ID Swiss Botanicals offers creams containing cannabis extracts. This is Babylon Sciences' new adventure in a market where it is constantly necessary to explain and reassure.
"We are rebels but serious." This is one of the mottos, as provocative as it is evocative, of ID Swiss Botanicals, a new company with a speaking name, based in Lausanne. ID as a phonetic nod to the little girl who runs in our mountains, Swiss to emphasize the quality and seriousness of what is done here and Botanicals for the green effect. It is the one that has recently marketed two creams (one day, one night), a serum and a mask with CBD. But it is in fact the little sister of Avengarde (flowers to smoke and CBD oils) and Natural Shelter (CBD products for animals sold at veterinarians), the first three "children" of Babylon Sciences.
Despite its English sound and its obvious link to Jamaica, it is indeed a Vaudois company, which has its premises in Lausanne. It was founded in 2018 by five friends and local entrepreneurs: Patrick Delarive, Cédric Rimella (ex-On My Way, dry cleaning company), Andreas Schollin-Borg (Batmaid cleaning portal, Gotham coworking spaces), Florent Bourachot (real estate start-up Neho) and a lawyer from Geneva who wishes to remain discreet.
From the field to the smoke
Following the legalization of cannabis with less than 1% THC in 2016, the five friends decided to launch themselves into this market, which had until then been occupied by opaque players. Their idea? Like market gardeners: control everything from field to plate, or rather from field to smoke. They want to grow quality hemp - whose genetics ensure values between 0.03% and 0.08% THC - organically and first sell flowers to smoke.
Let us recall here the basic differences between cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabidiol (THC). The first contains less than 1% THC. It is legal and non-psychoactive. It is used in various forms for its relaxing properties. It is now included in the composition of many derivative products, such as food supplements or cosmetics. The second is illegal, psychoactive and consumed recreationally. Its therapeutic use under medical supervision is progressing.
"It was already at the very beginning of the adventure that we understood that nothing would be easy in this market," recalls Cédric Rimella, co-founder and CEO of Babylon Sciences. "CBD may be legal, but we are still far from being able to sell it like Haribo. We spend a lot of time explaining and reassuring. We are constantly judged. Socially, it is an extremely divisive subject. Which confirmed to us that our scientific, transparent and local approach was the right one."
It is easy to imagine that obtaining permits to grow 1,500 m2 of hemp in a greenhouse on the heights of Vevey must have been anything but easy. "Just like recruiting the right people to ensure very high-quality production," continues the entrepreneur, whose bright and spacious Lausanne offices are reminiscent of those of the trendiest start-ups. "You don't find that kind of profile on LinkedIn!"
Today Babylon Sciences produces 5 tons of natural and organic CBD whose THC content is genetically between 0.03% and 0.08%. The control is total, from cloning to harvesting, including the nursery and flowering. The sale of smoking flowers and their derivatives, such as flavored oils, under the Avengarde brand, finances the 29 employees of Babylon Sciences and the research and development of its new ranges.
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