I discovered Kanna (Sceletium tortuosum) roughly ten years ago and quickly became intrigued by the plant due to its therapeutic and medicinal benefits. It had some of the most unique effects I had experienced from a plant, and my interest only grew from there. I began creating tinctures and making crude alcohol extracts. Fast forward five years, it became a big part of my life, serving as a great alternative to alcohol, helping me open up in social settings, and as a nootropic tool.
About four years ago, a colleague at a kava bar near me, who was fascinated by the plant, started buying my tincture. He convinced me to vend at an event he was hosting, and I quickly realised that I wasn’t the only one intrigued by the Kanna Extract — many others recognised its therapeutic value. Soon after, I decided to share it online, and it exploded in popularity due to our large selection and word-of-mouth from our cohort. We saw the industry uniquely: only a few key players were producing high-potency crops strong enough in alkaloids like mesembrine to create standardised extracts. When one of these companies threatened to cut us off entirely because of a product line they didn’t like, we realised something had to change — these few companies effectively had a monopoly, controlling price and inventory flow.
At that point, I connected with Colin Ludick through Reddit. Over the course of a year, we started getting licensed to do business from South Africa, navigating extensive distribution licensing, gaining approval to work with this plant through endangered species organisations, and learning how to work with growers with varying potencies.
After a while, we began meeting quality growers, but the issue was that most crops were low potency. Developing a high mesembrine plant is not easy; some people ferment the plant to boost alkaloid percentages, but even that may not be enough. We started learning the intricacies and wanted to implement them ourselves. That’s when we decided to get vertically integrated and began growing and testing on a larger scale.
Through one of Colin’s family members, we connected with a Kanna nursery that had unused farm space, which we began leasing. We now operate with seven full-time employees, who manage the crop, breeding projects, nutrient and boosting protocols, extraction, and post-harvest processing practices. We pay fair wages, consistently above industry standards, because as a wellness company, providing fair compensation is extremely important to us.
Colin has since increased the average crop potency from 0.25% total alkaloids to 1%. We have been working closely with the plants at multiple stages of development — from providing the appropriate organic nutrients and employing various cultivation methods to boost alkaloid content, to implementing careful post-harvest handling practices. We are committed to transparency in our work. Many of our crops now test at 3% or higher potency, comparable to plants used by pharmaceutical companies to produce standardised extracts. We also intend to offer services to help others bring their crops to higher alkaloid levels, as this is a highly medicinal plant and access should be available to everyone. We are researching and testing all parts of the plant — roots, stems, leaves, and flowers — and reporting our findings online to help others produce medicinal alkaloids at home.
Recently, my wife and I travelled to South Africa, about an hour outside of Cape Town, for our first harvest. We helped cut and collect the plants for drying and transplantation. Being hands-on with the plants, interviewing farmers, our team, and even a doctor who prescribes Kanna locally, was an incredibly educational experience. The content we captured during this trip is forming the basis of a Kanna documentary we are currently producing.
We remain committed to raising the bar for transparency around this crop, advocating for its education, and improving access. Kanna holds a special place in our hearts and has thousands of years of historical use with the !Kaan and Soi tribes. We aim to ensure that this rich heritage is not lost, shining a spotlight on both education and access so this plant receives the attention and respect it deserves.