Ohrid Organics has signed a supply agreement for the German medicinal cannabis market with Canopy Growth Germany GmbH, a subsidiary of Canopy Growth Corporation.
Under the terms of the agreement, Ohrid will grow medicinal cannabis under license at its facility in North Macedonia for the German medicinal market, by far Europe's biggest cannabis market. Since the change in regulatory environment earlier this year in Germany, by which cannabis is no longer classified as a narcotic product, a significant and lasting increase in total demand for medicinal cannabis is expected. The agreement will further enable Canopy Growth to effectively serve this rapidly growing market with a range of complementary dried flower products at exceptional quality in addition to medicinal cannabis products sourced from Canopy Growth's GMP-certified Canadian production platform.
Ohrid will grow a mix of its own strains in addition to those from licensed genetics provided by Canopy Growth under the agreement. Ohrid holds a license to operate the largest cultivation space in North Macedonia, giving it the leverage needed to meet the rising demand for medicinal cannabis in Europe and across the globe. It is just about to open its fifth and sixth greenhouses giving it 3,000 square meters of cultivation space. Ohrid has the capacity to build up to 37 greenhouses on its site producing up to 30 tonnes per annum from 20,000 square meters of cultivation space.
Importantly, Ohrid's cultivation and processing is so clean that it does not need to use irradiation to achieve the low microbial standards required, so the crop's quality, taste and terpene profile is not impacted. Its site is particularly sustainable as it benefits from up to 300 days of sunshine per year and has installed solar power generation. Combined with the low cost of local labour, taxes and other input costs this enables North Macedonia to provide the lowest cost per gram for medicinal cannabis production in Europe with end-user market in Europe on its doorstep.
Dominic John, Chief Operating Officer of Ohrid Organics, said: "This supply contract for the sale of our current product to Canopy Growth and the agreement for Ohrid Organics to grow its strain under license for them is a significant milestone for us. The recent expansion of the facility, assisted by investment from Hydrogen Utopia International PLC, helped us with the implementation of technology upgrades. This has made the facility state of the art and it is now capable of providing a consistent product to the highest standards required by Canopy Growth."
Tara Rozalowsky, President, International and Chief Growth Officer, Canopy Growth, said: "This new supply agreement significantly enhances our capacity to serve the rapidly growing German medical cannabis market and aligns with our strategic vision for integrating additional European-based suppliers to broaden our supply profile. With more doctors embracing cannabis as a treatment option, and a rising number of patients discovering the medical benefits of cannabis, Canopy Growth is well positioned to meet the evolving needs of the German medical cannabis community through an expanding range of high-quality cannabis products."
Current state of the European medicinal cannabis market
In 2023, Germany imported 31,398 kg (34.6 tons) of medicinal cannabis products, according to data from the country's Federal Institute for Drugs and Medicinal Devices ("BfArM"). This is a 26.2% increase over the 24,876 kg imported the previous year. The German market has been valued at €420m in 2023 (Statista).
The medicinal cannabis market in Europe is forecasted to achieve a revenue of US$10.1bn by the end of 2024 and is expected to exhibit an annual growth rate of 14.3% (CAGR 2024-2028), resulting in a market volume of US$17.3bn by 2028. (Statista)
For more information:
Ohrid Organics
www.ohridorganics.com