This article originally appeared in the October 2017 print edition of Cannabis Business Times. To subscribe, click here.
The leadership scholar and author John Gardner once said that the future is not shaped by wide-eyed optimism; it’s determined by tough-minded people with original ideas, deep convictions and resilience in the face of change. If true, then John and Amy Andrle’s cautious 2009 start of L’Eagle Services may result in much more than a successful cannabis business; it could fuel the fire for building a more environmentally sustainable industry, and for promoting and certifying ‘organic’ cannabis.
A plausible three-word mantra for L’Eagle might be this: only clean cannabis. As self-described foodies who appreciate pesticide-free foods, the Andrles think consumers should expect the same growing standards for cannabis, too.
From the start, L’Eagle focused on developing a best-practice model for organic cultivation by recruiting two experts from the agriculture and food industries: John Chandler was a former tomato farmer for Whole Foods with a degree in horticulture from Texas A&M University, and Lucas Targos ran a raw dairy farm in upstate New York. Working in highly regulated environments was all in a day’s work for Chandler and Targos. Although both have since moved on to other projects, the Andrles credit them with establishing standard operating procedures for organic cultivation that guide how L’Eagle grows more than 30 cannabis cultivars today.
L’Eagle’s cultivation is now led by Aaron Spindler, who came aboard in 2015 with almost a decade of experience in the cannabis industry. Since joining the company, Spindler says his goal has been to fine-tune the existing operation, making small tweaks that help L’Eagle stay at the top of the market. The Andrles say Spindler’s attention to improving efficiency, and his talent for managing staff and cultivating a wide spectrum of cannabis cultivars has helped refine their cultivation operation.
To read the full article in Cannabis Business Times' October issue, click here.
Top photo by Brian Kraft
