Despite the relatively small cannabis industry in Brazil due to the current state of cannabis laws there, more and more cannabis-related brands, grow shops and seed banks are gathering at cannabis fairs and expos around the country. Cristian Medina, the representative of Fast Buds who attends all cannabis-related fairs in Latin America tells us a bit more about the situation of cannabis fairs and his view on the cannabis situation in Latin America and more specifically, Brazil.
1. Fast Buds in Chile
Cristian Medina has been growing cannabis since 2008 and has been in the cannabis industry in Chile since 2009 when he established his own brand called Cannabis Club. Fast forward to 2015, Cristian started working with Fast Buds when he was seeking quality autoflowering seeds,
“... I’ve been growing since 2008, I’m a recreational consumer. I love to grow cannabis, make my own extracts, and smoke weed, that’s my thing and throughout the years I’ve learned a lot and I know how to recognize good genetics…”
“...When I first started looking for american autoflowering seeds, Fast Buds was my first option, as I already had experience and contacts in Chile it was not hard to start our partnership, and then thanks to the excellent quality of the genetics, we didn’t have to market the seeds too much as Fast Buds already had a good reputation amongst growers…”
And the rest is history, Cristian has been working with Fast Buds for almost 8 years now, and has been representing the brand all over the world, most recently, he had the chance to participate in the Expo Head Grow in Brazil. Let’s see what he has to say.
2. Expo Head Grow Brazil and Cannabis Fairs in Latin America
Fast Buds team along with our partners from Flora Urbana had a great time at Expo Head Grow Brazil 2022, but it definitely is different from cannabis expos and fairs in places where cannabis is decriminalized or legal.
“...It was my first time and I found it impressive, everything very modern, everything big. I had the opportunity to visit São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Curitiba. In terms of technology, Brazil is very advanced but in terms of the cannabis industry, Brazil is undoubtedly several years behind. That said, I’m 100% positive that once they’re ready to move forward, it will be a huge step…”
Cannabis fairs in Brazil are very limited, you don’t see many seed banks because selling seeds is not allowed yet, despite the limitations, every year there are more people attending the fairs, more brands and the events get bigger and bigger.
“...You don’t see a lot of people from outside of Brazil in these fairs, I think it’s because everything is done under the table, so a lot of brands prefer to abstain…What really caught my attention is that they are allowed to sell alcohol, so in combination with the live shows, you feel like you’re at a huge party celebrating weed rather than working or doing business…”
The Expo Head Grow isn’t the only cannabis fair in Brazil, there are many more and the country is so big that attending a fair in Rio de Janeiro is completely different than attending one in São Paulo, the culture is different, and the brands are different and the whole vibe is different. Cristian says that the only thing that stays the same is the love for cannabis.
“...Brazilians love to smoke good quality weed, I’ve seen a lot of people smoking tobacco with hashish because finding good-quality flower is fairly hard and expensive unless you’re a grower but we took our bong, torch, and a PuffCO as a backup to show them how we do it in Chile. Needless to say, they love weed as much as we do in Chile..."
"...Back home we consume a lot of rosin and BHO but I think flower is more popular here, at the end of the day, quality weed is quality weed and it doesn’t matter if it's hash, or rosin, we love it either way...I wish we could bring the roulette which unfortunately I cannot replicate in countries in the region, but in Chile, it is undoubtedly the soul of the party…”
The experience of attending a cannabis expo in Brazil was extremely positive, despite the illegality. As for now, we’re not allowed to do anything with plants or with seeds, and growing cannabis is exclusive and not for everyone as there are legal instances where you are allowed to grow but you have to complete all the requirements, which is very difficult and requires a lot of money.
That said, Brazil is a bomb ready to go off. There are a lot of people who cultivate and they are looking to do it legally. With this new change of government, they might be able to take the step. And if this happens, we could be seeing one of the biggest potencies in the cannabis industry in Latin America in the near future and I’m anxious to see what’s to come. Needless to say, Fast Buds will be present at ALL cannabis fairs and expos in Brazil and Latin America, so stay tuned! In the meantime, here’s a quick preview of the cities we'll be visiting in 2023:
- São Paulo, Brazil
- Santiago, Chile
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Montevideo, Uruguay
Hope to see y'all there!
