After a packed two-day event, the ICBC came to an end yesterday. It's now time for our usual photo report. We know you're looking forward to seeing the slew of smiling faces that brightened up the show floor. But first, let's recap the event and try to draw some conclusions about the current sentiment in the industry. Or you can go to the bottom of this article to directly get the link to our photo report.
The Fluence team at ICBC
Since Germany regulated adult-use cannabis in April 2024, things have been rolling differently in Europe. While this was something that the entire cannabis industry and community were excited about, the German model ultimately isn't really about the free market - it's more about harm reduction. This model has also been largely adopted by other countries in Europe that have regulated adult use - Malta, for instance. Cannabis clubs in Germany, while they certainly provide their customer base with cannabis products, are bound to remain small - far from those flashy operations in North America. This doesn't mean there aren't opportunities in the German adult-use space, but they are unlikely to be as big as one might hope.
© MMJDailyRoyal Queen Seeds
The biggest opportunities in Europe lie in the medical market - and Germany is the largest European medical cannabis market. The April 2024 regulations made it easier to access medical cannabis, and imports into the country quickly skyrocketed. It seems demand is growing, and with that, so is the demand for high-quality cannabis.
Focus on high-quality and clean cannabis was indeed one of the main themes and talking points during the ICBC. It was particularly nice to see growers from outside Europe promoting their products for the local market. All in all, the balance between equipment suppliers and growers felt quite good, which helped make the show nicely diverse.
Speaking of cultivation, there seemed to be considerable discontent about the amount of low-quality cannabis being imported into Europe. Given the super stringent standards of the European market, this mainly means that a lot of the cannabis reaching the old continent is irradiated, which doesn't make for a good experience for patients. It was no surprise, then, to see some suppliers showcasing solutions to lower the microbial content of cannabis, such as a decontamination machine that uses steam.
© MMJDailyHi NuSierra!
Speaking of solutions, you could see an assortment we are all now used to. Once considered cutting-edge, these technologies now represent the industry standard. Vertical racks, LEDs, growing containers, and so forth were all on display for growers and potential growers to explore.
© MMJDailyCielo Verde from Canada showed their offerings
The atmosphere was that of a major occasion, with a market poised to grow both in terms of demand and product offerings. If regulations can keep pace with the excitement in the industry, there's certainly plenty to look forward to. The cannabis industry isn't known for moving at a consistent pace when it comes to legislation - and Europe is especially notorious for that. What the cannabis industry excels at, however, is building momentum and following through, and ICBC 2025 in Berlin demonstrated exactly that.
Enough rambling now - it's picture time!