ZA: First two shipments of tissue culture plantlets from Vancouver arrived at South African MMJ grower

Segra International's first shipment of 700 tissue culture plantlets arrived in South Africa this week, making TiTi Medical one of the first licensed producers to begin cannabis cultivation in South Africa. The second shipment of more than 1,500 plantlets will be sent in March. The companies have entered into an agreement where Segra will supply cannabis tissue culture plantlets for cultivation at TiTi Medical’s licensed facilities under a long-term licensing agreement. Through this partnership, the companies have collaborated to select premium cultivars specifically suited for TiTi’s state-of-the-art production systems and establish a recurring production schedule for full provision of young plantlets from Segra for both indoor and greenhouse operations.

Through leveraging Segra’s proprietary clean stock cannabis tissue culture production technologies and global air-freight shipping capacity, TiTi Medical will take full advantage of Segra’s nursery production abilities and receive small bare-root plantlets on a recurring basis similar to other high value globally distributed crops. The validated international shipping format developed by Segra allows over 1,000 small plantlets to be packaged in a single insulated box with a four-day shelf life. This makes transit from Segra’s production facility in Vancouver to any location in the world a cost-effective and scalable option for producers.

Segra’s CEO Jamie Blundell commented, “This agreement and successful first shipment represent a landmark moment for Segra, demonstrating our ability to smoothly fulfill clean stock cannabis plantlet orders from our lab in Vancouver to literally any corner of the globe.” Blundell continued, “Our distribution model is nothing new, and builds upon a well-established global regulatory system developed by agricultural titans such as Dole Fruit and Driscoll’s companies where clean stock tissue culture plants can move freely internationally in full compliance with phytosanitary import restrictions. Furthermore, contrary to the huge hurdles cannabis licensed producers face attempting to export dry flower and formulary cannabis products, our young plant products are being welcomed by federal regulators in emerging cannabis markets who see the critical importance that their nation’s growers have access to clean stock from top-performing cultivars against the backdrop of an increasingly competitive cannabis industry landscape.”      

“We are incredibly excited to be working with innovative partners like Segra to secure high-quality production cultivars,” said Woody Chammas, founder of TiTi Medical. “By ensuring that all plants entering our facility arrive as clean stock directly from tissue culture, we can guarantee our customers high quality and consistent product while dramatically mitigating the risk of pathogens within the operation. We are looking forward to growing this first batch of premium cultivars and to continued collaboration with Segra to further optimize our genetic portfolio.”