“The weather is always challenging, and especially when there’s a lot of rain, we have to be on the lookout for mold. Thanks to our experiences, we do not deal with many surprises, but weather-wise, there’s always something new”, says Bojana Momcilovic, director with Canexus. The Serbian cannabis company combines indoor, greenhouse, and open-field growing and has also ventured into providing construction and post-harvest services. In collaboration with Agrikol, Canexus is offering consultancy and turnkey solutions for the cannabis market abroad. Despite the regulatory challenges and slow market growth, Canexus remains optimistic about its future prospects and aims to expand its product range while exploring opportunities for export.
Developments within the cannabis industry might be slow, but for the team with Serbian cannabis company Canexus that actually is not too bad, Bojana says. “The market might not be growing fast, but we also see fewer prosperities entering the market as a lot of legal requirements, investments, and knowledge is required. We’ve already been through that phase, so now we’re in a stable position and looking to expand our product range.” Previously, the company was actually the only certified cannabis-growing company in the country. “Now there’s more, but they offer different products.”
Canexus itself mainly produces dried cannabis flowers for the Serbian adult market, as due to regulatory requirements, the medicinal market in Serbia is still closed. “We hope it will change in the upcoming years, but we expect it will take some time.” Another regulatory challenge for Canexus is they only can grow a few strains of cannabis. “This is why we’re currently working with one strain only. This year we hope to get two more that are currently being approved in Serbia, so we can expand our offerings with oil or tea.”
In addition, the company is looking to export their products to Montenegro, and for more long-term, also Switzerland and Bulgaria are of interest, Bojana says. “We want to broaden our product range to first satisfy the Serbian market and then look to export our products.”
Currently, Canexus grows in three ways: they operate an indoor facility and a glasshouse for high-quality flowers and are able to harvest from a one hectare field. “The biggest challenge in growing always is the plants, as you never know what will happen in the weather and how the plants will react to it. We’ve been growing for many years, so there aren’t many surprises in the crops, but weather-wise there’s always something new. This year offered a lot of rain in spring, so we hope it will be drier in fall as the rain increases the risk of mold. Inside we can control the climate better, of course, and reduce the humidity in the plants, but outside, this is a challenge for sure.” The indoor-grown produce is used for their Amnesia brand, with the open field and glasshouse production being used for Lemon Haze. “Our harvest from the open field takes place in November, by the end of the fall, which is why we hope the fall will be a bit drier than last year,” Bojana says. “In the glasshouse, we can harvest twice per year easily, even more, if you spend more on energy, but we’re also continuously looking for the balance between the costs and the price.”
Expanding the greenhouse and the indoor facilities were previously on the agenda, says consultant Nikola Petkovic, “but as we’re currently dealing with high energy costs, we’ve postponed this for now. Especially for the higher priced, indoor grown product, the market only grows slowly, and we do not want to create an oversupply.”
Yet, the company is still engaged in building activities as together with building company Agrikol, Canexus is helping to kickstart two projects in Portugal. “With Agrikol, we have a lot of experience in building greenhouse projects efficiently, and with Canexus, we can add our knowledge of the plants and of the cannabis market. With the challenging times the industry is currently going through, it’s even more important to know what you are doing, which is why we offer consultancy services to growers worldwide. Starting your business in the most efficient way is of vital importance for the success of the company later on.”
For more information:
Canexus
info@canexus.rs
www.canexus.rs