Germany holds more trade fairs linked to cannabis and medicinal plants than any other country in Europe. Most of these fairs will not introduce you to a single buyer of raw plant material. This guide covers every relevant German event from September 2026 to November 2027, plus a few in neighbouring countries. It is for growers and exporters in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and the wider region who need to decide which trip is worth their travel budget.
Every date and venue was checked on the organiser’s own website, not on event-listing sites. That check also found several event names that appear in search results but do not exist or no longer run. Part 2 lists them, together with the full calendar. This first part covers three things: the four events where you can meet buyers, the licences needed before any sale into Germany, and the German market changes of 2026.
The four events where you meet buyers of raw plant material
Of all the events checked in Germany and neighbouring countries, only four bring you face to face with people who sign supply contracts. Each one suits a different kind of seller, so read what each event is for before you choose.
IPM ESSEN: growing inputs and equipment
IPM ESSEN runs from 26 to 29 January 2027 at Messe Essen, the exhibition centre in the city of Essen. It is the world’s leading horticulture trade fair and has run since 1983. The 2026 edition had 1,476 exhibitors from 41 countries and about 39,000 visitors from 111 countries.
At this fair you meet sellers and buyers of growing inputs. These include substrates (growing media), propagation material such as seeds and young plants, and equipment. It is not a place to sell finished flower, meaning flower that is dried and ready for sale. If you want a flower buyer, choose a different trip.
IPM ESSEN is the only major fair on this list that publishes its stand prices. The 2027 prices below come from the organiser’s registration page. All of them exclude VAT (value-added tax).
| Item | 2027 price |
|---|---|
| Row stand (open on one side) | €188 per m² |
| Corner stand (open on two sides) | €194 per m² |
| Head stand (open on three sides) | €199 per m² |
| Block stand (open on four sides) | €200 per m² |
| AUMA levy | €0.60 per m² |
| Mandatory media package | €379 per exhibitor |
| Energy and environmental surcharge | €10 per m², charged on at most 150 m² |
The AUMA levy is a small fee per square metre. German fairs collect it for AUMA, the association of the German trade fair industry. Early-booking prices closed on 31 May 2026. They were €2 to €5 lower per square metre.
Here is a worked example for a 12 m² row stand. The space costs €2,256, the AUMA levy €7.20, the media package €379 and the energy surcharge €120. The total is €2,762.20 before VAT, travel, stand building and staff. The organiser’s registration page does not state a minimum stand size. All prices are quoted plus VAT, so ask the organiser how VAT applies to a company based outside the EU.
Translator’s note: Convert these figures to baht at the current exchange rate before you compare them with your budget. A grower from Thailand or Southeast Asia usually gets more from this fair as a visitor than as an exhibitor. As a visitor you can compare substrates, propagation material and equipment from many suppliers in one hall. Before you go, write down the three inputs you most want to compare. At the fair, collect prices and technical data sheets for those three.
CPHI Frankfurt: buyers of pharmaceutical ingredients
CPHI Frankfurt runs from 9 to 11 November 2027 at Messe Frankfurt. Buyers of pharmaceutical ingredients who work under EU-GMP go to this fair. EU-GMP is the European Union’s Good Manufacturing Practice, the rulebook for making medicines and their ingredients. Contract manufacturers also exhibit there. These are companies that process or make products for other firms under contract.
The 2025 edition was also held in Frankfurt. The organiser’s post-show report gives more than 59,000 attendees and more than 2,900 exhibitors. Figures for Frankfurt 2027 have not been published yet. Stand prices are not public, and the organiser gives a quote only when you ask.
Translator’s note: A Thai farm that sells only dried flower and has no EU-GMP processing partner has little to offer buyers at this fair. The fair becomes useful once you work with a processor that holds EU-GMP, or plan to. If you plan to make cannabis extracts in Thailand, check who may hold the licence. Since 26 April 2026, the Ministerial Regulation on Cannabis or Hemp Extracts B.E. 2569 allows licences for extracts above 0.2% THC only to the following (what the 2026 regulations changed):
- Thai juristic persons that are not “foreign” under the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542
- state agencies
- the Thai Red Cross Society
Before you decide on this trip, read the exhibitor list online. Note which contract manufacturers handle plant material, because those are the companies you would meet.
