In 2021, Malta became the first EU country to partially decriminalize cannabis. The regulatory framework in place doesn't perceive cannabis as a commodity market. Rather, it allows the establishment of so-called non-profit associations whose membership, after paying a fee, can obtain their cannabis products from them. The model is thus not embedded in a free market, as the primary goal of the Maltese authority is harm reduction. It is within this context that Kearney Attard from cannabis.mt is setting up his indoor cultivation facility. However, the inception of the company is rooted in helping growers globally set up their own operations. "I started designing facilities five years ago," he says. "We help people with getting all needed documents towards license applications, we also extend our technical service for the buildout of their facility, and we consult growers on how to improve their SOPs."
Setting up a cannabis cultivation in Malta
The license that Kearney operates under is the 507 CHRA, 009, which basically indicates that theirs is a non-profit license. Thanks to the experience gained over the years in the industry, he was well aware of the challenges of this space. "I knew what I was going to do," he remarks. "I understand the operational standards required in the medical cannabis industry. While Malta's regulations may not demand such a high level of precision, our goal is to uphold those exact standards."
The investment for such a facility can be quite substantial, in the region of millions of euros. "The initial project was indeed estimated to cost around 1.2 million euros," Kearney explains. "During the design phase, we stumbled upon some roadblocks that made us scale down the facility project." When those roadblocks occurred, Kearney had to pause the project for three months until he found more investors to support his business. "This is cannabis, after all—you can't expect anything different," he says with a chuckle.
A modular approach
The project is currently 30% of what was initially planned. However, this didn't stop Kearney from designing the facility in a modular fashion, allowing upgrades to be installed and cultivation to be expanded without incurring grueling costs. "It's similar to the airline industry, whose aircraft can be upgraded easily to optimise costs. I basically replicated the same concept in our facility."
So, for instance, each irrigation/fertigation tank has its own recipe, so that any room has a bespoke strategy that can be adapted. "We are very flexible in that regard, so we can better tailor our cultivation strategy to what we are growing and what we want to achieve. For instance, I run a lot of R&D, and if I want to use a room to research reducing nitrogen in late flowering, I can just do that."
It doesn't end there, though. The facility, of course, has an electrical room, but each grow room has its own separate unit, so that if anything in a particular room needs to be changed, power can simply be shut down without affecting the entire operation. "For instance, if I want to change the lights, we made it in such a way that connections are universal, so everything can just be a matter of removing and installing with ease. These are the small things we have implemented to be ready for future expansions, and we already know what we are going to implement in phases three and four."
Everything in the Kearney's facility has been designed following the highest medical cannabis standards. It's no wonder that every minuscule variable is controlled, and all the data is gathered, processed, and analyzed, also with the use of AI. Medical cannabis standards also imply an attention to hygiene and cleanliness that leaves little to no room for mistakes. This is also the reason why they have installed ProGuard units in every room. "I believe that's the standard for any grower," Kearney explains. "Coming from a construction company, it's like seeing a Caterpillar on a construction site—that is always there, just like ProGuard is in every cannabis operation that calls itself as such. The technology the ProGuard units provide is crucial to keeping the facility clean, especially considering the extremely stringent testing regulations we have here. ProGuard gives us that peace of mind, making us sure that we're really safe when it comes to air sanitation." These air sanitation units are going to be installed in every room and every corridor of the facility, providing cannabis.mt with an additional biosecurity step in a building with many sanitation steps to go through just to enter.
Mike D'Ambra, Founder of Innovative Solutions, highlights that there is a growing demand for ProGuard air sanitization products in the European cannabis market. This surge is driven by the strict testing requirements and the need for compliance with GACP and EU GMP standards. ProGuard distinguishes itself from other technologies through its patented sanitization process, crafted specifically to address the unique challenges of cannabis environments. "We collaborate closely with GMP and EU GMP-certified cannabis facilities around the world, many of which face ongoing challenges with high microbial levels and the difficulty of meeting EU GMP standards. ProGuard directly addresses these issues, helping cannabis companies to get amazing results to exceed these critical standards," says D'Ambra.
ProGuard's standout feature is its innovative 'Active' sanitization process, which continually targets and eliminates pathogens in the air, as well as on plants, benches, lights, and surfaces throughout the entire room. This 24/7 around-the-clock protection gives growers confidence that their cultivation spaces are consistently sanitized, allowing them to meet the stringent microbial testing standards required by the European markets. As D'Ambra highlights, "ProGuard makes it possible to create controlled, clean-room environments and consistently surpass the toughest test-ing standards in the industry."
D'Ambra also emphasizes the importance of collaborating with industry experts like Kearney, who understands the complexity of maintaining a pristine cannabis production environment. "Many people assume that microbial issues are confined to cultivation rooms, but in reality, mi-crobial issues often arise after harvest. This makes it essential to maintain strict sanitization pro-tocols and implement ProGuard products in post-harvest areas, including dry rooms, trim rooms, packaging rooms, and hallways. Kearney's attention to these critical details is why we will be working with him on several other cannabis facility projects this year"
With so many factors at play to produce a high-quality, high-yield harvest, ProGuard's air saniti-zation technology ensures that your facility consistently maintains medical-grade air quality. Good air quality is crucial for preventing microbial contamination and meeting GMP and EU GMP standards. "We take great pride in helping our customers maintain clean-room environments that exceed even the highest industry standards," says D'Ambra.
The Maltese cannabis market is still nascent, and Kearney believes the cannabis culture in the country has to grow as well for this space to reach its full potential. "In my opinion, we have two to three years to put out as much knowledge as possible regarding the product we growers are producing. Once people become more educated, product standards will also improve. I also believe there should be more strains available to offer customers a wider selection to suit their tastes. There are many restrictions here in Malta, but the only way to tackle that is with standards, transparency, and product consistency."
For more information:
Innovative Solutions
innovative-solutions.org
cannabis.mt
info@cannabis.mt
cannabis.mt