Key Insights from Mary Jane Berlin x Business of Cannabis’ Inaugural B2B Day

European Cannabis Week 2025 has officially begun, seeing thousands of Europe’s cannabis thought leaders, innovators and decision makers descend on Berlin’s vast Messe Berlin for the first day of Mary Jane Berlin. 

This year, for the first time, Business of Cannabis has partnered with Mary Jane to launch a dedicated Business-to-Business Day, for a unique opportunity to foster collaboration, drive innovation and explore the emerging opportunities across the European cannabis market. 

With the German cannabis market projected to reach €1.7 billion by 2028, according to the recently released Prohibition Partners German Cannabis Report, the event will provide a critical platform for international cannabis businesses to engage with local stakeholders and gain insights into the new regulatory framework and commercial opportunities emerging in Germany.

We’ll be reporting throughout the day to bring you a roundup of the key insights from the panels as they happen.

Expanding Beyond Borders – Strategies for International Growth

How cannabis companies can navigate complex international regulations, especially in Europe, and build sustainable market entry strategies.

UK Market Outlook

• Robert Jappie (Fieldfisher) noted that UK market growth has been slow — around 70,000–80,000 patients over seven years — but key barriers are now easing. He expects significant growth ahead.

• UK is often overlooked in favour of Germany, but Jappie believes it’s not far behind and presents real opportunity.

• Branding is playing a growing role in the UK, particularly for Canadian products — consumers are willing to pay for trusted names.

• Karan Wadhera (Casa Verde) remarked how few people in the UK realise that medical cannabis is already legal. This is largely due to advertising restrictions, though companies are increasingly finding workarounds.

Global Strategy & Brand Building

• Jürgen Bickel (STORZ & BICKEL) said his company has shipped to over 120 countries. In his 25 years in the sector, progress has always been slow, but it consistently moves forward.

• Every market is “interesting,” with Germany, Australia, and now the UK offering strong opportunities.

• Due to strict marketing rules, social media and digital channels (like podcasts and Instagram) are essential for building brand identity in cannabis.

Clinics, Patient Retention & M&A

• Jappie identified patient acquisition as the biggest opportunity in the UK. The rest of the supply chain is already crowded.

• Clinics that target the cannabis-naive population are seeing the best growth and are increasingly attractive for investment.

• Poor patient retention was a major reason for early UK stagnation.

• Bickel agreed that telemedicine has improved access but not retention. He added that compliance, while costly, is a critical differentiator in M&A deals.

• New medical device regulations and licensing requirements make operations more complex — but those who manage them well stand out.

 Regulation & Cultural Normalisation

• Yuval Soiref (Green Success 1.0) said success often comes down to being first and being smart — citing STORZ & BICKEL as an example.

• Jappie warned that lack of regulatory clarity invites risk-taking. In Germany, for example, the telemedicine boom may now be attracting stricter scrutiny from regulators.

• Bickel stressed the need to normalise cannabis politically — legalisation in Germany is not the endpoint. Without ongoing advocacy, the industry could lose ground.

• Soiref agreed: continued regulatory progress is essential, both for business and for patient access.

Blurred Lines – Where Medical and Recreational Cannabis Overlap

As Europe’s cannabis markets evolve, the division between medical and recreational use is becoming increasingly ambiguous — creating both opportunities and challenges for regulators, doctors, and businesses alike.

Medical vs. Recreational: A Shifting Divide

• Lisa Haag (MJ Universe GmbH) opened by noting that the challenge lies in the fact that it’s the same cannabis, but used by very different people — making it increasingly difficult to separate medical from recreational use in a meaningful way.
• Paul Furfaro (Village Farms International) shared lessons from Canada, where the cannabis market flipped dramatically after legalisation: what was once 85–90% medical is now overwhelmingly recreational. Despite this, he stressed the importance of protecting access for chronic illness patients, who rely on cannabis as a critical part of their care.
• Furfaro also emphasised that product positioning and messaging are now more important than ever, as marketing strategies often blur the lines between therapeutic and lifestyle use — creating potential confusion for consumers and regulators alike.

Self-Diagnosis and the Role of the Doctor

• Lisa Haag introduced the concept of “secret smokers” — individuals who bypass the medical system entirely, self-diagnosing and turning to recreational markets for what are effectively medical needs.
• Paul Furfaro warned that this trend contributes to misinformation and potential harm, as people often rely on anecdotal sources or unverified claims instead of professional medical advice. Without proper clinical guidance, dosing, and monitoring, outcomes can vary dramatically.

