Geplaatst: 7 October 2024
After the decriminalization of Medicinal Cannabis happened in Thailand in June 2022, Thai Stick started construction in October 2022 and planted its first seeds in October 2023. Indeed, growing cannabis in tropical climates is extremely challenging. Temperature and humidity are naturally high, combined with irrigation and transpiration, meaning, a constant flow of humidity into the greenhouse. They were looking for the right system that would provide cooling and extract humidity at the same time.
Thai Stick contacted several specialists for climate: air-conditioner installation, a production, as well as contractors and their in-house HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system teams. However, all approaches fell short because using the biggest HVAC system as suggested by its suppliers was expensive and impractical.
Cultivators’ team of experts simplified complex concepts and delivered cost-effective solutions to their customers with a high level of responsiveness and professionalism. Our approach for this case is as follows:
The designed system by Cultivators achieves optimal conditions for cannabis cultivation while significantly reducing energy consumption and costs.
“Implementing Cultivators’ advice saved us 40-50% of our HVAC system budget.” Rehan Mehta – the CEO of the company of Thai Stick, 2024.
*In this case we described a cannabis facility as an example, nevertheless, this service is given for other crops as well.
To read the full article about Thai Stick’s story click here. Otherwise, reach us for questions or quote requests using this Link. Our experts will be happy to assist you in the best possible way.
Geplaatst: 6 August 2024
Cultivators is a leader in cultivation business analysis, specializing in investments in new projects, enhancement of existing facilities, and mergers and acquisitions of large-scale cultivation operations. With our comprehensive expertise in market analysis, facility setup, development, and cultivation practices, we provide valuable insights into the requirements and potential pitfalls of successful growing operations.
Our focus is on cultivation parameters, which are crucial for the success and ROI of any cultivation facility. We emphasize benchmarking agronomical and financial metrics, with a particular focus on yield numbers about growing area and investment and operational cost structure. Additionally, we carefully assess large capital expenditure (CapEx) decisions and their impact on cultivation efficiency, as well as the resulting effects on operational expenditure (OpEx).
Our team offers strategic guidance grounded in data-driven insights, expert insights, industry benchmarks, and thorough analysis of facility management and organizational structure. Whether you are looking to invest in new ventures or improve current operations, Cultivators delivers tailored solutions to meet your unique needs and objectives.Some case examples:
Case 1: Investment in a new State-of-the-Art Leafy Greens Facility
Cultivators conducted a comprehensive due diligence review for a New York-based multibillion-dollar investment firm considering an investment in a new growing facility for hydro leafy greens. Our analysis focused on the business plan, market strategy, greenhouse, and system setup, as well as management and organizational structure. The due diligence process led to the optimization of the business plan and facility design, resulting in an actual investment of over $50 million.
Case 2: Establishment of a Multi-Facility Fresh Produce Investment Fund
We performed a detailed review of the business plan and facility design for one of the Big Four accounting firms in North America, which was exploring a new facility investment for hydroponic lettuce. Our team analyzed the greenhouse and system setup, portfolio management, and organizational structure for creating an investment fund. The due diligence process optimized the business proposition, leading to the establishment of a $100 million fund in North America, which invests in multiple operations.
Case 1: Acquisition of Indoor Cannabis Production Facilities
Cultivators facilitated the acquisition process for one of the largest corporate companies in the global cannabis industry, focusing on indoor facilities for medicinal and recreational cannabis production. We conducted a thorough analysis of the facilities, assessed company valuations, and provided interim management post-transition. After a year, the two companies were successfully sold through Cultivators.
Case 2: Due Diligence for a Major European Indoor Cannabis Facility Acquisition
We are currently conducting due diligence for one of the largest indoor cannabis facilities in Europe on behalf of a client. Our analysis includes a full evaluation of the hardware, cultivation, and climate systems to determine cultivation potential and company valuation. The acquisition process is ongoing and is likely to result in a successful transaction.
At Cultivators, our due diligence process is tailored to meet the specific needs of each case, providing comprehensive insights and analyses. Our approach commonly focuses on the following key areas:
Our comprehensive reviews provide expert insights and a critical assessment of the current cultivation situation or plans. We also offer an overview of potential alternatives in facility design and organization, assessing their impact on overall projected company results.
Our partner client base consists of global investment firms, accountancy firms, and banks:
As well as leading cultivation groups:
Geplaatst: 8 January 2023
For investors and growers we developed a workshop program to gain insights in the basics of cannabis cultivation and what are the opportunities and challenges for the medicinal cannabis industry. Not only for cultivators/investors but also seperate modules for suppliers. So, what does it mean for a supplier/greenhouse builder to be active in medicinal cannabis industry.
Goal: understanding the world of cannabis in order to address the implications for the cannabis project to increase the success rate.
Goal: understanding the possibilities and requirements for cannabis cultivation to determine the required cultivation set-up.
Goal: understanding the crop phases; mother plants, propagation, veg and flower phase and post-harvest
Goal: understanding the daily operation requirements of cannabis cultivation
“As a newly established company in such a dynamic industry as medicinal cannabis is, we have a lot of decisions to make with regards to the different cultivation approaches. We also needed to fill in some gaps in our knowledge (not coming from the pharmaceutical industry ourselves) of the implications of farming such a highly regulated plant at a large commercial scale. The workshop with Cultivators led by Sonny exceeded our expectations. It covered all important parts, discovered some blind spots we had in our business plan, and helped us to shape our business model better.
