How One European Company Is Flooding America With Cannabis Seeds
While U.S. cannabis companies fight over dispensary licenses, banking reform and federal decriminalization, a quieter revolution is underway—one that’s being seeded, quite literally, from across the Atlantic.
In basements and backyards from New York to Minnesota, U.S. homegrowers are buying more cannabis seeds than ever before. And many of those seeds aren’t coming from California, Oregon or Colorado. They’re coming from places like Barcelona and Amsterdam—courtesy of Europe’s thriving, decades-old seed industry, now taking over the American market.
Among the most prolific players in this silent surge is Fast Buds, a Spanish-born cannabis genetics company that now ships more than 3 million seeds annually, one million of which are headed to the U.S. alone.
“The United States is our second-largest market, contributing around 30% of our global sales… Demand is spread coast to coast. Top states [include]: Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois, Virginia and New York,” said Eugene Boukreev, head of marketing at Fast Buds, in an exclusive interview with Benzinga. “What sets the U.S. apart isn’t just its size, but its remarkable consistency.”
The Rise Of U.S. Homegrow
More than 30 states now permit some form of home cultivation for medical or adult-use cannabis. As dispensary prices stay high and product quality fluctuates, more Americans are turning to grow tents, LED rigs and online seed orders to take control of their cannabis experience.
A major catalyst came in 2022 when the DEA clarified that cannabis seeds containing less than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight fall under the definition of legal hemp—regardless of the strain or how the plant might grow once cultivated. Because seeds in their dormant state contain only trace, non-activated levels of THC, virtually all cannabis seeds meet the legal criteria for hemp, even if they come from high-THC cultivars. This federal clarification opened the floodgates for international seed banks to ship …