Also known as: Dutch Passion Seed Company · DP

Dutch Passion

One of the oldest continuously operating Dutch cannabis seedbanks, founded in the late 1980s and still active today.

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Published 12 hours ago

↯ The honest take

Dutch Passion is genuinely one of the oldest cannabis seedbanks still trading, and it has a documented role in popularising feminized seed production in the late 1990s. That history is real. What's harder to verify independently is most of the marketing around specific cultivars, yield claims, and breeder lineages — that information almost all traces back to the company itself. Treat their history as well-established, and their strain descriptions as vendor copy until proven otherwise.

What it is

Dutch Passion is an Amsterdam-based cannabis seed company that breeds, produces and sells cannabis seeds to home growers and other seedbanks. The company sells regular, feminized and autoflowering seeds and operates an online catalogue alongside distribution through third-party seedbanks and grow shops in countries where cannabis seed sales are legal ^[1]^[2].

It is one of a small group of Dutch seedbanks — alongside Sensi Seeds, Serious Seeds and a few others — that predate the modern global cannabis seed industry and that are routinely cited in cannabis-history books and reporting ^[3]^[4].

History and ownership

Dutch Passion states it was founded in 1987 by Henk van Dalen, a Dutch grower who had been selling cannabis seeds informally since the early 1970s ^[1]. The 1987 founding date and Van Dalen's role are repeated in independent cannabis-history sources, including Jorge Cervantes' grow literature and reporting by High Times and Sensi/Soft Secrets, though most of these accounts ultimately rely on interviews with the company itself ^[3]^[4]. Weak / limited

Dutch Passion is most often credited — alongside researchers and other Dutch breeders — with bringing feminized seeds to the commercial market in the late 1990s. The company claims it was the first to release feminized seeds commercially in 1998 ^[1]. The broader shift to feminized seeds in that period is well documented, but the "first" claim is contested by other breeders and should be treated as company history rather than settled fact Disputed^[4].

Ownership has remained private. The company is registered in the Netherlands; current directors and shareholders can in principle be checked via the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK) register, but Weedpedia has not independently re-verified the current corporate structure as of the last-checked date.

Catalogue and genetics focus

The current Dutch Passion catalogue includes regular, feminized and autoflowering lines, plus CBD-rich and "USA Special" (American-style hybrid) categories ^[2]. Well-known cultivars associated with the company include:

Original Blueberry — a Blueberry line whose pedigree Dutch Passion attributes to DJ Short's original work, distributed via Dutch Passion since the 1990s. DJ Short himself has worked with multiple seedbanks, so different "Blueberry" lines on the market are not genetically identical Disputed^[3].
Mazar — an Afghan × Skunk hybrid that has appeared in cup results since the late 1990s.
Passion #1, Power Plant, Durban Poison, AutoMazar, Auto Blackberry Kush — long-standing menu items.

Independent genetic verification (e.g. SNP fingerprinting) of these lines against other vendors' versions has not been published in peer-reviewed work that Weedpedia is aware of No data. Lineage information should therefore be read as breeder-reported.

Reputation and awards

Dutch Passion has placed in High Times Cannabis Cup and Highlife Cup events on multiple occasions from the 1990s onward, including a 1st-place Cannabis Cup win for Blueberry in 2000 in the indica category ^[3]^[4]. Weak / limited

Two caveats worth keeping in mind:

Older Cannabis Cup results are poorly archived online and many citations trace back to the same secondary sources. Dates and categories for specific wins are not always consistent across references.
Cannabis cups have historically had limited entry pools, paid entry fees and judging methods that are not blinded or standardised. A cup placement is a marketing credential, not a quality assay Disputed^[5].

In grower communities (e.g. long-running forums and review aggregators), Dutch Passion has a generally positive long-term reputation for consistency on flagship strains, but as with all seedbanks, reviews are self-selected and not a controlled measure of quality.

Controversies and uncertainty

There is no widely reported scandal attached to Dutch Passion comparable to the legal disputes that have hit some other large seedbanks. Areas of genuine uncertainty include:

"First feminized seeds" claim. Multiple Dutch breeders and researchers contributed to the techniques that made commercial feminized seed production possible in the 1990s. Attributing the breakthrough to a single company is a marketing simplification Disputed^[4].
Strain lineage. As with most pre-2000 Dutch genetics, parental lines are described in narrative terms rather than verified genetically. Names like "Afghani," "Skunk #1" and "Haze" refer to families of plants, not a single defined cultivar Strong evidence^[6].
Stability across batches. Even within a single breeder, feminized seed batches can vary in phenotype expression. This is true industry-wide, not specific to Dutch Passion.

Availability and legal-market notes

In the Netherlands, the sale of cannabis seeds is tolerated under the country's gedoogbeleid (tolerance policy), though germination and cultivation remain restricted ^[7]. Dutch Passion sells direct to consumers via its website and via a network of resellers.

Cannabis seed legality varies sharply by country. In the EU, seeds of varieties listed in the EU common catalogue can move relatively freely; non-listed cannabis seeds occupy a grey area that differs by member state. In the United States, cannabis seeds remain federally controlled under the Controlled Substances Act, although a 2022 DEA letter indicated that seeds containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC may be treated as hemp ^[8]. That letter is an interpretive position, not a court ruling, and it does not override state law. Weak / limited

Weedpedia does not advise on importation. Buyers are responsible for their own jurisdiction's rules.

What buyers should verify before ordering

This is not a purchase recommendation. If you are evaluating any seedbank — Dutch Passion included — the following are reasonable checks:

Confirm the official website. Many old Dutch brands have lookalike domains and resellers using similar names. Cross-check the URL against the company's social channels and against listings in established cannabis publications.
Confirm legal status in your jurisdiction for both purchase and possession of cannabis seeds. This is the single most common source of buyer problems, not seed quality.
Read reviews critically. Aggregator sites often have commercial relationships with seedbanks. Long-running grower forums tend to be more candid than affiliate-driven review sites.
Treat strain descriptions as vendor copy. Yield, flowering time, terpene and cannabinoid claims on any seedbank's site — Dutch Passion or otherwise — are not independently audited.
Be skeptical of "original" or "first-ever" claims for any cultivar. Cannabis genetics history is poorly documented and heavily disputed ^[6].

Sources

How this page was made

Generation history

May 20, 2026

Fact-check pass — raised 3 flags