"I've been in the cannabis industry for 30 years, doing a lot of community work around Africa. Being a South African male with dreadlocks, the local tribes started calling me 'The White Lion'. When I eventually walked away from consulting and started my own cultivation business, I decided to call it White Lion Holdings," says Cornel van der Watt, Director and Chief Cultivation Officer at the South African medical cannabis company. Cornel bought the farm in 2020 and got licensed in 2022. "We have an 1100 square meter high-tech greenhouse, with a 750 square meter GACP building attached to it. The greenhouse is from Bosman van Zaal, I love working with the Dutch for greenhouse construction," Cornel says.
Achieving high quality
White Lion runs a tight ship to make sure the high quality standards of medical cannabis are achieved. "We have 118 SOPs in place, of which 37 are quality management. On top of that, we've got a responsible pharmacist on-site who does the QA checks. Because we export to different countries, the quality standards are different. That's why third-party certification labs are important, which do our full analytical testing before export," Cornel explains. Because the production is built up for achieving such a high standard, the company can export to strict markets like Germany and Poland, he says.
Cornel explains that R&D is also a major part of the business. While the South African cannabis market is still nascent, Cornel has built up a reputation over the years. Because of that, many companies reach out to him to test their lights, fertilizers or growing medium. "It's not a bandwagon I'm trying to jump on, I've built up the connections and experience. As a result, I'm permanently running trials and giving feedback."
On top of that, Cornel has been breeding for 30 years. "I've worked with some of the largest seed banks in the world. I've pulled a lot of Dutch, American and African genetics, many of them being local landraces. African genetics are special because they've got very specific cannabinoid profiles that you wouldn't find anywhere else in the world. That is because of our climate," he explains. Yet breeding for the cannabis industry is not an easy feat. "The cannabis market moves fast, you've got to have your finger on the pulse. It also really depends on the market what strains are in demand." Cornel is working on setting up a library of different strains.
Helping foreign investors get into the market
Even though Cornel is now busy running his own production company, doing R&D and breeding, he hasn't fully left behind consulting. "I run investors through the process of getting licenses. I help them with the application, picking a site for their farm, writing a financial model," Cornel says. "South Africa is a unique country with a diverse culture. This can be a struggle for foreign investors who don't know the culture well." Cornel therefore helps foreign investors to find their feet. "An additional challenge for newcomers in the industry is the varying opinions that are out there. There are many small-scale growers, who only have experience with growing a couple of hundred plants, who think they have enough knowledge to grow on a large scale. Misinformation is a hurdle that new investors and growers have to overcome," Cornel says.
According to Cornel, it's important to help these investors and new growers, as South Africa is very well positioned to become a major cannabis market. "It's a no-brainer to invest in the Southern Hemisphere for cannabis production. We've got the beautiful sunlight, our labor is cheaper, our water is great and the air is clean. There's a lot you can gain by growing in South Africa. It's the perfect environment and it's been part of our culture for thousands of years. There's potential for serious growth," he says.
For more information:
White Lion Holdings
[email protected]
https://whitelionholdings.co.za/