Benzinga Exclusive Interview: Europe's Cannabis Market Projected to Grow by 400% And Companies Are Already Taking a Huge Bite of This Opportunity

Photos by Clever Leaves

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

Europe is now a booming and viable market for companies needing a conducive environment to start and grow their cannabis businesses.

Due to favorable conditions and geography, the EU has become a preferred cannabis business destination, and companies are trooping there in numbers.

Companies like Clever Leaves Holdings Inc. CLVR, Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. CURACURLF and Aurora Cannabis Inc. ACBACB are actively growing marijuana in European locations.

The European market is estimated to be worth €403.4 million by the end of 2021 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 67.4% from 2021 to reach €3.2 billion by 2025. The European cannabidiol (CBD) market alone is on course to grow by 400% over the next 4 years.

Entering the EU cannabis market is not as easy as it seems — regulators demand companies adhere to health and safety regulatory standards to ensure the highest levels of quality and earn the EU GMP certification, which ensures production consistency, testing, stability, and rigorous control according to standards.

The European cannabis market provides a fertile ground for growth for companies, especially Clever Leaves. Andrés Fajardo, President of Clever Leaves, has been shedding more light on the company’s innovative business approach in Europe in an exclusive interview and Q&A session with Benzinga.

Can you give some details about the Portuguese business and facilities there?

Clever Leaves’ Portuguese cultivation facility is located on approximately 9 million square feet of land and consists of approximately 260,000 square feet of greenhouse facilities with a significant expansion recently commissioned, in parallel to processes underway for EU GMP certification in 2022. 

Importantly, in August 2020, the facilities received its EU GACP certification, and the CUMCS GACP certification was granted in February 2021. With the license to cultivate granted by the Portuguese regulatory authorities, the operations are fully licensed and actively cultivating, selling, and exporting medical cannabis.

Additionally, Clever Leaves invested in a pharmaceutical-grade medical cannabis post-harvest unit in Setúbal, a prominent government-owned business and industrial park, to carry out the drying, cutting, and packaging processes. With approximately 100 jobs already created through its Portuguese operation, Clever Leaves has invested approximately €25 million in Portugal 

What informed Clever Leaves’ decision to start production in Portugal, and what does it mean for your business in Europe?

We identified Europe as an attractive market, and we found in Portugal the perfect balance to participate in the medical cannabis market. 

Establishing ourselves in Portugal was an important milestone for Clever Leaves since it allowed us to create a production center for dried cannabis flowers in Europe that complements our substantial operation in Colombia which focuses on the production of cannabis extracts.  

Portugal has a highly attractive micro-climate for large-scale, efficient production, and our license provides us with an opportunity to become one of the largest exporters of medical cannabis in Europe. 

How are you producing under high-quality standards at the Portugal facility?

Clever Leaves’ cultivation and post-harvest facilities have been purposely constructed to comply with internationally recognized quality standards and production systems. Our team is composed of industry experts with backgrounds in the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries and receiving all sorts of certifications and licenses is a testament to their expertise in meeting the strict regulatory requirements in Portugal.

Currently, Clever Leaves has a team of approximately 500 global employees, out of which 60 are working rigorously to position Portugal as a sphere of innovation, being able to validate scientifically new cannabinoid strains. Additionally, the team works with over 30 contractors.

Can you highlight your capabilities and approach in Portugal?

We were granted a license from INFARMED I.P., the Portuguese regulatory authority with oversight over the pharmaceutical industry in Portugal, including medical cannabis, to cultivate, import, and export Good Agricultural and Collecting Practices (GACP) quality dried flower. We have also received the INFARMED license to act as importer and distributor of APIs for medicinal purposes in the EU, opening opportunities to bring Colombian products into EU markets.

Our Portuguese team, working with our colleagues around the world, can ensure that Clever Leaves’ pharmaceutical-quality medical cannabis can enter legal markets around the world — as evidenced by our exports from Portugal to various international markets.

What are your most recent accomplishments since receiving the license in August 2020?

We have had several incredible accomplishments since receiving our licenses. In addition to the expansion of our production and applied research capabilities, we have now successfully exported products from Portugal to several countries, including Australia, Israel, and the United Kingdom as well as selling within Portugal, and most recently, we became one of the first companies to commercially export THC flower to the U.S. 

We successfully made our first exportation of 30 kg of high-THC cannabis flower from our Portugal facilities to Biopharmaceutical Research Company, a DEA-licensed company that develops federally compliant active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for plant-based therapeutics in the United States. 

Exporting THC flowers to the United States demonstrates our ability to comply with strict pharmaceutical standards as well as to meet stringent regulatory frameworks.

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.