Xebra Brands Ltd. (CSE: XBRA) (OTCQB: XBRAF) (FSE: 9YC), has announced that it has successfully cultivated and harvested its first cannabis crop in the Netherlands.
Samples were collected by the Dutch government's Bureau of Medicinal Cannabis , last Friday March 25th. The crop consisted of high THC ±22% cannabis flower, and flower with balanced THC ±6% and CBD± 8%.
"We have demonstrated our operational excellence, with the delivery of our first trial crop on budget and on time," commented Rodrigo Gallardo, President of Xebra. "We are extremely optimistic and confident as we now enter into the next phase of the cannabis cultivation pilot trial," further commented Mr. Gallardo.
Xebra is 1 of only 5 companies to be selected by the Dutch government for the medicinal cannabis cultivation pilot trial.
Xebra is trying to be awarded 1 of 2 licenses, providing government guaranteed revenues for each company of a minimum of ~US$80 million (€70.5 million), to supply all pharma-grade cannabis to be sold though pharmacies in the Netherlands.
The selection process includes submitting samples from three cannabis trial crops, so they can be evaluated for certain criteria, including consistency and technical parameters. The deadline for the first crop was March 29, 2022. The deadline for submission of the second crop is September 19, 2022, and March 6, 2023, for the third and final crop. A detailed business plan must also be provided to Dutch authorities by November 14, 2022. The announcement of provisional award decision by the Dutch government is scheduled for April 3, 2023, with commencement of a Framework Agreement for commercial operations planned for May 1, 2023.
Cultivation in the Netherlands is conducted in Xebra's indoor facility.
Xebra's specific genetic varieties are characterized by high production, compact flowers of excellent quality and fine tasting terpene profiles, with a growth cycle of 12-16 weeks.
Xebra's Director of Operations in the Netherlands, Harry von Duijne, is a cannabis horticulture expert with more than two decades of horticulture experience. He had a leading role at Bedrocan NL® from 2014 and 2017, where he was responsible for managing every aspect of operations of a state-of-the-art cannabis facility, from construction through cultivation and processing, quality management, and GMP certification. Bedrocan® produces medicinal-grade cannabis under contract for the Dutch Ministry of Health as the only licensed producer in the Netherlands, and for many years was the only licenced producer in all of Europe.