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New Zealand medicinal cannabis company Puro has won Cultivator of the Year at the Cannabiz Awards 2026 in Melbourne.
Its founder and chief executive officer Sank Macfarlane was named Business Leader of the Year.
The Marlborough-based company grows 92 percent of all medicinal cannabis leaving New Zealand, has ingredients in 50 different products across Australia, and in May 2026 launched five flower products into the United Kingdom as part of a NZ$16.1 million supply agreement.
Puro plans to export to Germany, the world's largest medicinal cannabis market, later this year.
Certified organic and outdoor grown under the Marlborough sun, Puro is the largest medicinal cannabis grower in Australasia, and potentially the southern hemisphere.
Puro co-founder and chairman Tim Aldridge said the awards recognise the extraordinary efforts of the whole team in getting to where Puro is today.
“Winning the Cultivator of the Year is a real pat on the back for everyone on the ground at our Kekerengu farm and Waihopai breeding facility, and reinforces to us that we’re growing some of the best medicinal cannabis in the world.
"Business Leader of the Year is a personal one for Sank and it is so deserved.
"He has led this business from a standing start to New Zealand's largest medicinal cannabis exporter, and he has done it while building a culture people are genuinely proud to be part of,” said Mr Aldridge.
Puro’s growth follows a regulatory environment that has seen many exit the industry, with the commercial export of medicinal cannabis prohibited in New Zealand until 2024. Within a month of the law changing, Puro had received $2 million in orders.
Sank Macfarlane, Puro co-founder and CEO, said the recognition is a testament to an attitude of never giving up.
“When we started Puro in 2018 we had almost nothing, but we knew we had the potential to produce world-class medicinal cannabis. Our early years were brutal. Banking was near impossible, insurance was a constant battle, and we couldn't export our products for years.
"We had lots of costs and bugger all revenue.”
“Despite all the challenges, we’ve managed to create something special that people want to part of. That’s what I am most proud of. Whether its staff, investors, iwi, buyers or neighbours, we have an incredible community around us backing us to succeed. When you have that, the sky’s the limit,” said Macfarlane.
The Cannabiz Awards were judged by 36 senior industry figures. The judge’s said Mr Macfarlane combine combines “incredible commercial leadership with international impact, while building a values-based culture and making a significant contribution to the wider industry via government engagement, robust collaboration and community partnerships’’.
Puro's ambition is to become the Zespri of medicinal cannabis, a New Zealand grown brand recognised globally for quality. With export markets opening across Europe and a licensed contract grower network in development, the company is positioning itself as the country's next major primary export success story.