As a producer of medicinal crops, GroVida has to comply with exceptionally strict regulations in terms of both security and hygiene. Viktor Topchii explains how the company is constantly looking at how the use of technology and data can further improve efficiency, whether in terms of yield, costs or energy savings. Due to the unique dynamics of the medicinal crop sector, knowledge sharing is particularly important.

“This was actually a raspberry farm originally, before our company purchased the premises and converted the existing greenhouses into a high-tech production facility,” says Viktor Topchii, Operations Manager at GroVida. In 2020, the company became one of the first companies in Portugal to obtain a licence for the cultivation, import and export of medicinal crops from the Portuguese Authority of Medicines and Health Products (INFARMED, I.P.). “We initially worked mostly on R&D, but we are now a fully commercial producer with over 2 ha of cultivation area plus a post-harvest area for our trimming, drying and packing operation. We are currently in the process of expanding this area in line with growing market demand,” he adds.
A plant’s journey through the facility starts when cuttings or ‘clones’ are taken from the mother plants and transferred to the rooting room, where they are rooted in cubes. “Then we move them to one of our vegetation rooms where we control the light to encourage them to produce branches and leaves. Lastly, they are moved to one of our flowering rooms. We have over a thousand plants in each room simultaneously, with varying planting densities depending on each strain,” explains Topchii.

Waves of plants

The plants move through all these rooms in ‘waves’ that take roughly 15 weeks, depending on the cultivar and the season: “We treat each flowering room as a single batch of plants that stay together from start to finish. At the end of the cycle, we harvest the whole batch simultaneously and clean the room ready for the next batch,” he states.
The flowers are then processed in the facility’s trimming, drying and packing area. “If our clients want us to ship the products in bulk, we pack them here on site. Some clients prefer to receive the products in 10g plastic jars, pouches or bags, in which case we work with carefully selected chain partners,” says Topchii. “We take a leadership role in coordinating and communicating with our partners. This keeps the process running smoothly so that we deliver the products quickly and in line with each client’s needs,” adds the Operations Manager.

Controlled supply chain

All the company’s chain partners, whether for packing, labelling, logistics or customs, are GMP-certified, Topchii emphasizes. “The whole supply chain is highly controlled to ensure that our products do not enter the non-medical channel. Extremely tight security measures and protocols are in place – and regularly audited – to make sure that every gram we produce and ship is accounted for.”
“We sell to pharmaceutical manufacturers and suppliers in countries ranging from the UK and Germany to Australia, and we’re continuously exploring new countries,” comments Topchii.

Different regulations

The regulatory and compliance situation often differs from one country to another, even within Europe. There may be different regulations affecting microbiology acceptance criteria or stability data, in which case it is necessary to conduct even stricter quality controls or additional batch analysis: “This creates extra challenges sometimes,” he admits.
“But the sanitary situation is so crucial for our customers, and therefore our business, that each of our more than 40 employees – from cultivation to administration – understands the importance of working in line with all the requirements and expectations. We’re not just a farm, we’re a pharmaceutical facility. Strict protocols for security, cleanliness and hygiene start at our front gate.”

Pest control

For example, the greenhouse – right down to the vents – is hermetically sealed to keep pests out and minimize the contamination risk. “Our pest control approach is both active, using biologicals, and passive using sticky traps. We trust the system we have implemented, but we still double-check everything by scouting every plant, every day. This daily focus on cleanliness helps us to consistently achieve the necessary high levels of quality required by our pharmaceutical customers,” explains Topchii.
Growing on a stone wool substrate from Grodan, which has been specially developed for use with medicinal crops, has also helped GroVida to improve the sanitary level according to the Operations Manager: “We tried various substrates in the past, including coco, but this solution works best for us. As a non-organic substrate, stone wool enables us to control the microbial count better and contributes to cleaner batches.”

Avoid overheating

Humidity is another important factor in controlling pests and diseases such as Botrytis, but the local climate is a big help in this context. “We have a warm and dry climate here in the Algarve, so we don’t need a complex climate control system. Instead, we can renew the indoor air and control the humidity and temperature simply by opening and closing the vents,” reveals Topchii.
“To avoid the plants overheating when the temperature rises in the summer, we use a misting system in some areas of our greenhouse. We also have blackout screens, which besides protecting against excess heat also enable us to control the photoperiodic time. This ensures that the crops receive the right amount of hours of night and day during the flowering stage,” he continues.

LEDs boost yield

The Algarve has over 300 days of sunshine per year, according to the Operations Manager. “So the sun is our main source of light. However, last year we installed supplemental lighting from Fluence to get us through the winter months. This has been the first season that we have been able to continue production all through the winter thanks to the LED lights.” He estimates that this has increased the annual yield by around 35 to 40%.
Although uncommon, cold nights do sometimes occur in the Algarve, and the plants can suffer stress if the temperature drops too low. Therefore, the company currently has an automated gas pipe heating system in place. All the climate control systems are automatically regulated by the climate computer, which runs on software from a local supplier.

Improve efficiency

The GroVida operation is more about efficiency than scale, claims Topchii. “As part of our strong focus on R&D and continuous improvement, we’re constantly looking at how we can use technology and data to further improve our efficiency. For example, we only want to grow robust, consistent and resistant strains, so we closely monitor and assess each strain’s properties and performance, and immediately discontinue any strains that fall short of our standards.”
“In terms of energy efficiency, we’re currently working on a project for an alternative source of heating linked to solar panels,” he adds. “This project will improve our sustainability as well as being good for our cost base.” Still on the topic of sustainability, the availability of water is on their radar, according to Topchii: “It’s not yet an issue in Portugal, but we want to stay ahead. Therefore, we’re thinking of starting a project to improve our water efficiency through recycling and reuse.”

Future ambitions

Thanks to the supplemental lighting and other efficiencies, the company is now preparing to leverage its increased production capacity. The Operations Manager has clear ambitions for the future: “In three years’ time, I hope we will be selling our products in every country.”
Due to the fast pace of change in the industry, the company has to stay alert to anticipate potential areas of sales growth, he explains: “It’s almost as if time passes by in ‘dog years’ in the medicinal crops sector; one year for us is like seven years in the outside world, so we have to keep a close eye on broader market developments. In Canada, for example, there are some interesting shifts happening in oils and edibles that could pave the way for innovative medical products such as gel caps and gummies. If this evolution comes to the European market, we want to ensure that we’re ready to provide the necessary support to extraction companies.”

Sharing knowledge

Although the licensed production of medicinal crops is being legalized in a growing number of countries, there is still some stigma attached to the end products among certain groups, according to Topchii. “To overcome that, we spend time on educating patients and society as a whole. One way is by inviting people here to see where their medicines come from, and how much effort goes into ensuring that we produce a high-quality, pharmaceutical-grade product. And we’ve found that the most powerful way to change the public perception is to share real-life stories of how medicinal crops have a positive impact on people’s lives.”
“Similarly, the medicinal crop production industry itself is still an emerging market. We have the advantage that our team includes a number of colleagues who have gained previous experience in more mature markets such as the USA and Canada, so we benefit from their lessons learned,” he adds.
“As more new countries come online, the global community is increasingly taking shape. We feel that it’s very important to be part of that, such as by sharing knowledge at industry summits and conferences. Portugal is a few years ahead. We’ve set the bar high in terms of regulatory trends and are keen to uphold these high standards. Therefore, we’re happy to help any company that needs our support so that we can grow the professional medicinal crop ecosystem together,” the Operations Manager concludes.

Text: Lynn Radford, images: Alex Frost