Takeaways From Europe's Biggest Weed Bash

Republished By Plato

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The global cannabis conversation reached a new frenzy last weekend with the 10,000-person Spannabis festival in Barcelona, Spain.

Top-ranked packs like Dying Breed Seeds OZ Kush, Peach Ringz, and Z 3.0 fetched 500 euros for 12 seeds. We’re busy adding dozens of new cultivars to the database. Watch along for more Day 1 and Day 2 highlights straight from the event and recorded live above Las Ramblas.

More industry tips for decisionmakers

Cultivar news for store buyers

Z strains dominated flower and hash competitions. Wizard Trees’ booth was so packed you couldn’t get near it. RS-11 is hot. Zoap is hot. Leafly’s Strains and Products reporting is right on the money.

The hash type of the moment is called piatella— a delicate, gooey solventless hash that is maximally terpy.

Legal market progress

California’s legal providers now serve 47% of that market, according to leading cannabis economist Beau Whitney. New York is at an appalling 4% penetration, which matches Spain under prohibition. Vangst releases the 2024 Jobs Report by Whitney and Bruce Barcott in two weeks.

Global market outlook for business development

Thailand is tightening back up after rapid commercialization engendered a backlash.

Germany is red-hot with decriminalization and medical advancements.

Judging from vape supply sales at Abstrax—markets that are warming up include Japan, South Africa, Australia, Mexico, Ecuador, and Argentina.

Prohibition markets are contributing as well. Britain and Italy are making names for themselves in hash and seeds ahead of legalization. It’s not binary. You have to be part of the underground now if you want to compete above ground later.

Cannabis is a field of infinite possibilities.

DJ Muggs, Cypress Hill, at the International Cannabis Business Conference

Global marketing

The cannabis genetics conversation is global and social. Hash trends circle the world in 30 days, due to social media, and the ease of shipping seeds or clones or counterfeiting a brand.

What’s your global marketing strategy? It has become table stakes for major flower and seeds brands to conduct international marketing campaigns. You’re either trying to keep pace with brands like Doja Pak, Terphogz, Alien Labs, and Mills Nutrients, or you are eating their dust.

Living soil in cultivation

Living soil is a wave. Jeff Lowenfels presented the latest research showing 40% of plant nitrogen coming not from the soil or bottles, but from cannabis plants cultivating and consuming bacteria. It’s called rhizophagy. A future of strain-specific beneficial bacterial inoculants is coming.

Spannabis ran three days March 15 to 17 in Barcelona, Spain. (David Downs/Leafly)

Seed technology

Seeds are getting easier. Regular male and female seeds are being replaced by feminized, autoflower, triploid, and stabilized lines. If you are in cultivation or extraction and don’t have a plan to take advantage of that technology—you will be outcompeted.

Meet the GastroBros

We learned the term “GastroBro”—a stoner who is also a big foodie. True marketing wins will fuse cannabis and culture like food, art, and music.

420 is going to be big in New York. The Astor Club is working with Archive Seeds on an awards show—The Billies—headlined by rapper Larry June. ‘How much did Larry June cost?’ we asked. “A lot. A lot.”

DJ Muggs’ words of wisdom

Cypress Hill’s DJ Muggs— the closing speaker at the International Cannabis Business Conference—brought a message of optimism, authenticity, and grit.

“Cannabis is a field of infinite possibilities. It’s a struggle—a battle. It is what it is. Don’t be a little b*tch. The strong will survive. It’s not just get rich quick— those people will not survive.”