ILCO FARMING: SA’s High-Tech Cannabis Pioneer Cultivating a Global Reputation
Enterprise Africa speaks to Ilco Farming Director, Coenie Venter, and Quality Assurnace Manager, Danielle Van Der Berg, about the establishment and growth of a medicinal cannabis business that is highlighting South Africa as a high-quality suppler in markets aroudn the world.
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Across Africa, the medicinal cannabis industry is experiencing a groundswell of momentum. Legislators are opening the door to legal cultivation, investors are circling, and companies are racing to establish reputations in a high-value global market. But while the potential is enormous, there remains a pressing challenge: consistent, world-class quality.
In a sector where every batch must meet stringent pharmaceutical standards—often to pass regulatory inspections in Germany or Australia—reliability is non-negotiable. That’s where Ilco Farming, a licensed cannabis cultivator from South Africa’s Free State province, is winning admiration.
Established in 2020, run by husband-and-wife team Ilse and Coenie Venter, but backed by five generations of farming heritage, Ilco has emerged as a local industry leader by leveraging advanced greenhouse technology, rigorous quality assurance, and a firm grip on sustainability. Today, this family-run business is exporting high-grade medicinal cannabis to global markets—and pushing South Africa’s cannabis potential into the international spotlight.
“We are currently just over 40 people, located in the Free State,” says Quality Assurance Manager, Danielle Van Der Berg. “We cultivate between 4000 and 6000 plants every five weeks and that gives us a yield of 240–360kgs per harvest. We also process the cannabis onsite… drying, trimming, and bulk packaging. Our current buyers are in Germany and Australia, and we have a small offtake in Lesotho.”
HERITAGE MEETS INNOVATION
Ilco Farming may be a newcomer to cannabis, but the business itself is far from fledgling. Farming has been in the family since 1928, with generations of experience growing soybeans, maize, and managing cattle and poultry operations.
“The bigger business that Ilco was born from has been based here for nearly a century,” explains Director, Coenie Venter. “We have been farming here for five generations. Our core business is soybeans and maize. We also do cattle, game, and broiler chickens.”
This deep-rooted expertise gives Ilco a serious advantage. Not only does the team understand farming at scale, but they’ve applied lessons from traditional agriculture to a pioneering cannabis business—achieving high yields with lean inputs, and managing cost and quality simultaneously.
“We try to be on the cutting-edge of growing tech and what is happening in the market,” says Venter. “We have high-tech greenhouses imported from the Netherlands that use supplemental lights and dehumidifiers imported from Israel.”
The decision to use greenhouses—not full indoor grow rooms—sets Ilco apart in South Africa’s cannabis space. While it demands greater finesse, it allows the company to harness the country’s powerful natural climate, cutting down on energy costs while still maintaining control over conditions.
“There are a lot of indoor facilities in South Africa, but we only do greenhouse,” Van Der Berg points out. “This is a very difficult industry to break into and you have to be one of the best or you will not make it. For us, quality is the number one thing that separates us from the rest.”
FOCUS ON CONSISTENCY
Medicinal cannabis production isn’t just about growing—it’s about maintaining pharmaceutical-grade consistency across every cycle. One weak harvest can damage a company’s reputation, or worse, lose export licenses. That’s why Ilco’s Quality Assurance team enforces strict protocols across its site.
“We don’t want aphids and thrips anywhere near the crop,” says Van Der Berg. “We have an enclosed environment… we had to upgrade our netting to ensure we keep insects out. The industry standard netting was not enough for us and we went far beyond with 80 holes per inch.”
Even decisions around nutrients are shaped by this obsession with uniformity.
“We tried organic fertilisers in the beginning but it doesn’t offer such a high yield,” she explains. “There is not as much consistency in the nutrients themselves. You can’t guarantee that every batch will be exactly the same.”
The risks of microbial matter—especially when cannabis is a hyperaccumulator—are too great.
“A lot of the organic nutrients are manure or guano, which comes with risks… We try and use a sterile medium and our experience shows that was the correct step. In the medicinal market, we cannot use any manure-based organic fertiliser,” says Van Der Berg.
Hygiene is paramount. “You only need one bud to end up with E. coli to end up in disaster. We set our targets around being the most compliant site in South Africa around hygiene and SAHPRA accordance, and we feel we are ready to be audited any day.”
SUSTAINABLE FOUNDATIONS
While some competitors wrestle with high running costs, Ilco benefits from strategic investments in sustainability. The company uses solar energy to power much of its operation and has ambitions to disconnect from the national grid entirely.
“The energy challenge here is large,” admits Venter. “Eskom has been weak for some time and so we use solar energy across the farm. We need to upscale our solar energy plant aggressively and we need alternative sources at a large scale.”
Van Der Berg adds: “We are not fully off the grid, but we hope to achieve that status in the future. It is expensive to run generators during loadshedding, but we are thankful that loadshedding has been almost non-existent in the last six months.”
Water is also managed independently. “We don’t rely on municipal water at all—we have boreholes on the farm.”
As the business expands, cost control will be critical. “The more we expand, the better our quality and the more we can produce,” says Van Der Berg. “That is not going to stop anytime in the near future.”
“We must control costs,” adds Venter. “We have a lot of experience in this model through our other farming operations, such as maize… Doing the best and the most, with the least input, is a key strategy.”
GOING GLOBAL
Even with a strong base in South Africa, Ilco knows that the future of medicinal cannabis lies overseas. That’s why the team is working with experienced export partners, such as Sativius, and attending international trade shows to expand their network.
“Marketing has also been a challenge when opening up overseas markets,” says Van Der Berg. “That is why we have included ourselves in overseas shows such as ACannabis in Melbourne, which we will attend in August. We also work with well-known export partners like Sativius who understand the processes that we go through to achieve such a high-quality product.”
Ilco’s global push is set to continue this year. “We are looking to exhibit at a number of international shows to drive our footprint,” says Venter. “We will be in Melbourne in August, and then we are going to Barcelona and Berlin to discuss with the industry about pricing and routes to market.”
Across Africa, the medicinal cannabis industry is projected to grow rapidly, with Statista estimating market revenues to reach over $2 billion by 2026, driven largely by exports to Europe and North America. Countries like Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and South Africa are already leading the charge with progressive regulatory frameworks, and investors are taking note. According to African Business, Africa’s climate, land availability, and low-cost production base give it a competitive edge over traditional producers in Europe and North America. Yet, only a handful of operations—like Ilco Farming—have been able to meet the pharmaceutical-grade standards required to compete on a global scale.
GROWTH WITH PURPOSE
Ilco Farming is a rare mix in the African cannabis landscape: a historic, multi-generational business with strong local roots, paired with global ambition and technical excellence. With continued investment in sustainability, compliance, and quality, the company is on a path to become one of the continent’s benchmark cannabis producers.
For Van Der Berg, the journey is just beginning: “Construction is a never-ending task. The more we expand, the more we can produce. We rely on a number of close partners to ensure our quality is world-class—and that’s going to carry us into the future.”
And for Venter, leadership is about trust. “I have learnt not to micromanage the team. We have a brilliant group and they run the facility. Danielle alongisde our Master Grower, Tyler Muller, are fantastic at what they do, and they are very strict on the compliance and quality side.”
As international demand for medicinal cannabis grows, and African producers fight for market share, Ilco Farming is proving that high-quality African cannabis can compete with the best in the world—one precision-grown harvest at a time.