{"id":36195,"date":"2019-06-18T05:00:39","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T13:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2019\/06\/18\/dutch-passion-spreads-the-seeds\/"},"modified":"2019-06-18T12:37:11","modified_gmt":"2019-06-18T20:37:11","slug":"dutch-passion-spreads-the-seeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2019\/06\/18\/dutch-passion-spreads-the-seeds\/","title":{"rendered":"Dutch Passion Spreads the Seeds"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

In 1997, a man named Henk van Dalen found \u201cthe Holy Grail.\u201d
\nStarting in the 1970s, he\u2019d grown his own cannabis, opened an Amsterdam
\ncoffeeshop and founded one of the world\u2019s first cannabis seed banks, but he
\nknew he was also capable of achieving a long-anticipated goal for cannabis
\nbreeding: discovering how to create feminized seeds.<\/p>\n

When van Dalen bred those first feminized seeds in 1997, he solidified his seed bank, Dutch Passion<\/a>, as a pioneer in the international cannabis industry. Today, it\u2019s been more than two decades since the invention of feminized seeds and the cannabis industry has new holy grails to chase \u2014 but van Dalen and Dutch Passion are still here chasing.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
Dutch Passion\u2019s Shaman. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

I met Dutch Passion\u2019s head of genetics and new territories, Mahmoud Hanachi, at the legendary cannabis author Ed Rosenthal\u2019s<\/a> home garden on a brisk Bay Area winter morning. Hanachi was visiting California from Amsterdam and looking to meet new potential business partners. In a crisp white button-up, faded jeans and white sneakers, Hanachi appeared the quintessential new school European cannabis businessman, and his sensibility matched. He\u2019d woken up early, taken advantage of the time difference to get some work done and called his wife and children back home.<\/p>\n

When we talked in Rosenthal\u2019s garden, over a cup of tea and a smoke, Hanachi spoke about the cannabis industry with a clear-eyed candor. He joked about the ridiculous nature of cannabis laws around the globe (for example, in Austria, it is legal to grow cannabis as an ornamental plant, but not to harvest and sell the flower you\u2019ve grown), but noted that the rest of the world is increasingly challenging America\u2019s prohibition hegemony<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe future is definitely going toward worldwide
\nlegalization,\u201d Hanachi said. \u201cSome places will move faster than others, but
\nit\u2019s just a matter of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, as squirrels played in a nearby tree, Hanachi gave a
\nglimpse into what Dutch Passion\u2019s new holy grail might be: a truly global,
\nrecognizable cannabis flower brand, sold legally around the world.<\/p>\n

Canada & Beyond <\/h4>\n

When it comes to the legal global cannabis market, all roads pretty much pass through Canada<\/a>. For the past three years, Dutch Passion has been working on entering the Canadian market, and by 2018, they legally exported their seeds to many of Canada\u2019s Licensed Producers. Hanachi says Dutch Passion is one of the only commercial cannabis seed companies that has been able to navigate the complex government regulations in Holland to get the necessary phytosanitary certificates to legally export their seeds.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
Dutch Passion\u2019s Passion #1. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

But, perhaps most interestingly, Dutch Passion is now moving
\nbeyond simply selling seeds. The company now also has branded pre-rolls and
\ncannabis flowers for sale through one Canadian producer, Weed Me \u2014 and those
\nproducts are sold in the same packaging as the Dutch Passion pre-rolls and
\nflower they now have for sale in Italy, where cannabis with less than 0.6
\npercent THC is legal for sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re using the same packaging in Italy as Canada, because we want to have uniformity across the world,\u201d Hanachi said. \u201cIn the future, if the U.S. opens up, we\u2019d want to use the same packaging here.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he added that Dutch Passion doesn\u2019t have much interest in the U.S. hemp market, where \u2014 unless the FDA releases regulations limiting the sale of hemp flower with less than 0.3 percent THC<\/a> \u2014 it is likely that a new legal market will develop rapidly this year.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
Dutch Passion\u2019s The Ultimate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cFor us, [hemp] wouldn\u2019t be that interesting,\u201d Hanachi said.
\n\u201cWe are recreational breeders and we have always bred recreational strains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dutch Passion is certainly not the only cannabis company to
\nbe eyeing global expansion, with Canadian firms acquiring the top brass in
\npro-cannabis U.S. states almost every day and a handful of cultivating
\ncompanies expanding to newly legal countries like Colombia, Lesotho and
\nMacedonia. But given their unique position as a legal seed bank that can move
\ntheir genetics across international borders, as well as their OG legacy in the
\nindustry, Dutch Passion could be the first to set up a recognizable and legal
\ncannabis product line that \u2014 like so many other products in our increasingly
\nglobalized world \u2014 is exactly the same on one side of the planet as the other.<\/p>\n

Strain Symphony<\/h4>\n

When it comes to the actual flower being sold, the
\nAmsterdam-based seed company is still focused on developing new seed lines. In
\nJanuary, they released four new strains, all of them featuring genetics
\ngarnering hype on the American side of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s Meringue, a sweet cross between Wedding Cake and
\nAnimal Cookies. There\u2019s Mokum\u2019s Tulip, a frosty Gelato and Sherbet cross, and
\nan autoflowering version of their award-winning Lemon Zkittlez. And finally,
\nthere\u2019s HiFi 4G, an interesting cross between a North American cut of WiFi OG
\nand Dutch Passion\u2019s best European-style OG, Glueberry OG.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
Dutch Passion\u2019s Critical Orange Punch. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cSmoking HiFi 4G makes the experience of listening to music
\na different kind of thing,\u201d Hanachi says, lifting his hands up over his torso.
\n\u201cYou feel your body uptake the music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanachi says that they intentionally bred a top American OG with a top European OG in order to bring together two different terpene<\/a> profiles and create a new flavor palate.<\/p>\n

Dutch Passion\u2019s seed relationship with Weed Me currently only flows in one direction, with Dutch Passion sending seeds to Canada. But soon, Hanachi says that they\u2019re going to have a partnership in Canada where they can grow out their own strains and phenohunt on a large scale.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
Dutch Passion\u2019s Frisian Dew. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cRight now, we are working in our political climate in
\nHolland, which is still underground, more or less,\u201d Hanachi says, referencing
\nHolland\u2019s \u201cbackdoor problem,\u201d whereby it is legal to have cannabis seeds and
\nsell cannabis in coffeeshops, but not legal to grow on a large scale. \u201cWith the
\npartnership we are building in Canada, we can work at a faster pace and breed
\nfor different cannabinoid levels. There are some interesting times still ahead
\nof us.\u201d<\/p>\n

TELL US<\/strong>, have you ever grown cannabis from seed? <\/p>\n

Originally published in Issue 36 of Cannabis Now. LEARN MORE<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The post Dutch Passion Spreads the Seeds<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\n
\nRead More: Dutch Passion Spreads the Seeds<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1997, a man named Henk van Dalen found \u201cthe Holy Grail.\u201d Starting in the 1970s, he\u2019d grown his own cannabis, opened an Amsterdam coffeeshop and founded one of the world\u2019s first cannabis seed banks, but he knew he was also capable of achieving a long-anticipated goal for cannabis breeding:Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":36196,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[59,50,3878,1724,5,10401,115,6899,10402,85,4621,9548,10403,107],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36195"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36197,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36195\/revisions\/36197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}