Cultural Gaps and Clinical Risks

• Big Narstie (Big Narstie Medical) offered a candid assessment of the UK’s medical cannabis landscape, arguing that a lack of training and support for doctors is one of the biggest barriers to access. Many GPs, he said, are hesitant to prescribe cannabis because they’re unfamiliar with it and fearful of professional consequences.
• He explained that this vacuum has allowed the recreational market to innovate rapidly, with product types, formats, and flavours that doctors rarely encounter. However, he maintained that the medical pathway remains the safer, more sustainable option — even if it’s not as user-friendly.
• “Cannabis is a medicine of taste,” he said, highlighting that unlike pills, cannabis requires individualised selection — something recreational platforms are currently better equipped to offer.

Platforms, Risk Mitigation & Regulation

• Dr. Jur Can Ansay (Dr. Ansay LTD) spoke about the German context, where telemedicine has become essential to patient access due to the scarcity of cannabis-literate physicians.
• He explained that his platform serves not just as a prescription service but also as a risk-mitigation tool, flagging issues like addiction risk — a feature he said remains rare in the industry.
• However, he noted that the ease of access has reached a new extreme: in some cases, patients can now obtain cannabis “as easily as ordering a pizza,” reflecting both progress and the urgent need for tighter clinical oversight.

Workshop Stage: Sizing Up the German Medical Cannabis Market – A Data and Numbers Deep Dive

  Pablo Zuanic, Managing Director, Zuanic and Associates, gives a detailed, data-rich analysis of Germany’s medical cannabis sector, exploring patient access, import volumes, pricing, and reimbursement,  along with the broader market forces shaping its future.

Market Insights & Qualitative Trends

• Zuanic emphasised that major data gaps persist across the European cannabis market, particularly in tracking imports, pharmacy-level sales, and product rejections.

• The German market continues to show signs of growing patient access, medical legitimacy, and investor potential, with cannabis increasingly viewed as a standard part of therapeutic care.

Import Volumes & Market Sizing

• Since CanG took effect, medical cannabis imports have increased fivefold, a strong indicator of rising demand and improved access infrastructure.

• Approximately 60% of imports are believed to reach pharmacies, with the remaining 40% lost or rejected, though questions remain about why so much does not make it to pharmacy.

• Based on available data, the estimated German market value using a €7/gram average is roughly €625 million. With higher volumes and pricing closer to €10/gram, that figure could exceed €1 billion.

Patient Penetration & Market Potential

• Active medical cannabis users are estimated to represent 0.4% of the German population, or roughly 338,000 patients, still far below North American benchmarks (~4%), but a strong starting point for long-term growth.

• If Germany were to reach North American levels of penetration, the market could be worth upwards of €70 billion, though Zuanic stressed that this is a directional benchmark rather than a strict forecast.

Cash vs. Reimbursed Prescriptions

• In H1 2024, medical cannabis reimbursement — excluding Epidyolex, dronabinol, and other pharma cannabinoids — totalled €68 million, a 13% year-on-year increase.

• Reimbursement is now estimated at €150 million annually, suggesting that around 20% of the market is covered by insurance, up from 10% previously.

• That leaves approximately 80% of the market as  cash pay

Product Mix & Treatment Shifts

• Extracts now account for 30% of the reimbursed market, while flower still dominates, making up an estimated 94% of total sales when combining both cash and reimbursed segments.

• Zuanic observed a gradual shift toward medical-focused prescriptions, and an increasing sophistication in how cannabis is being integrated into treatment plans, especially with more complex products.

Market Dynamics & Export Influence

• Stabilising cannabis prices are partly driven by export-oriented markets like Germany and Australia, which are helping create global price anchors.

• The increased focus on extracts and the emergence of telemedicine platforms are reshaping how cannabis is prescribed and accessed — particularly in Germany.

 Investment & Regulatory Outlook

• Germany presents clear upside potential for investors, especially as patient access improves and the sector becomes more structured.

• The normalisation of cannabis within the healthcare system is accelerating, even if regulation still lags behind actual patient demand.

• Zuanic concluded that the sector is shifting from uncertainty to increase legitimacy and maturity, but success depends on better data transparency, regulatory clarity, and cross-border learning from more established markets.

Building a Resilient Supply Chain – Balancing Domestic Production vs International Imports

As Germany’s cannabis sector matures, operators are rethinking how to structure their supply chains. This panel explored the trade-offs between local production and international sourcing, regulatory friction points, and strategies for long-term resilience.

Industry Foundation and Domestic Outlook

• Dirk Heitepriem (Cannabis Industry Association Germany) noted that Germany’s cannabis industry currently employs around 1,000 people, highlighting that it remains a small sector, but one that’s growing, creating jobs, and investing domestically in the midst of a broader economic recession.

• He emphasised that while political debate continues around adult-use and telemedicine, medical cannabis is now widely accepted, and its role within the healthcare system is no longer controversial.

Global Supply Chains and Strategic Imports

• Benedikt Sons (Cansativa Group) shared that all cannabis products Cansativa currently supplies to pharmacies are imported, a change accelerated by Germany’s new cannabis legislation.