ICBC Berlin: the growing side and the pharma side together
ICBC Berlin runs from 13 to 15 April 2027 at the Estrel Berlin, a hotel and congress centre. It describes itself as Europe’s largest cannabis business-to-business event. It is the only event on this list where people from growing and people from pharmaceuticals are in the same building.
For the 2026 edition, reported figures were more than 7,500 attendees, 500 exhibitors and sponsors, and more than 25,000 square metres of space. These numbers come from the organiser and no independent auditor has checked them. Stand prices are not published, and exhibitors must request a quote.
Choose this event if you can make only one trip and want to meet both growers and importers. If you plan to exhibit, request a stand quote early. Whether you exhibit or visit, email the companies you want to meet before you fly. That way you arrive with fixed meeting times instead of hoping to find people on the floor.
Bernburger Winterseminar: the farm-certification specialists
The Bernburger Winterseminar runs on 23–24 February 2027 in Bernburg (Saale), a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. This will be its 37th edition. The organisers describe it as Europe’s largest annual German-language scientific conference in its field, with 200 to 300 participants.
The seminar is organised by Saluplanta e.V., a German association for medicinal and spice plants. Its subject is GACP (Good Agricultural and Collection Practices), the rules for growing and harvesting medicinal plants at farm level. No other event in Germany brings together as many GACP specialists for medicinal and aromatic plants.
By headcount it is much smaller than the large trade fairs on this list. For one question, though, it is the most useful. That question is how to make your GACP paperwork acceptable to a European buyer. For that question, go to Bernburg rather than ICBC.
Translator’s note: The seminar is also useful for Thai growers of other medicinal herbs, not only cannabis. The organisers describe it as a German-language conference, so expect the talks to be in German. Before you book, ask the organiser whether any English sessions or interpreting are offered. Bring a copy of your farm’s GACP documents so the specialists can comment on them.
Choosing one trip on a small budget
Translator’s note: If your budget covers only one trip, choose by what you want to achieve:
- You want to buy inputs or equipment: go to IPM ESSEN as a visitor.
- You want feedback on your GACP paperwork: go to the Bernburger Winterseminar.
- You want to meet importers and growers on one trip: go to ICBC Berlin.
- You already have an EU-GMP processing partner, or are building one: go to CPHI Frankfurt.
Holders of Thai, Vietnamese and Lao passports need a Schengen visa to enter Germany. Apply well before the fair date. Book your hotel early too, because rooms near large fairs fill up.
Before you book: farm certification alone does not let you sell flower in Germany
Many Asian growers approach the German market thinking a GACP certificate is enough to sell there. This mistake costs more money than any other. Selling flower into Germany needs three separate layers, explained below. Check all three before you spend anything on a trip.
Layer one: GACP at the farm
GACP covers growing and harvesting at farm level. It does not cover pharmaceutical-grade processing after harvest, batch release or import. A farm that holds GACP still cannot sell flower into Germany on that certificate alone.
No single GACP certificate is valid across the whole EU. Each country decides for itself which certificates it recognises. Ask every buyer you talk to which GACP certificates they accept, so you know whether yours counts with them.
Layer two: EU-GMP batch release
Every batch must be tested and released before it reaches the German market. The release is signed by a Qualified Person. This is the person legally named at an EU-GMP-licensed manufacturing site who confirms that a batch meets the standard. In practice the importer or an EU contract facility does this work, not the farm.
Layer three: the German licence
Much published advice is out of date on this point, including material shared in Southeast Asia. Since 1 April 2024, medical cannabis in Germany has not been governed by §3 of the Narcotics Act (Betäubungsmittelgesetz, BtMG). On that day the Medical Cannabis Act (Medizinal-Cannabisgesetz, MedCanG) took effect as Article 2 of the Cannabis Act (Cannabisgesetz). Cannabis was removed completely from the BtMG annexes, the lists of substances the Narcotics Act controls.
Today the importer needs two things. The first is an operating licence under §4 MedCanG, issued by the Federal Opium Agency (Bundesopiumstelle). That agency is part of BfArM, Germany’s Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices. The second is a separate import authorisation for each shipment.
A partner may still describe their permission as a “§3 BtMG licence”. That wording does not show they hold a licence today, so ask questions before going further. Ask every importer you meet for their §4 MedCanG licence. Also ask how they get the import authorisation for each shipment. Their answers tell you whether they can legally take your flower. For a broader look at the German market for Thai exporters, see this comparison.