I can highly recommend this workshop to any cultivator who is entering this space. The full day workshop is worth weeks of research on your own, topped with a lot of practical examples of good and bad practices from the industry.”
“We have to say that the basics of cannabis cultivation course was one of the most effective courses we’ve taken in our professional careers. The seminar provided a great overview of what Medicinal Cannabis actually encompasses and Sonny as the instructor demonstrated in-depth knowledge of the subject. After this seminar we decided to collaborate with Cannabis Cultivators in the consulting area in our cannabis projects.”
Geplaatst: 3 October 2022
With 8 ha greenhouses on 2 locations. Owners Johan Desmet and Mirjam Vandoorne are the biggest hydroponic lettuce growers in Belgium. They grow different lettuce types on a mobile gully system (NFT) and have regularly invested in the most modern growing techniques like LED light and shading screens. Cultivators advices this company for 4 years on cultivation and technical improvements.
Recently this grower, with advice from cultivators, also invested in in-house young plant propagation. Before, the plants where bought at an external young plant producer. But the quality of young plants was regularly fluctuating, causing growing issues later on in the hydroponic greenhouse.
This investment was done with thorough research of the ideal growing medium and technology. And the decision was made to invest in a fully automatic seeding line and germination room. Part of the existing growing gutter installation was modified with different propagation gutters. Also the young plant growing greenhouse was equipped with a hybrid artificial light system to be able to steer optimally on the young plants. The resulting young plants are much stronger and have a more stable quality.
Geplaatst: 11 August 2022
Cultivators supports parties around the world with the development of sustainable cultivation. Focus is on the final product (ROI) and the requirements for the facilities and daily operation. Support itself is based on a structured, tailor-made approach to come to a mutually agreed plan to roll out together;
Geplaatst: 9 December 2021
All companies in the industry face the same challenges around compliance. We help suppliers with compliance & quality as this is a necessity to ensure safe and sound medicinal cannabis. Managing compliance & quality is a complex, time consuming and costly procedure. Cooperation and specialization improves quality and reduces costs per company. Setting-up compliance protocols with Good employment practices and social responsibilities. And monitoring regulatory updates and license validity.
Certhon
“Especially in the cannabis industry compliance should not be underestimated, due to the complex and rapidly changing regulatory landscape. The knowledge provided during the training of Cultivators gave us practical insight to develop a clear policy for the cannabis industry.”
Geplaatst: 29 October 2020
During four morning sessions in August, Sonny Moerenhout, Director and Agronomist of Cultivators provided New Zealand participants a riveting growing workshop focused on medical cannabis cultivation. I would like to thank Cultivators for teaming up with Grower2Grower to allow us to organise and host the Medical Cannabis (MC) growing workshops. As a greenhouse vegetable advisor, I found these sessions fascinating. The technical nature of the workshop and plant agronomy information was second to none, and all four sessions were equally captivating.
It is now abundantly clear, from my interpretation, that without greenhouse hydroponic knowledge and obtaining the agronomy skills required for growing MC, in either greenhouse or factory operations, may place companies at a disadvantage. MC growers that have been fortunate to be involved with high-tech greenhouse vegetable or flower growing will have a distinct advantage when it comes to final production outcomes. I believe that growers who have not had a practical greenhouse background will find it a very steep learning curve.
There are now more than a handful of companies moving from the research phase to the production phase in New Zealand, currently setting up their growing facilities. It was pointed out during the first workshop that there is no F1 hybrid cannabis seed currently in the world. What does this mean? Basically, no two plants germinated from seed will be identical. They can vary phenotypically and in chemical fingerprint. This is an issue. Every company will have to develop a ‘Mother’ stock. Cuttings from the mother stock will then be required for propagating and growing to flower/harvest stage. What this also indicates is that it will be very hard for two different companies to provide dry flower product with the exact same composition of cannabinoids unless both companies agree to produce from the same mother stock.
Feedback from the growers, suppliers, educators and researchers that were part of the workshop was overwhelmingly positive. The content and delivery of the presentations was well received. Cultivators, for sure will be an extremely successful medical cannabis consulting service concentrating on what is possibly the most important piece of the MC process, and that is the actual growing.
Session one was an introduction to cannabis. This section covered cannabis sp. ingredients, market overview, cultivation requirements, compliance, quality standards. Included were basic Anatomy & crop physiology.
Session two covered cannabis systems and planning. This section covered design of the cultivation facilities (factory or greenhouse), energy consumption, plant density systems, crop planning, substrates, crop planning and facility design.
Session three covered cannabis crop phases. Included in this tutorial was the four crop phases, genetics, plant architecture, vegetative vs generative plant steering, flower development, when to harvest and yield examples.
Session four covered climate control: Uniform crop development, assimilate balance, light, temperature, humidity, irrigation and CO2 requirements. Crop measurements, supplementary lighting, greenhouse climate screens, nutrient balance, integrated pest management and diseases including fungal and crop physiological disorders.