Cookies to be distributed in Europe via Akanda in Portugal

Medical cannabis company Akanda has announced an exclusive licensing agreement with emblematic brand of cannabis Cookies. This agreement will enable Akanda to enter the medical and recreational markets in Europe with one of the best-known cannabis brands and «the best genetic quality in the world», according to the press release.

Under the terms of the license agreement, Akanda will be able to grow, manufacture and distribute Cookies varieties, as well as sell Cookies-branded products, including non-cannabis merchandise, in Portugal.

Akanda intends to initially produce EU-GMP-certified Cookies brand high-THC medical cannabis products at its indoor cultivation facility in Sintra, Portugal. In addition, Akanda will be able to supply Portuguese pharmacies exclusively with Cookies brand products throughout the country.

The brainchild of rapper and entrepreneur Berner, who recently made the cover of Forbes, The Cookies brand currently has over 53 retail outlets in five countries, including 12 U.S. states, and sells clothing as well as recreational and medical cannabis products, depending on local laws.

«The addition of the iconic Cookies brand and its high-THC strains to the Akanda platform is an important catalyst in our quest for leadership in the European cannabis industry. Cookies premium genetics are an essential pillar to have in our portfolio as these markets begin to open up. We look forward to introducing the brand to Portuguese consumers, and the strains to patients across Europe«, commented Tej Virk, CEO of Akanda.

«The fact that Portugal has decriminalized drugs in the early 2000s, while Americans are still locked up for cannabis 20 years later, shows the world, and the U.S. in particular, that we can learn a lot from their forward-thinking ideas. The partners we've chosen in Portugal have one of the most advanced facilities I've seen, and will produce some of the best cannabis in the world. It's partnerships like this that keep me excited about the growth and expansion of Cookies around the world,» said Berner, co-founder and CEO of Cookies.

«The Cookies licensing deal is made possible by our May 2022 acquisition of Portugal-based Holigen, which makes Akanda a Good Manufacturing Practice-certified medical cannabis grower, manufacturer and distributor in the European Union, with a state-of-the-art 2,000-square-meter indoor cultivation site in Sintra dedicated to growing premium cannabis with high THC content, as well as a large 70-hectare outdoor facility two hours to the south in Aljustrel,» Virk continues. «This is further proof that Akanda has secured one of the most prized cannabis assets in Europe. With brands and strains like Cookies, I've never been more confident in Akanda's future.»