Picture time! Yesterday the European Cannabis Symposium took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Over 400 people gathered for the first-of-its-kind symposium, discussing the challenges and opportunities in the European cannabis and hemp market.
Check out the photo report here
The event kicked off Sunday evening with networking drinks - something very welcome in a relatively new industry, looking for new connections and relationships. At the event growers, extractors and investors from Europe and abroad were welcomed, and also many suppliers found their way to the event. Best represented amongst the sponsors were various lighting suppliers - even though technical insights on growing cannabis were not on the program.
The conference was organised by MJBizDaily. Known for their B2B cannabis events in the US, they dove in the evolving European market. With currently mainly consumer-focused events being organised in Europe, the 400 visitors proved to welcome this idea.
In the morning the developments in the EU market were discussed, including a vivid keynote by the Danish minister of Health, focusing on the value of the industry for patients.
The afternoon breakout sessions were divided in Business & Investing Opportunities, Policy, Regulations & Industry Structures and Science & Tech. With growers from all over the globe participating in various panel discussions, it became clear that growers all over are dealing with the same issues: complying with the GMP rules and finding a market for your product. Whereas most growers said to be in advantage thanks to their already built up knowledge of the rules and the market, the fear for competition is present and overproduction is mentioned - also since there’s much unclarity about the rules they comply to regarding both growing and exporting. It will be interesting to see how the market develops in the next couple of years.