The Zikigai Garden team made it to Mary Jane Berlin 2026 for the first time this year, and the trip reshaped how we think about our place in the global cannabis market. Co-founder Brad Van Gundy walked the floor for four days alongside Ronin Seeds, Cannabis Brothers, and 916 Exotics. He came home with a notebook full of ideas. He also came home with a much bigger map of where our seeds can travel next.

Here is our recap of the event, what we saw, and what we plan to do about it.

What Mary Jane Berlin Is and Why It Matters

Mary Jane Berlin has grown into the largest cannabis event in Europe and one of the biggest on the planet. The 2026 edition ran June 11 through 14 at Messe Berlin and marked the show’s 10th anniversary, which gave the whole weekend a celebratory charge.

The Footprint

The numbers explain why so many brands build their year around this show. More than 500 exhibitors filled the halls, and organizers welcomed well over 75,000 visitors across four days. A dedicated B2B day opened the event on June 11. That day gave professionals, distributors, and brand owners a quieter runway to talk business before the festival crowd arrived. Live music, panel programming, and a sprawling outdoor area turned the rest of the weekend into something closer to a festival than a trade show.

Why Germany Sits at the Center

Germany’s legalization moves put the country at the front of the European conversation, and Mary Jane reflects that shift. The show now blends serious commercial dealmaking with genuine cannabis culture. International brands use the floor to launch their European strategies. They do it in front of an audience that actually buys, grows, and talks.

Zikigai Garden’s First Time on the Berlin Floor

Brad and Mason landed in Berlin with a crew and a plan. Our team spread across multiple booths so that visitors could find Zikigai Garden seeds in more than one place on the floor. From the jump, it was apparent that authentic California genetics were in high demand.

Two Booths, Two Ways to Find Our Seeds

Mason repped us at the Cannabis Brothers booth, and our regular branded packs sat at two separate booths throughout the show. Splitting our presence gave us more surface area with the crowd and more chances to talk genetics with people who had only ever seen our work through a screen.

The Don Merfos x Zikigai Collab

We also brought a collaboration to Berlin. We worked with Gerbs Herbs and Don Merfos on a joint seed release. Those packs shipped in boxes carrying Don Merfos x Zikigai branding. Don Merfos sold the collab at his own booth. Our genetics reached a third audience under a name European growers already trust. Watching a collab we built in California move across a counter in Germany felt surreal in the best way.

California Genetics Speak a Global Language

Every major California brand showed up in Berlin, and the European seed world came out in full force. Barney’s, Sensi Seeds, Greenhouse, and Attitude Seed Bank all held down the floor alongside newer operations from across the continent. Though Germany’s market is still in its infancy, the big dogs came out in full from every corner of Europe to represent alongside California industry leaders.

California Became the Buzzword

One thing stood out immediately. When you stand that far from California, the state functions as a marketing language all its own. Brad noticed a handful of brands presenting themselves as “California-born” or “California-based” without much connection to the state. He found the whole dynamic fascinating rather than frustrating. That kind of borrowing only happens when a place carries real cultural weight. California genetics earned that reputation through decades of work. Seeing the name travel that far confirmed how much it means to growers worldwide.

A Market Still Finding Its Footing

The German market wants California genetics badly. The interest felt genuine and enthusiastic everywhere the team went. At the same time, most people there experience our scene mainly through the internet. The market still sits in an early chapter of its own story. That gap reads as opportunity to us. Growers there are hungry for the real thing, and they deserve direct access to it.

Moments That Stuck With Us

Wizard Trees Built a World

Wizard Trees ran away with the floor in terms of pure presence. Their booth went big and immersive. Visitors walked in over a floor made of televisions. Lights and a mystical atmosphere surrounded the space and matched the branding perfectly. It set a bar for what a booth can be when a brand commits fully to its own universe and goes full force overseas.

Ronin Seeds and the Toad Venom Wave

Jake, better known as Ronin Seeds, pulled serious energy all weekend. His Toad Venom strain carried a wave you could feel in the room. Watching people react to a strain’s popularity in real time taught us more than any sales report could. We also loved talking with visitors about our collaborations with Jake, including Pi-Chew and Pineapple Zikigai. We plan to keep building projects with Ronin for a long time.

Hours of Walking and Meeting

Some of the best value came from simply walking the floor for a few hours at a stretch. We met growers, shop owners, breeders, and distributors from across Europe. Those hours started real conversations about bringing more of our brands’ genetics into the legal markets there.

What Europe’s Legal Landscape Taught Us

The regulatory picture across Europe was eye opening, to say the least. Several countries operate under legal frameworks that allow import and export with neighboring markets. Multiple companies told us they hold legal infrastructure in more than one country at once. That dynamic simply does not exist for us in California. Our operations stop at the state line.

Seeing the global market up close changed our sense of scale. We spend most of our time inside the American conversation. Berlin reminded us how much activity actually happens outside of it. It feels obvious when you say it, but to be there experiencing it was a different beast entirely.

What Comes Next for Zikigai Garden in Europe

We left Berlin with a clear priority for the coming year. Brad plans to focus on getting Zikigai Garden seeds legally carried across the European market. Our international fans should never hit a wall when they try to order from California.

Our First Official European Partner

We already took the first step. Zikigai Garden seeds now sit on the menu at theseedshop.eu, our first official partner in Germany. That partnership solves a real problem for the people who have supported us from thousands of miles away. Fans in Europe can now buy our genetics through a legal channel close to home. We intend to add more partners so that access keeps expanding. Keep your eyes peeled.

Grateful for the First Trip, Ready for the Next

Our first Mary Jane Berlin gave us perspective, partnerships, and a lot of gratitude. We shared booths with people we respect. Then, we watched collaborations land with a brand new audience. And finally, we met growers who care about genetics as much as we do.

Berlin showed us that our community reaches further than we realized. We plan to keep meeting it where it stands. Explore the current Zikigai Garden catalog. Grab a half pack of 6 or a full pack of 12 seeds and see what the Berlin floor was talking about.

All images via Mary Jane Berlin (@Mary_Jane_Berlin) Instagram page.