All the roads lead to cannabis, or something like that, I guess. It is the role of proverbs to be applied to different facets of life, so no hard feelings towards the Roman Empire. That is anyway the long story short that would summarize one of Scale's founders Cyrus Renfrew's career. At the same time, one may say that his approach is the embodiment of "look before you leap". "I started in this industry growing CBD in Spain," he recounts. "I always wanted to get into the THC side of things, but 10–11 years ago, it was just not worth it. But mainly, I wanted to navigate that space first while fully aware this was just a first step." A quite successful first step, even, as Cyrus used to run one of the biggest CBD operations in Spain.
When he felt the time was ripe, he moved back to the UK and tried to set up a cannabis R&D operation. Yet, another obstacle. Just to apply for a license, the UK authorities were making it impossible. It was then that Cyrus stumbled upon a pattern that would present itself repeatedly in his cannabis journey. The system was technically open, but practically hostile.
The next cannabis round was up then, and Cyrus moved to Thailand, and as he started operating in the local cannabis scene, that old pattern once again showed up. "The serious players were not happy with COAs from Thailand," he says. At that point, Cyrus had built a good team with the company in hand, yet found himself having to explain the context around it more than the product itself. "It became clear that having a compliant farm was not enough," he adds. "You also needed to be in the right place, with the right political language around you."
© ScaleCyrus Renfrew
Landing in South Africa
That place, eventually, turned out to be South Africa. Or, more precisely, the regulatory ecosystem surrounding it. Commonwealth structures, clearer export pathways into the EU and the UK, and fewer raised eyebrows when documents landed on the wrong desk. Cyrus did not make that move alone. Johan Claassens, Director at Scale, who had been running a smaller farm in Thailand, became central at this stage. "South Africa already had the channels," Johan explains. "You did not need to invent them, just learn how to operate inside them."
As is tradition in horticulture, so not just cannabis, the shift did not materialize overnight. Cyrus and Johan approached an existing facility and brought in a cultivation team from California to assess what could realistically be achieved. "We wanted to see where the ceiling actually was," Cyrus says. Over the course of that collaboration, Scale began benchmarking itself against growers rather than against market narratives. "The numbers that came out of it were solid, if not sensational," he remarks. "Just under 30% THC, terpene content approaching 2.5-3%." quite unheard of considering that the plants only receive water during the flowering stage.
Cyrus is quick to point out that high numbers may be nice, but that is not enough when you are servicing patients with potentially life changing medicines. "We are trying to win on consistency." And that obviously starts with the plant, and how it is cultivated. Living soil, natural sunlight, and a patented soil system developed internally. "We do not feed the plants," he repeats more than once. "We feed the soil."
© Scale
Cultivation at Scale
It is an approach that works under very specific conditions, and certainly not for not super expert growers or for the faint of heart. 630 meters of elevation, reliable underground water access, and a retractable greenhouse structure designed to manage radiation peaks without relying on power intensive cooling systems. "You can stand inside while it is forty degrees outside," Cyrus says. "No power, no wet wall." Retractable roofs are mainly used in berry cultivation, and Cyrus is very much aware he is doing something only a few cannabis growers are. "There are not many cannabis growers around using retractable roofs. It is an incredible technology, and I am constantly amazed by what we can achieve with it."
One may then wonder how Cyrus and Scale protect plants from pests and pathogens. The answer is again the proprietary living soil they use. "When the plant is healthy, there is very little to attack," he explains. "And what does attack, you can usually manage biologically."
Remediation and cold plasma
Considering the very strict microbial limit requirements, some growers have to remediate their cannabis to export it to a specific country. However, Ebeam remediation is very badly regarded by patients, because it ruins the product to a point.
Special Ozone Technology has been used and has been effective in regards to regulations, something that the industry has not heard of,"although very effective it is a very slow and costly process". says Johan. "At scale, that is just not realistic."
© Scale
Cold plasma offered a faster alternative. Introduced through an external system and later refined, it became part of Scale's toolkit. At the same time, Cyrus believes COAs should be more nuanced, and distinguish between actually bad and good bacteria. Through contacts in Canada, Cyrus was introduced to a scientist working on what they refer to as a bacteria passport. The concept is rather simple. "Tell beneficial bacteria from harmful ones, quantify them, and present microbial load as a composition rather than a total. The idea is to understand bacteria." Whether regulators are ready for that distinction remains uncertain, and Cyrus seems aware of that.
Patient work runs alongside the commercial story, sometimes intersecting, sometimes diverging. Scale has been involved in patient advocacy for years, providing formulations and tracking responses in cases where conventional treatments had limited effect. "We have always been active in getting patients medicine either free or at very low cost," They said. Scale played a role in shaping parts of the UK medical cannabis landscape, and later supported foundation work aimed at reducing access barriers.
Scaling
On the genetics side, Johan explains that Scale partnered with an Israeli contact of Cyrus, granting access to a seed bank of roughly three hundred strains. This year, collaborations with a very well known American company will see Scale break ground in Botswana, marking its formal entry into that market. "We needed an option to facilitate that move," he adds.
By October, Scale plans to bring an indoor facility online under a long term agreement. "We will not own the site ourselves, but we have an agreement to run the place indefinitely." Cyrus explains that this facility chose them to exclusively run the indoor cultivation because of the shared values between the two companies. "We have the right ethics behind the plant," he says.
After years walking different roads to find the way to cannabis, the sector has finally taken notice. Just a few days ago, Cyrus was awarded a cannabis industry recognition prize. "And this is not one you pay for," he says. "This tells me I am on the right path."
© Scale
Partnerships
Scale has built a broad and deliberately international partnership network, reflecting its belief that medical cannabis progress depends on collaboration rather than isolation. Its partners include Seven Blades, Product Earth Health, Ninth Wave, Cannaflex Morocco, White Lion, Hidden Valley Genetics, I Am Billy, Charlotte Caldwell, and CCB Folia.
Among these, one of the most strategically significant collaborations may be with Auricanna. While relatively new to the German market, Auricanna's partnership with Scale is built around a shared philosophy: that medical cannabis should be approached with pharmaceutical discipline, agricultural integrity, and patient outcomes as the primary benchmark. Together, the two companies aim to demonstrate, at an international level, what a truly medical-first cannabis model can look like in practice.
For more information:
Scale
Johan C. (Director) +660801011807
Cyrus R. (CEO) +447435495206
[email protected]
[email protected]
scale-int.com
