“Juicy Fields were extremely vocal and out there, especially at conferences that me or my colleagues had attended. They did seem to be everywhere – but what’s frustrating is, I don’t think they necessarily did have a strong presence in Malta,” Booth told Lovin Malta.

As someone who has been operating in both the local and international cannabis sector for years, as well as deal with governments on cannabis policy, he’s seen companies come and go – and noticed Juicy Fields quick rise to the top, even though they weren’t particularly Malta-focused.

“I feel that Malta is going to get unfair backlash as a couple of their staff were based here and they sponsored a couple of events on the island,” he noted. “In comparison, they were heavily promoted at much bigger events in Spain and Germany. I believe they sponsored dozens of events globally.”

“Even the staff that were based in Malta from my understanding were paid employees and not shareholders or owners so (I hope) did not benefit from what looks like an exit scam. Unfortunately, Malta will receive more negative press with the ground the country has made on legalising cannabis in general.”

Though Booth didn’t invest in Juicy Fields – where some ‘e-growers’ apparently invested hundreds of thousands of euro into growing cannabis all over the world – he’s been contacted by many who have.

“Losing any amount here would be upsetting. I had checked their deck out and the numbers just didn’t quite make sense to me, the amount of plants they claimed to grow per square meter for example didn’t stack up. It was nothing glaringly obvious, though I did think it may be a Ponzi style scheme.”

“Any company that seemingly spends so much on marketing that is relying on deposits from investors is a little red flag for me.”

Though Booth noticed that the company’s claims were “a bit ambitious” he didn’t expect Juicy Fields to go to the lengths it seems to have gone.

“I would have called them out vocally if I had an idea they were running a scam of any scale, let alone this magnitude. These types of situations have a negative effect on a whole industry that is trying to run legitimate projects and it leaves a very sour taste in everyone’s mouths sadly.”

Booth was asked if Melabis had anything to do with the brand following scandal being revealed. 

“I’ve been contacted by a few people asking if Melabis had any involvement with Juicy Fields which we absolutely did not, nor even any contact with them, but that negative outlook can tar all companies with the same brush,” he lamented.

“We actually set a concurrent project up which we intended to launch this year that utilises our own crops and license at Melabis to allow customers to grow their own cannabis.”

“This hopefully won’t be jeopardised by the Juicy Fields fallout as we’ve worked really hard, and hired a team to manage it. I really hope the investors can recoup their funds back and a regulator will take responsibility to try and make that happen for them.”

Regardless of the Juicy Fields scandal, Booth remains confident in the growing local and international cannabis industry, and urges potential investors not to be deterred by what happened in their case.

“Use this as a lesson to really do your own due diligence. Check the numbers out with third parties. Confirm any claims, such as partnerships with other companies.”

“Juicy Fields’ claimed they had partnered up with many listed cannabis companies, this could have been verified, or not. Ultimately, in any investment, never invest more than you are willing to lose,” he said.

Have you been burned by the Juicy Fields fallout? Contact us via [email protected]