Netherlands Cannabis News

April 7 marks first day of fully-legal supply chain for cannabis coffeeshops in ten Dutch cities

Written by David Brown on April 7, 2025. Posted in Business, Cannabis News, Government, International, Producers, Retail.

April 7 marks the first day a group of cannabis “coffeeshops” in ten cities in the Netherlands will be able to only sell cannabis from authorized growers.

The Dutch government announced its plans for a closed-loop supply chain project in 2022, which includes exploring the possibility of a “closed cannabis chain” for cannabis coffee shops in several cities across the country.

Eventually, around 80 authorized coffeeshops which sell cannabis took part in the pilot project, with some of their supply coming from ten growers licensed by the government, while also still securing some supply from their traditional illicit sources.

In a memo first sent out in December 2024, the Dutch government said that as of April 7, all coffee shops participating in the country’s cannabis supply chain experiment will only be allowed to sell regulated cannabis. The government says it plans to review this program after about four years.

In March, many of those shops said they were not yet ready for that transition, but the government said it was sticking to its timeline.

As of June 2024, all coffee shops in all ten participating Dutch municipalities have been allowed to sell regulated products alongside “tolerated” products to consumers. By the end of 2024, 70 of the total 75 participating coffee shops had sold regulated cannabis flower and hash.

“Weed was sold here legally for 50 years, but the production was never legal. So it’s finally time to end that crazy, unexplainable situation and make it a legal professional sector,” Rick Bakker, commercial director at Hollandse Hoogtes, one of the regulated producers, recently told The Associated Press, regarding the April 7 deadline.

The goal of the “closed-loop” experiment is to explore the feasibility of a quality-controlled cannabis production and distribution system in the country as an alternative to the current “tolerance policy” that has not-legal-but-tolerated “coffee shop” style points of sale, and unregulated, illicit growers who supply them.

A research paper examines the subject here, and can also be explored in-depth here. Currently, there are around 565 cannabis coffee shops in the country.

Canada- and US-based Village Farms is also one of those companies with a license to supply cannabis to these pilot project coffeeshops.

Following its first commercial harvest in January, the company recently said it had begun processing orders and deliveries into the Dutch market from its facility in the Netherlands.

The Leli Holland facility, one of just ten such licensed facilities in the Netherlands, is owned by Village Farms, the parent company of BC cannabis producer Pure Sunfarms. It’s approved for cultivation of up to 2,500 kilograms of cannabis a year.

Dutch coffee shops say supply chain experiment not ready for April 7 deadline

Written by David Brown on March 11, 2025. Posted in Cannabis News, International.

A group of cannabis coffee shops in the Netherlands say the market needs more time to adjust before the next phase of the country’s legal supply chain experiment.

In a letter posted on March 7, 2025, the group, which represents dozens of coffee shops around the country, says the planned switch to only legal products by April 7, 2025, is not practical and that the risk of negative consequences is “enormous” as the quality and quantity of legal products is not yet up to par.

In a memo in December 2024, the government said that as of April 7, all coffee shops participating in the cannabis supply chain experiment will only be allowed to sell regulated cannabis. This date was said to be final, “providing certainty for municipalities, coffee shop owners and growers.”

“As coffee shops that fully cooperate with the experiment, we note that the quantity, quality and diversity of the legal products is still insufficient.”

“We are on the right track with all parties involved—from growers, coffee shops and transporters to civil servants and administrators of the Track & Trace system—but not quite ready yet,” reads the letter, in part.

“The risk of chaos and a failed experiment is therefore enormous. That would be disastrous for the energy that all parties involved have put into it so far. As coffee shops that fully cooperate with the experiment, we note that the quantity, quality and diversity of the legal products is still insufficient.”

The Dutch government first announced its plans for the project in 2022, which include exploring the possibility of a “closed cannabis chain” for cannabis coffee shops in several cities across the country. The first sales began in the Dutch cities of Breda and Tilburg in 2023.

The next “experimental” phase of the project, planned to begin on April 7, is set to last around four years. The government also says more approved growers are also expected to be ready to supply in April.

Six growers are currently approved to supply the program, including one connected to a Canadian cannabis producer.

However, the group of retailers say the system needs at least another six months to be fully prepared for a full transition to selling products only from the legal supply chain.

“In our view,” the letter continues, “a complete switch to legal products can only take place if every individual coffee shop participating in the cannabis experiment has access to a sufficient number of different types of good quality. At the moment, this is not yet the case. We have tried to make this clear to the mayors involved and to the responsible ministries in all possible ways.”

The group also says there are not enough legal growers and suppliers, and that some suppliers are charging different prices to different stores.

“There is also a shortage of affordable products, hash, joints, edibles and bestsellers (such as the weed varieties Amnesia and White Widow). It takes time to get our customers to switch to legal products. We also need to be able to maintain a competitive position with the tolerated coffee shops in other cities and illegal market suppliers. We therefore ask you to initiate a so-called optimization phase, in which we can make the necessary improvements together with all parties involved so that the weed experiment can really succeed.”

The Mayor of Breda, one of the first municipalities to adopt the supply chain experiment, characterized the issue as a serious problem if supply cannot meet demand, driving consumers back to the illicit market.

“Yesterday [March 12], there was a productive consultation between the Minister of Justice and Security, the State Secretary of Public Health, Welfare and Sport, and the mayors of the relevant municipalities. The House will be informed of the outcomes of this consultation shortly, as was promised during yesterday’s oral questions,” wrote the representative.

“At the end of March, the ministries will facilitate a meeting between growers and coffee shop owners to discuss the current challenges. The relevant mayors are also welcome to attend.”

Update: On March 13, a press officer with the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security Communications Directorate told StratCann via email that various levels of government are looking into the issue.

The government now says that, despite these concerns, the April 7 date remains in effect.