Jeroen Sanders, representing Vertify

Added on 05 May 2023

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Last month, we kicked off a series of articles about the Cultivation for Compounds (CfC) consortium. The CfC is a four-year research project and representation program committed to cannabis cultivation. This article is the second of this series. This time we interviewed Jeroen Sanders, Researcher and Project Manager at Vertify.

Working at Vertify for 16 years, Jeroen told us about the company’s background and activities; “we are a practical research institute and we have 4 locations in the Netherlands. On 3 of these locations we have a modern greenhouse facility. There we conduct varying agricultural trials about many different subjects with various crops. It can be about fertilization, crop control, new cultivation techniques, climate, and more”. It was around 3 years ago when Vertify decided for the first time that they wanted to conduct research on cannabis. “It is not easy to get a permit and start to work with this plant. We acquired the permit together with the support of Cultivators, but it took us 2 years until we finally got the license from the government. We had to do a lot for it to happen, including renovating our facility.” Jeroen shared that a renovation was needed to comply with all regulations surrounding cannabis cultivation in the Netherlands. One of the key changes, among others, was security. Vertify had to make sure that the cannabis cultivation area was closed-off from the rest of the facility and could not be seen from the outside. They also installed extra cameras, alarms, and more. “I think we have a really nice facility. We are considering expanding the licensed area we have for cannabis with perhaps two or three extra compartments.”

Since both medicinal and recreational cannabis is legalized more and more globally, combined with the Dutch history in cannabis, this was the right time to start with a project such as CfC, Jeroen explained. “Together with World Horti Center and Cultivators, we took the initiative for this project. Worldwide, the Dutch horticulture sector is a market leader in many crops and technologies, as well as many Dutch suppliers who are present and in the global cannabis industry. Yet, with CfC, we have the opportunity to show the world that we are world leaders also in that industry, on a high professional level. And it is not only that, as Vertify, we have many years of experience working with a wide range of crops, and we can easily include cannabis. But the best part of the CfC is that we have companies who are leaders in the industry partnering for this important research. Having a consortium that involves all these professionals allows us to create a discussion between people who are the best in what they are doing, and this is a great formula to gain further knowledge.”