• Key sourcing countries include Canada and Portugal, with Portugal offering logistical advantages due to its EU membership.

• Sons stressed the value of diversifying supplier networks: rather than relying on in-house cultivation alone, sourcing from 15+ countries provides security and scalability, a model he believes is more robust than vertical dependency.

GMP Washing & Regulatory Friction

• Laura Ramos (CannaReporter) opened a discussion on the contentious practice of “GMP washing” the repackaging or partial processing of cannabis to meet Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.

• Benedikt Sons explained that moving cannabis from Good Agricultural and Collection Practice (GACP) to GMP depends on local regulatory interpretation.

• Vladimir Kofcegarski (PharmCann Deutschland AG) predicted that regulators will tighten controls, moving toward a “one roof GMP” model in which all stages including, cultivation, processing, packaging occur within a single certified facility. He warned this shift will be challenging for many producers.

• Dirk Heitepriem cautioned against the term “GMP washing,” arguing that GMP standards were not designed with cannabis in mind, and instead called for a pragmatic conversation about how quality should be measured in this unique sector.

Regulation, Harmonisation & Market Maturity

• Heitepriem said that regulatory maturity remains uneven across Europe, with countries like New Zealand and Poland enforcing very strict controls, while EU-wide consensus on medical cannabis remains far off.

• Still, collaboration is growing, with regulators in liberalising countries increasingly in conversation across borders, according to Zoë Reece (ORA Pharm).

Access & Telemedicine

• On the topic of telemedicine, Benedikt Sons acknowledged its value, especially for rural and underserved patients, but raised concerns about over-accessibility, suggesting a need for balanced regulation, advocacy, and education to ensure responsible use.

Feeling the Pinch – Has Pricing Compression Already Begun in Germany?

While Germany’s medical cannabis market is booming in volume and value, early signs of price compression are raising concerns about margins, sustainability, and the long-term viability of smaller players. This panel brought together the CEOs of three of Germany’s largest cannabis companies to explore how they’re responding to increased competition, pricing pressures, and looming regulatory changes.

Volume Up, Margins Down

• Francesco Baganz (Remexian) noted a sharp increase in exports over the past year, with no signs of slowdown. However, he acknowledged that the surge in supply has outpaced demand, forcing producers to drop prices to stay competitive.

• The number of SKUs on the market has jumped from 20 to 200 since Germany’s reclassification, a sign of growing complexity, but also a fragmented and crowded market.

• Deepak Anand cautioned that SKU growth doesn’t necessarily equate to sales growth, especially with such saturation.

Entering the Value Segment

• Torsten Greif (Four 20 Pharma) confirmed that price compression is already underway. With many players trying to meet stringent GMP standards and all competing to supply a limited number of pharmacies, competition has intensified.

• Four 20 Pharma, once positioned as a premium “Gold Standard” brand, has now entered the value segment to stay competitive, a significant shift in strategy driven by pricing pressure.

Market Dynamics: Between Pharma and FMCG

• Albert Schwarzmeier (enua) described the German cannabis market as having the pricing pressure of an FMCG market with the regulation of a pharmaceutical one — a uniquely difficult mix to navigate.

• With 80% of patients paying out-of-pocket, price sensitivity is especially high. Schwarzmeier predicted smaller players will be priced out, leading to increased M&A activity as consolidation becomes inevitable.

Working Capital & Survival Strategy

• Working capital management is now mission-critical. Schwarzmeier explained that Four 20 ensures constant product availability by maintaining strategic stock levels — key for building trust with pharmacies and patients.

• With cannabis as an organic product prone to supply swings, capital flexibility is essential for navigating oversupply and shortfalls.

Telemedicine & Regulatory Forecast

• The panel broadly agreed that regulatory tightening is coming, particularly around telemedicine and prescribing practices.

• Torsten Greif acknowledged that accessibility has become too easy in some cases and predicted changes within the next year. He called on the industry to proactively engage with regulators rather than waiting to be restricted.

• Albert Schwarzmeier added that future rules may require first-time patients to see a doctor in person, and that companies relying solely on foreign doctors or imported product may struggle under new rules.

• Francesco Baganz offered a pragmatic view: regulatory changes aren’t inherently negative. Even if prescriptions temporarily dip, the market fundamentals remain strong, and lessons from Poland suggest demand will rebound.

 Industry Self-Regulation and Long-Term Strategy

• Greif advocated for industry-led self-regulation, saying the sector should proactively shape its own future instead of waiting for government intervention. He reaffirmed that one of the original goals,  reducing the black market, is already being achieved.

• The consensus was that Germany’s medical cannabis market will continue to grow, but companies must adapt to thinner margins, regulatory tightening, and a more professionalised environment.