The Faia Collective: Sustainable cooperative invests in hemp

The sustainable community The Faia Collective was born in Vale do Mondego, in the heart of Serra da Estrela, and has several biological crops, from hemp to olive oil. Cannapress visited the place and spoke with the group of young entrepreneurs who, despite producing in Portugal, sell everything to the Dutch market.

After several hours on the road and more than 300 kilometers covered, we arrived at Quinta da Portela, in Faia, near Guarda, where Deirdre Meursing, 26, Jesse Schlechtriem, 24, and Siegert van den Berg, 25, settled to give wings to your sustainable community project.

It was during a lunch offered by our hosts that we got to know more about this Dutch-accented collective, in a place surrounded by the chirping of birds and the soft melody of Mondego, which made us travel far away from the cosmopolitan and bustling capital.

Jesse, Deirdre and Siegert founded The Faia Collective in 2016. PHOTO: The Faia Collective

Why did you choose Portugal to build this community?
Deirdre: My parents moved here ten years ago and bought this land. I went to school here in Portugal, did secondary education and returned to Holland to take a higher degree. Later, I returned to Portugal, but at first it was not with the idea of ​​staying here. just that at a certain point I was here, Jesse was here and Siegert came here and we naturally came to the conclusion: “let's do something here, let's create our own company” and this is the short version of the story of the birth of 'The Beech Collective'.

Are you all from Holland?
Yes.

When you moved, were you already interested in growing hemp?
Jesse: When we got here and started this project we all had different ideas and ambitions, but my goal was to grow hemp. The interest arose in the previous year and I already had some experience and knowledge of the plant and cultivation. However, what I was most interested in was the multitude of different uses and applications that hemp can have, either as an alternative to plastics or cement, for example, or because it makes a positive contribution to the environment, through of the negative factor of carbon dioxide.

Hemp field cultivated in 2017. PHOTO: The Faia Collective

Was it easy to start farming?
Growing the plants themselves was easy.

And when they decided to plant hemp, how was it?
Siegert: We faced many obstacles and the biggest one was not being heard. We had almost no responses and there was some lack of communication between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Police. And even when the Ministry of Agriculture allowed the cultivation, when we went to inform the authorities about this same cultivation, what they told us was: “No, it is not possible.” That is, mEven with the license to be able to cultivate, we had to contact lawyers and take Portuguese law to the police station to show that we were acting in accordance with the legislation.

How do you think this process can be simplified?
Jesse: At an early stage, we think that an entity is needed to make this process a normal process. Nobody knows for sure what the procedures are for planting hemp and if there is an institution that forwards requests from interested parties, the whole process will normalize.

One of the areas owned by the cooperative. PHOTO: João Costa // Cannapress

What is your experience in the Netherlands? Is it easier to grow hemp?
Siegert: I've never done it industrially, so personally I'm not aware of the current situation. From what I know, it is also difficult, but there is a different culture, because we hire a lawyer, there is a law to follow and the path ends up being easier. In Portugal, even with a lawyer, there are problems. In the Netherlands, land and costs are higher and projects are only viable when they are large and when qualified personnel are used. Cultivating just one hectare is not feasible in the Netherlands, unlike in Portugal, where it is possible to start a project at a lower cost.

Did they produce hemp last year? How is the national market in this area?
Deirdre: From our experience, there really isn't a market in Portugal, not least because no Portuguese company buys our products. Either because they don't know or because they already have other foreign products. It has been almost impossible to find a place that sells our products in Portugal. We have already approached several stores that had ordered hemp products and we still couldn't find buyers.

Export everything?
Yes, it's all exported. And it's a shame, because we don't want to. We would like to sell here in Portugal.

The weather invited the table to be set outside, where lunch was served. PHOTO: João Costa // Cannapress

In this scenario, how do you see the future of hemp in Portugal? Do you think the Government should help and clarify potential investors?
Jesse: My hopes are different from my expectations. This is because my hope was that this would be very easy in the near future, but the expectations are that it will not be that easy, because we have seen the same thing happen in the Netherlands and are still being discussed in Parliament. In the end, it might get a little better, but the big steps, the ones that need to be taken, are not being taken and I think the only way to make progress in Portugal is with producers seeking legal advice and lawyers, in lack of state aid. Even if Parliament takes new steps and approves new laws that are even progressive, it will still be necessary to bypass the Portuguese bureaucracy, which is not exactly agile.

Knowing they are already on the ground and have come a long way to this point, what advice do you have for anyone wanting to grow hemp?
Jesse: Let them get in touch with us! I'm serious. Trying on your own is hard and chances are you will fail and encounter obstacles and that can be frustrating. It takes a lot of persistence, so get in touch with us or someone who already works in the area, as this is the best way.
______________________________________________________________________
Featured photo: João Costa // Cannapress