it through this torturous process, what does this mean for the future of domestically produced cannabis outside the “big three?”

Steady As She Blows…Until After Covid…

There has been an acceptance since the early days of the cultivation tender in Germany that the initial bite at the apple – the first cultivation tender – would never produce enough for the growing and anticipated demand. This has been exacerbated by the many unavoidable delays in production thanks to Covid.

However post-Covid, with a renewed focus on domestic production and further green economic development, this is likely to morph into a very interesting discussion, even in Germany and even more particularly after the next general elections. And even more particularly with more established and regulated industries in Holland and Luxembourg, if not the Swiss, who are unlikely to sit this one out for long.

Beyond this, there is likely to be a growth in domestic production on the continent to feed other markets – like the Brexited UK. Obtaining the correct permits and beginning cultivation in this climate is likely to be just as torturous as it was before, if not slightly more painful for the next 18 months, but there is no way the activist British patients on the ground are going to stand for excuses, any more than they were before.

Bottom line? Long term the cannabis industry promises to be a growth industry that is integrated into other re-economic developments but it is not going to be quick, easy or cheap.

The Future Of Home Grow and Smaller Licensing In Europe

While the Canadians have the model down for smaller growers, this is an idea that has yet to be broadly adopted in Europe. That said, Italy has certainly opened the way, and it is unlikely that such ideas will be entirely thrown out the window, particularly if there is licensing revenue to be had. 

This does not mean that such developments will be easy to achieve. However, there is clearly a new day dawning on a number of fronts, and cannabis reform will be in the room from now on.

Be sure to attend the first post-COVID International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin this summer!