In Spain, it is only legal to grow hemp for industrial purposes. Yet in Málaga, around 1200 hemp plants are currently soaking up the Spanish sun and will be used for full-spectrum extracts after harvest. "Growing hemp in Spain wasn't originally the plan. I wanted to get into the Dutch CBD market," says Peter Vermeul, CEO of CBD Spain. But when that proved to be more difficult than expected, Peter looked to Spain, where he had previously lived. "I saw a great opportunity there and decided to give it a shot. We have been given permission by the Ministry of Agriculture and are able to grow outdoors without any problems."
Peter Vermeul
Growing hemp in Spain
9 years ago, Peter wrote the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture with a question. "It's only legal to grow hemp for fiber or seeds. Yet we asked the Ministry if it's possible for us to grow the Charlotte's Web variety for CBD products. The way we grow it, it contains even less CBD and THC than the industrial hemp grown for fiber," Peter explains. After Peter explained that they would stay below 0.2% THC, the Ministry's response was positive. "As long as we stay under that 0.2%, they would allow us to grow hemp and sell them as cosmetics. We've been doing that for years now without any problems. We're in very good contact with the Guardia Civil and have had many investigations. Yet they allow us to grow our plants with no issues."
While CBD Spain was one of the first and has been producing successfully for years, other companies have not had the same success. "Because of the strict regulations in Spain, most other growers have given up. I think our advantage is that we're a small company and do everything ourselves. That gives the authorities an easy overview of our production. On top of that, we don't have to transport any plants, for which you would need a plant passport. That's a document that you won't get if you're a cannabis grower."
For years now, CBD Spain's plants are grown outdoors and organically. "There's no need for us to use any pesticides. The plants protect themselves. The trichomes are the cannabis plant's natural way of protecting itself against pathogens and pests. Our plants are so resilient that even the caterpillars on the plants die."
On top of that, Spain's climate is great for hemp production. "We're in the most ideal area to grow outdoors. Over 300 days of sunshine and almost no rain," Peter says. Normally, the heat isn't even an issue. But last year and this year, the warmer Spanish summers proved to be a bit more challenging. "The cannabis plant can handle a lot of heat. But once you get temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, the soil temperature gets too high and you can get issues like Fusarium." Luckily, the damage wasn't that bad at all. "Surprisingly, only a very small amount of plants didn't make it, most of them continued to thrive."
A new way to extract
What makes CBD Spain's end products unique is the extraction method used to produce them. In fact, the extraction method is one that Peter himself invented. The method ensures that the extracts are plant-identical and full-spectrum. "This is done at a low temperature and with a special solvent, through which we collect the wide range of compounds from the plant material. When we extract, we take the time to repeatedly 'wash' the material to get out every last bit, obtaining a concentrate with almost the exact same composition as is found in the original plant. The process does take longer than the regular alcohol or CO2 extraction methods, but the result makes it worth it."
Peter has decades of experience with cannabis and is passionate about the plant's medicinal effects. So on top of being busy with the production, he devotes his time to research and working with doctors, hospitals and scientists. "I have many stories of our products benefiting patients, from curing diseases to relieving pain. I've been working on all of this for 40 years and there's no denying that it can be a tough industry to be in. But hearing those stories from patients reminds you what we're doing this for."
For more information:
CBD Spain
https://cbdspain.com/