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Wade Forrest has spent 3.5 years as the operations manager and master grower at Glasshouse Botanics in Pembroke, Ont. Previous work at Biobest Canada, Aphria and Zenabis, coupled with his science-based education from Acadia University, has prepared him for commercial cannabis cultivation within the rigors of EU-GMP. The following questions were crafted specifically for Forrest by three-time Top Grower Award judge, Stacie Hollingworth of Safari Flower.
GO: What are the challenges when transitioning into growing GMP flower for international medical markets, and has it impacted your growing style or technique?
WF: There are several challenges that we have had to work to overcome. From the insistent availability of pesticides from country to country within the EU, to the stricter and varying PHI period for pesticide applications. The extreme level of supplier control, which includes supplier qualification, lot number tracking, etc. Every regulation and requirement that has come our way via EU-GMP certification has made cultivation just a bit more challenging! We’ve had to adapt in many ways to ensure we’re meeting all requirements and maintaining yield and quality.
GO: What were the significant challenges faced when joining a team that was already operational?
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WF: The challenge was as you would expect, learning to conform to a different spin on the same rules and regulations. Learning the skillset and knowledge base on the staff and gaining the trust so that necessary changes that had to be made were met with acceptance as opposed to reluctancy.
Glasshouse Botanics is the third LP I’ve worked at with Aphria and Zenabis being the others, all of which have/had EU-GMP in their sights, so the push here for EU-GMP was nothing new to me. Thankfully (for me), GHB was at an earlier stage in the EU-GMP push, so I was looked at to help guide not only the cultivation and operational side of conforming to EU-GMP standards, but also a subject matter expert on how EU-GMP restrictions intersect with cultivation practices. It’s been an interesting and enlightening journey thus far!
GO: What benefits and challenges do you find working with an LP that was established with a strong QA mindset?
WF: The clear benefit of a strong QA mindset is that we’re always able to satisfy even the strictest auditors from all over the world. This has been proven again and again. The challenge that presents itself is in the legwork needed to ensure any necessary change is completely and thoroughly researched, risk assessed and presented to satisfy all aspects of the Change Control process.
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Kudos to the QA team here at GHB who have been able to bridge the gap in their mindset towards quality with the success and progression of our operation, where even though they ask the tough questions and expect complete answers, they understand that we’re working with live assets that will at time present challenges to us that require immediate action. The whole team works tirelessly to ensure that we’re able to do what is necessary for plant health and product quality, but in a manner that checks all the boxes for EU-GMP.
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