We decided to drop a few questions on Derek van Zyl, owner and founder of Freedom Farms. They were also one of the main sponsors for this year’s Zootly’s Cannabis Cup! Thanks guys!
So, some housekeeping, please make sure to stock up on their soils and other nutrient additives before going through the piece, and if you’re already in possession of their gear – well – carry on reading! Let’s get into this!
What inspired the launch of Freedom Farms and what’s your main consumer promise?
Freedom Farms was started in 2015, but we had been mixing our own soils years before the company was even thought of.
The many disappointments after testing the available soils on the market got us on the track of mixing our own.
Inspiration for the company developed over time while discussing future options on long walks in the mountains.
In the beginning, it just started as discussions, but soon we were receiving requests from friends for the soil we mixed in our garage and the orders started racking up.
The company (Freedom Farms) was started with the intention to expand the culture of home growing by making the tools available and simplifying the process for the individual to consistently cultivate super healthy plants
You market your product as craft soil, let us know what you define craft soil as?
To us, the creation of a craft product is driven by passion and expertise in the particular field. The production of a craft product should be very hands-on by having a detailed approach to every step of the production process.
Authenticity, localism, product quality, and product consistency are also key elements of a craft product. We can never compromise on these key elements even if it means the company has to grow much slower.
As with all our soils, we’re constantly making improvements, even after the launch of a product, until it fits its market niche properly. We strongly encourage negative and positive feedback from our customers, especially regarding our soils.
This is also part of the craft concept – applying real market feedback to fine-tune a product so that it best suites the needs of the grower’s reality
What is your latest product offering?
The Antifragile Super Soil. A water-only soil, the first of its kind on the open SA market.
Antifragile Super Soil is a living soil with loads of immediate-, medium-, and slow- release sources of organic plant nutrients. A fully enriched living soil formulated for the pure organic grower.
All essential plant nutrients are provided by this complete soil ecosystem throughout the vegetative and flowering phases, covering the plant’s full life cycle.
The continuous nutrient release processes are dependant only on microorganisms, plant roots, and the addition of clean water.
And plans for Freedom Farms’ future?
Currently, we are focused on refining and building our our product line. We try not to look too far ahead as this can distract form the focus required to produce quality products. We are patient, the road is long.