World Breeders, a cannabis seed company with who is making good on its promise to export seeds worldwide, has three founders, and it’s taken them all to shape the trajectory they have now—from working in cannabis on the “underground side,” as co-director Gorka Cid Luaces says, to an enterprise with operations on three continents and the momentum to fulfill their ambitions.
Jon Urriola Rementeria—responsible for seed development, genetics and research—was growing tomatoes for Spanish supermarkets before he switched to Hierba with the emergence of the first “cannabis associations” in the País Vasco, Spain’s northeast Basque Country. Leandro García Rodriguez handles client and concept development, while Cid Luaces is responsible for overall management of the company. García Rodriguez is originally from Seville, while Rementeria and Cid Luaces are native to the Basque Country.
Rementeria and Cid Luaces first came together in GreenFarm Éibar, which was among the first cannabis associations in Euskadi, as the País Vasco is known in the Basque language. The local police were informed. They worked in both a greenhouse and an outdoor area to produce flower for the association.
Cid says, “The GreenFarm experience marked our entrance into the cannabis business.” The experience was both rewarding and stressful. The psychological impact of working constantly on the brink of legality is significant.
GreenFarm is a member of the Federation of Cannabis User Associations of Euskadi, which sets standards and rules for an industry operating within a legal grey area. The regulations permitted private cultivation by the associations, but restricted members’ consumption to only two grams per person per day on club grounds. As these restrictions were unsustainable, several associations shut down during the 2020 pandemic. The sector has never recovered. Associations continue to thrive in the regions of Catalonia and Andalusia, but regional authorities in País Vasco cracked down, with some clubs busted and herb confiscated.
GreenFarm’s veterans entered the commercial sector, anticipating a growing market in the recreational space as policies liberalized across Europe. World Breeders was registered as a seed company in the Czech Republic in 2019, though they had already been working with third partner García Rodriguez from Medical Weed Sevilla, one of the first associations in Andalusia’s southern region, for some time with different companies.
The trio decided to produce in Colombia, a country that is booming. Cannabis had been decriminalized there since 1994 and medical marijuana was legalized in December 2015 by decree of then-president Juan Manuel Santos—who would the following year win the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating peace with the guerillas. In 2016, Colombian Congress approved the commercial cultivation of cannabis under government licence. This was in conjunction with a historic peace agreement.
“We knew we wanted to continue working in the cannabis industry—it’s our passion, and our professional path,” Cid says. We were also clear about the fact that we needed to operate within a legal environment. Colombia gave us the opportunity to work under licenses with transparent regulations, and to scale up genetics production and development without any legal uncertainties. “That’s why, we made the jump and set up our operations in Colombia.”
World Breeders will build its indoor/greenhouse mixed production facility in Antioquia, in the northwestern region of the nation. Guarne is a beautiful mountain village in the Andes. Their first greenhouses are there. The production began in January 2020 and the licensed export to Spain started that same year.
They had trouble adapting the seed stocks to new conditions, such as higher altitudes and acidic water and soil. Operations later moved to Ebéjico, on the outskirts of the Medellín metropolitan area, where the altitude is lower and the climate warmer.
The conditions here are extraordinary. Light offers 12 hours per day of sunlight and 12 hours at night. Cid says that the 1,400 meter altitude above sea level is “ideal” for complex terpene profile.
Their website states: “We have spent years selecting and developing genetics, paying meticulous attention to detail.”
As a seedbank that markets genetic creations for specialty growers to the public, Clementine Slush is one of nine varieties available. Other names include Fizzy Gum or Pink Truffle. Cid is proud of the accuracy in these descriptions. Cid assures, “If I say that it tastes like Clementine then it does taste like Clementine.”
La Hokuzan was developed by Hidden Group Genetics in Barcelona. Catalan Group had its indica heavy hybrid Hokuzai which World Breeders crossed their Fizzy Gum with for more of a fruity and sparkling feel.
Just coming online is Pilot, developed in conjunction with Spanish rapper JC Reyes, combining his favorite traits—a three-way cross of Pink Watermelon x Jokerz x WB Bubba.
World Breeders has also been working closely with farmers in Morocco’s Rif Mountains to develop triploid seeds. Triploid strains have three sets of chromosomes, as opposed to the traditional diploid varieties with two sets—one from each parent plant. They do not collect pollen so they don’t make seeds. Most of the bananas that we consume are triploid, and so too is seedless watermelon. The reason this is so important in cannabis is that a female plant which has not been fertilized, will continue secreting resin for the duration of the growing season. This happens even if male plants are in close proximity. Triploid lines could revolutionize the Rif’s centuries-old hashish tradition and be beneficial to all growers.
Cid says, “We are confident that the new genetic line of World Breeders will be a major step forward in cannabis development. It will establish World Breeders’ position as the benchmark in innovation and quality for the industry.”
Cid refers to the recent developments in Portugal and Germany that have allowed adult-use cannabis cultivation. Cid says, “What started as a vision of the World Breeders Team is now a solidified reality.”
This story was originally published in issue 52 of the print edition of Cannabis Now.