Translator’s note (the Thai side): Thailand adds its own licence layer. Cannabis flower is a controlled herb under the Notification of the Ministry of Public Health Re: Controlled Herbs (Cannabis), B.E. 2568, in force since 26 June 2025 (what the notification covers). Section 46 of the Thai Traditional Medicine Protection Act B.E. 2542 requires a licence to export a controlled herb. Exporting without one is punished under Section 78 with up to 1 year in prison, a fine of up to 20,000 baht, or both. Since 30 April 2026, the Ministerial Regulation on Controlled Herbs (No. 2) B.E. 2569 has set stricter licence criteria for cannabis flower.
Check that your own licence covers export before you discuss any contract. The export steps from a Thai farm are explained in this topic. Growers in Vietnam and Laos should check their own country’s rules before they plan any export.
What to bring to a German fair
Do not bring physical flower samples to any German event unless your partner holds the import licence in their own name. Bring these instead: certificates of analysis (lab reports for each batch), GACP documents, farm records and photographs. Consumer fairs such as Mary Jane, Cannafair and CannaFriends also have their own rules on displaying products. The rules differ from event to event, so check each one separately.
Translator’s note: Do not pack flower samples in your luggage when you leave Thailand. Taking flower out of the country for business without an export licence is unlicensed export, and the Section 78 penalty above applies. This topic explains what cannot leave the country. Thai law also prohibits advertising cannabis flower and selling it online. So do not post offers of your flower online to announce your trip (what you may post).
Before you travel, put one folder together in English. It should hold certificates of analysis for recent batches, your GACP certificate and records, and farm photos. To see which tests overseas buyers expect, read this guide to testing before export.
What changed in the German market in 2026
Two changes in 2026 affect who buys in Germany and how much they buy. Both are so recent that most export advice has not caught up with them. A court ruling in the same year also changes how German partners can market.
Flower is no longer paid for by public health insurance
Since 30 July 2026, Germany’s statutory (public) health insurance no longer pays for dried cannabis flower. The change came from the GKV-Beitragssatzstabilisierungsgesetz, a law to keep contribution rates for statutory health insurance stable. It was published in the Federal Law Gazette on 29 July 2026. It removed flower from the special entitlement in §31(6) of SGB V, the book of the German Social Code that governs statutory health insurance.
Doctors can still prescribe flower, but only on a private prescription that the patient pays for. Insurance still covers extracts, dronabinol and nabilone (these approved cannabinoid medicines). The government projected savings of about €130 million. That figure gives a rough idea of how much demand moved from insurance-paid to patient-paid.
Ask the importers you meet how this change has affected their orders for flower compared with extracts. Their answers help you decide whether to offer flower, extract material or both.
A second bill on online prescribing and mail order
A second bill to amend the MedCanG went to the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, in December 2025 as printed paper 21/3061. It would restrict prescribing through telemedicine (consultations held only online). It would also ban selling flower by mail order. At the latest check available, in July 2026, the bill had not gone to a vote before the summer break and was still in committee. Observers expected a vote in late 2026 at the earliest.
The proposed limits target how flower is dispensed to patients. They do not change import licensing under §4 MedCanG. From October 2026 onwards, look up printed paper 21/3061 in the Bundestag’s document system for its current status. Do not rely on this paragraph alone.
A court ruling on advertising
On 26 March 2026, the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) ruled in case I ZR 74/25. It is Germany’s highest court for civil and criminal cases. The ruling limits public advertising for cannabis treatment under §10 of the Medicines Advertising Act. This affects how German partners can market, and so what they will accept in material that carries both your name and theirs.
Before you print any shared brochure, send the draft to your German partner and ask them to approve it in writing.
Translator’s note: Thailand has a similar rule. Under the B.E. 2568 notification, advertising cannabis flower and selling it online are prohibited. Any shared material that you post online or hand out in Thailand must not promote flower.
Part 2 has the full calendar of events, the event names that do not exist, a method for searching exhibitor lists, and a list of what could not be verified. If you have been to one of these fairs, post what you learned below this topic so other growers can plan.
Continued in Part 2: German Trade Fairs 2026–2027 for Growers in Thailand and Southeast Asia: Full Calendar, Events That Do Not Exist and Searching Exhibitor Lists (Part 2 of 2)