The medical cannabis market is growing worldwide, with more countries looking to regulate the sector, as well as patient numbers increasing in already established areas. Two of the most prominent medical cannabis markets are Germany and Australia—two countries on opposite sides of the globe that, nonetheless, share many similarities in terms of regulatory frameworks. It's because of these commonalities that Bathera, a medical cannabis producer with operations in Portugal, Germany, and Australia, has been primarily active in these countries.
"We are what you may define as vertically integrated," explains Boris Agababov, founder of Bathera. "Our cannabis is grown in an indoor facility in Portugal." The cultivation operates on a perpetual harvest cycle, producing 150 kg of cannabis every two weeks. "We differentiate ourselves by producing special strains with terpene and cannabinoid profiles that cannot be achieved in a greenhouse."
Post-harvest and biosecurity
Cultivation is obviously a crucial part of every cannabis operation that prides itself on quality. Yet, it's not the only aspect that requires the utmost care. "There are a lot of steps in cannabis production," says Boris. "From taking the cuttings to the moment you package the final product." That is why Boris and Bathera put as much care into post-harvest processes as they do into cultivation. "If you get just one step wrong, you lose everything. We hang-dry our flowers, hand-trim them—we do everything to preserve the terpenes. Quality is not just a matter of installing a bunch of machinery and hoping all goes smoothly."
As an indoor medical cannabis grower, Bathera follows very strict biosecurity procedures, which is quite a challenge in a space where no pesticides can be used. "And beyond that, we don't want to use them," Boris points out. "We are both GACP and GMP certified. We have climate control, humidity control, and very strict entrance procedures." In other words, Bathera's facility has biosecurity measures resembling an onion, with many different layers to go through, preventing pests or pathogens from damaging the crop.
All of this is necessary to tackle two of the most strictly regulated medical cannabis markets, namely Germany and Australia. "These markets are quite similar in their regulatory frameworks," explains Boris. "In terms of product specifications, there are some different requirements. But all in all, our products can be sold in both of these markets."
Carving a place in the market
The company initially started as a German company, importing medical cannabis into a nascent market. "But we saw that the market was growing," Boris points out. "So we thought, why not produce premium cannabis ourselves?" Even if the market didn't shape up exactly as Boris and Bathera envisioned, they were confident that the quality of their products would speak for itself, securing them the market share needed to be profitable and successful. "We knew we could find a place in the space."
As things started to progress positively, the company decided to expand its reach, setting its sights on another growing medical cannabis market: Australia. "In this context, Australia is one of the biggest medical cannabis markets. With regulations very similar to Germany's, we made the business decision to export our product there as well. We always look for new opportunities, and with our facility in Portugal, we could easily export to Germany, but that didn't stop us from looking beyond and providing our flowers to even more patients." This is especially true as Bathera currently produces 4–5 tons of cannabis per year.
However, it doesn't end there. "Right now, we are using five flower rooms, but we have another five empty," Boris remarks. "We have the infrastructure set up for expansion, which is what we are currently working on. We could then produce up to eight tons per year."
Getting to this point hasn't been a walk in the park in an industry that doesn't share knowledge like other horticultural sectors. "There's no blueprint for this. We did everything from scratch. We are a scale producer, and the best cannabis facilities out there don't share their knowledge with you. However, that didn't stop us—we grew alongside the markets we tackled. We took a step-by-step approach, which is what defined our success."
For more information:
Bathera
www.bathera.com