Who We Are
The Zetler family are 5th generation farmers based in the Stellenbosch district in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Our primary heritage lies in the cultivation of premium strawberries, which are supplied into both local and export markets.
With over a hundred years of experience in high-quality crop production and advanced greenhouse technologies, the family made a strategic decision in 2018 to diversify into medical cannabis. This led to the establishment of Felbridge.
Driven by a strong cultivation background and a commitment to excellence, we applied our proven expertise in hydroponics and controlled environment agriculture to the medical cannabis sector. Today, Felbridge operates under a SAHPRA license that authorises the cultivation and export of medical cannabis products from our 14,000m2 facility.
Since its founding, Felbridge has successfully exported high-quality medical cannabis products to licensed customers across Europe and Australia. We remain committed to leading the South African medical cannabis industry by delivering consistent, high quality products to global markets.
Management Team
-
Leslie Zetler
LinkedIn ProfileLeslie has a higher diploma in Production Management and an MBA from the University of Cape Town. His career started in consulting followed by his current tenure at Limberlost where he is Group Technical Director and CEO of Felbridge and has over 20 years of cultivation and management experience. His primary focus is the cultivation of vegetables in hydroponic greenhouses as well as the cultivation of strawberries in both soil and soilless mediums. Leslie also oversees the quality assurance function which includes compliance to GACP and cGMP. Leslie is registered with South Africa’s Department of Agriculture and holds a PCO licence.
-
Julian Zetler
LinkedIn ProfileJulian holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Rhodes University. He has been CEO of Limberlost for over 30 years and is Felbridge’s COO. Julian has developed Limberlost into one of the largest strawberry producers in the country with supply contracts into all major South African retailers as well as the export market.
-
Barry Zetler
LinkedIn ProfileBarry graduated from the University of Cape Town with a Bachelor of Business Science degree in Finance and Accounting as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting and is a qualified chartered accountant. Having joined Limberlost as CFO in 2012, Barry oversees its investments, including all financial and accounting functions, in the
agricultural, retail, fuel and property sectors and has been appointed as the CFO of Felbridge. -
Aaron Zetler
LinkedIn ProfileAaron graduated as an Industrial Engineer from Stellenbosch University, where he achieved cum laude for his thesis on the utilisation of IoT technology in cannabis cultivation. He further completed a course through Utah State University presented by industry-leading professors Bruce Bugbee and Royal Heins. Aaron serves as Head of Operations at Felbridge, where he oversees perational systems, cultivation infrastructure and process optimisation, with a focus on integrating technology and data-driven decision making to drive efficiency, consistency and scalability across the business.
-
Darren Gorelick
LinkedIn ProfileDarren joined Felbridge in 2024 as Head of Business Development for its Australian office and is based in Melbourne. He has over 20 years’ experience working in various roles across the banking, fintech, and technology sectors, and brings a sharp commercial mind and entrepreneurial spirit to the role. He is passionate about building long-term relationships for Felbridge in the Australian market and growing our brand presence in the region.
Advisory Panel
-
Dr. Gavin George
LinkedIn ProfileDr. Gavin George is the Director of Research and Intellectual Property at Puregene AG based in Switzerland. Gavin co-ordinates the integration of mechanical and digital technologies as well as breeding techniques into the trait development platforms of Puregene AG. Working with both the science and the business strategy teams, Gavin ensures that the research direction integrates tightly with the patenting pipeline at Puregene AG to ensure the rapid generation of a coherent patent portfolio and he works closely with their international academic collaborators on both the research and regulatory aspects of their combined projects.
-
Gregory Rodrigues
LinkedIn ProfileGregory holds a Bachelor of Business Science (Finance) Honors from the University of Cape Town, and is a Chartered Accountant registered with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. He completed his articles in Cape Town before moving to New York where he worked in advisory for Ernst and Young. Gregory has over 13 years’ experience working in top financial institutions and investment banks in New York, London and Cape Town, primarily focused on debt raising, capital restructuring and cash management.
-
Brent Shapiro
LinkedIn ProfileBrent graduated from the University of Cape Town with a Bachelor of Business Science in Finance and Accounting and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. Brent serves as a Director of Finance and Operations of the Private Capital team at FirePower Capital in Toronto. Brent previously spent 5 years working at Investec in South Africa where he specialized in equity derivative structuring and credit trading.
-
Adam Snitcher
LinkedIn ProfileAdam graduated with a LLB degree from the University of Cape Town and was admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa after completing his articles with Bernadt Vukic Potash & Getz Attorneys. Adam, currently based in London, continues to practice as a partner in the firm and has extensive experience in the fields of corporate and commercial law. In addition to practising as an attorney, Adam also spent 7 years as the group legal advisor and company secretary to a listed group of companies with interests in the retail, property and water infrastructure sectors.
