Inside the Berlin Berries Drop: How Compound Genetics, Lyonleaf, and 420 Pharma Are Bringing Fire to the European Medical Scene
The cannabis industry is full of buzzwords—premium flower, clean medicine, global markets—but rarely do you get a front-row seat to watch how it all actually works. That’s what happened when we sat down with Daniel Adler-Golden of Compound Genetics, Matthew Katz of Canadian producer Lyonleaf, and Jan Wegner of German distributor 420 Pharma. Together, they’re the force behind Berlin Berries, a brand-new flower drop that’s not only making waves for its genetic pedigree but for how it came to life.
“It’s a nice little trifecta,” Adler-Golden explains. “Where we get to sit around jars primarily in Canada and pick what goes into production, what makes the cut, what doesn’t make the cut. So it’s a super new space for the industry, for the breeder to sit with the producer, to also sit with the buyer and to have everyone be able to contribute to what’s going to make sense so that it can work for all three of us.”
It’s the kind of collaboration that’s rarely possible in North America, where regulations tend to box everyone into silos. But under Europe’s stricter but more unified framework, they’ve found a way to build something truly international—and exclusive.
So How Does It Work? A “Explain It Like I’m 5” Guide
To put it simply: Compound Genetics makes the seeds. Lyonleaf grows the weed. 420 Pharma gets it to patients. But the beauty is in the details.
“We make the seeds,” Adler-Golden starts. “Compound Genetics makes the seeds. We'll then take some of that and dedicate it to private stock, meaning it will never be released to the public. Some of that private stock we will then allocate to Matthew and his team in Canada where we'll pheno hunt and make selections.”
Katz continues: “We actually have a dedicated R&D facility with a special license specifically for the pheno hunting. So we would pheno hunt over a thousand different phenos in a year. So we really work hard to collaborate with top breeders like Compound Genetics… really just trying to assess its potential.”
After narrowing it down through a rigorous selection process involving small trial runs and evaluation sessions with all three companies, they scale up. “That next stage would be a larger scale trial. We would do a 25 kilo trial from there really to see how the strain performs more at scale, really also be able to dial it in,” says Katz.
At that point, the finished flower heads to Germany—after clearing a mountain of paperwork. “We need all the international paperwork, import, export licenses, all that has to be prepared,” Wegner says. “Then we import this to Germany, we do another set of testing in our lab in Germany, assuming everything passes, we can release the product and we then sell it to the pharmacies here and it gets prescribed to the patients in Germany.”
And yes, the prescriptions are that specific. “The prescription always has the specific product on it,” Wegner explains. “It says you need Berlin Berries 25/1 for the THC, for example, and you get 30 grams on your prescription.”
It’s a level of precision you won’t find in a California dispensary—and that’s kind of the point. These guys are building a new kind of supply chain, one where a patient in Berlin can reliably get the same cut, the same effects, the same quality every time.
The Berlin Berries Drop: Private Stock and Global Firsts
Berlin Berries isn’t just another exotic name—it’s a true one-off, bred from private stock (Georgia Pie x Gastro Pop) and only available in Germany. In a world where strains get passed around and renamed ad nauseam, the idea of geographical exclusivity is wild.
“This is not available in the US, which is a completely new concept to be able to drop strains exclusively in European markets,” Adler-Golden says. “So yeah, I’m super excited for the release of the Berlin Berries and to start to use this idea that we can bring strains exclusively to a nation is super fucking cool.”
Visually, it’s what the heads want. “Super gorgeous, really dark buds,” Adler-Golden says. “It’s more of a kush leaning… Earth and kush and some pine. Really glistening… what people are looking for with the modern tight bud rapper weed aesthetic.”
But beyond the bag appeal, it’s also built for consistency. “It’s an easy plant to grow,” Katz says. “And then on the trim side, they really love it… really from top to bottom consistent, which is awesome.”
Why It Matters
As Wegner puts it, “From before it was legal. Now we are able to do those things not being worried anymore… knowing what kind of product we're getting. We can sleep at night without being afraid.”
There’s emotion in that sentiment—a guy who once had to leave Germany to avoid persecution now sending fire weed back home legally. “Now I’m involved in bringing more weed to Germany I could ever think of legally and making sure people get good weed,” he says. “So I think that’s the best part for me, to be honest.”
What Katz, Wegner, and Adler-Golden have built is more than just a product pipeline. It’s a blueprint for how international cannabis can work—if you’re willing to do the hard stuff: pheno hunting thousands of plants, managing international compliance, and collaborating across borders.
As Adler-Golden sums up: “It definitely takes the responsibility seriously to bring fire weed to Germany. It’s selected phenos of private stock. It’s really cool stuff.”
And yes, they’ll be at Mary Jane Berlin this year. Ask them about the under canopy lighting experiments. Or better yet, ask them if they’re holding. Rumor has it there should be some Berlin Berries at Mary Jane this year…
Catch this article in Honeysuckle's Issue 22!
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