Jan (Botanicaloutlaw) is “Head of Cultivation” at Four20Pharma. A German pharma company that purchases medicinal cannabis from growers around the world. To do so, he travels from cultivator to cultivator and single-handedly selects the best strains for their assortment. That’s if he doesn’t cross them himself! For “GreenhouseJan” – as he was formerly known – has worked with some of the best breeders in the world due to his deep-rooted passion for the plant; including the late Franco Loja. We spoke to the Dutch-speaking German in S03E03 about how he found his way into the international cannabisindustry via the Netherlands:
Jan ‘Botanicaloutlaw’
Jan is rightfully a “botanicaloutlaw” because if there is anything the German has been involved with in his life, it is weed. From a (much too) young age, he convinced his parents of the benefits of the cannabis plant. So the fact that he eventually aspired to a career in this booming industry was no surprise to anyone. Still, it took him a while to really find his niche in the cannabis world, he tells Uncle Kush in S03E03 of The High Cloud Podcast.
Jan Greenhouse Feeding
From Germany, young Jan came to the Netherlands to handle logistics for the RAI. After all, that was his specialty, since he once thought to make a living in our industry with logistics (read: smuggling). At that time, Jan was already active on the Strainhunters Forum. One of the places where, at the time, the hardcore community exchanged knowledge about growing cannabis. So he also already tested Greenhouse’s products, through intensive contact with Franco Loja and others.
Until one day Jan gets bold and asks Franco if they don’t have a job for him at Greenhouse. And the rest is history. Because from that point on, Jan was renamed GreenhouseJan and traveled across (his) Germany to market GH Feeding. This was the beginning of a long career at Greenhouse, which came to an end after nearly 10 years.
Head of Cultivation
Through a sales job at another nutrients company, Jan eventually joined Four20Pharma. An ambitious German company focused on the selection (and eventually cultivation) of medicinal cannabis for the German market. There is a large growing group of cannabis patients there and a system set up to offer variety. Therefore, in Germany you can already order almost 200 strains through pharmacies, in consultation with a doctor. This is unlike the handful of varieties you can get in the Netherlands.
Botanicaloutlaw (or “in law”) is now responsible for the quality of legal cannabis. And since they now do not grow themselves but import from Canada, among other countries, Jan regularly flies there for consults and checks. Because every strain introduced by Four20Pharma is extensively tested by Jan. Not only does he look at the external features with a microscope and test them for contents. Head of Cultivation Jan also personally tests each strain for flavor. Yes, he sometimes flies to Canada for a sesh – combined with other work.
You can see how Jan worked toward this dream job and his interesting history with Greenhouse and Franco in this episode of the THC Podcast:
