This broad range of stakeholders in the state of the hemp market includes hemp growers, processors, manufacturers, researchers, educators, investors, and consumers who know that a strong domestic hemp industry has a role to play in the repatriation of manufacturing processes. It has the potential to generate 66,000 jobs by 2030, $9 billion in economic output in rural areas, and a total economic impact of $32 billion, all while sequestering 8 million tons of CO2 per year, making it a profitable and sustainable industry for the long term.

Plant-based market solutions

Hemp, which is defined as Cannabis Sativa L with less than .3 percent Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is a multi-purpose crop with multiple revenue streams. Hemp has been used for more than 8,000 years for food, textiles, clothing, paper, and many other commodities and health products. Today, this versatile plant is found in a wide range of food, building, textile, bio-plastic, fuel and wellness products.

Highly regarded for its strength, sustainability, and phytoremediative properties—the ability to remediate soil and sequester carbon—hemp is an ideal rotation crop. It grows from seed to harvest in only 100 days, which means farmers can do more with less, helping to heal the soil at a time when the threat to arable land is at an all-time high.

As Erica Stark, Executive Director of NHA, notes of the hemp industry, “We have two kinds of distinct segments of the industry being the cannabinoid side and the industrial side, which have completely different applications, different levels of scrutiny and regulatory frameworks, and possibilities of end products.”

For instance, hemp seed can be used for protein and nutrition, things like cold-pressed oil, protein powder, and personal care products. Hemp fiber can be used for industrial outputs in the manufacture of construction materials, paper, textiles, and other parts and components.

Notably, hemp has been used in the manufacture of biocomposite parts for the high-performance automotive industry, reducing the weight of the parts by 25 percent while improving performance, fuel economy, battery life, and the reduction of emissions.

Hemp is also used to make carbon-neutral, energy-efficient building materials. Hempcrete is a concrete alternative that offers low-thermal conductivity, high-thermal capacity, and high insulation values, topping the performance of the industry standard at a similar price point.

Even if pricing weren’t comparable, many consumers are prepared to pay more for hemp products, given their sustainable nature. This will enable the industry to scale while bringing costs and prices down.

A history of prohibition

Regardless of the countless advantages of hemp, as manufacturing equipment evolved during industrialization and as attitudes shifted, hemp was replaced by materials like cotton, wood, and plastics, which cost less, and were easier to produce.

This was the beginning of hemp’s demise in North America. In 1938, the distinction between cannabis sativa L variants was removed and blanket prohibition made it illegal to grow, possess, or even research the plant, which would set the industry back decades.

Ironically, there was a brief hiatus in these restrictions during the Second World War when the government encouraged farmers to grow hemp as part of the war efforts, but the ban was reinstated in 1948.

For seventy years, hemp remained illegal, during which time support for legalization mounted and the work of organizations like NHA became ever more important. A major push occurred in the 2000s and finally, in 2018, hemp and hemp seeds were removed from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s Schedule of Controlled Substances.

With the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill which ushered in the national legalization of hemp, many people, including Stark, breathed a sigh of relief that the hard part was over, but it was just the beginning.

“This is the hardest work—building the industry and setting about to prove that everything that we are advocating is true and possible,” says Stark.

The legislative path forward

From a legislative standpoint, NHA is working to advance an Industrial Hemp Exemption, which will create a sub-definition of hemp that is specific to fiber and grain and its industrial applications.

According to Stark, “If you’re growing hemp specifically for the harvest of the grain or the stalk material, you’d be exempted from background checks and compliance checking. In other words, if you’re growing industrial hemp for the fiber and grain, you’re going to be treated much more as if you’re a traditional row-crop farmer.”

Growing industrial hemp still implies accountability, but does not warrant fingerprinting, background checks, and the stigma attached to growing a crop that’s no different from corn or soy. Accountability is just as easy to enforce.

“Fiber and grain crops are evident by a visual inspection. You can identify them by just looking at them,” explains Stark, pointing out that that isn’t quite the case with cannabinoid varieties. Efforts are also being made to increase legislated THC values of industrial hemp to one percent, as, currently, it must contain less than 0.3 percent.

The NHA also advocates that the cannabinoid side of the industry must have sound regulations in place. As Stark says, “It’s rare to have an industry raising their hands saying, ‘Regulate me! Regulate me!’ but our industry desperately wants reasonable and sensible regulations. It’s the only way we can legitimize and open up these markets.”

Hemp is one of the last truly bipartisan issues. While the NHA is a national organization, it works at the state level via its Standing Committee of Hemp Organizations which has members from most of the largest hemp-producing states in the country.

Further, the NHA is supporting the Hemp Feed Coalition to get approvals for hemp as a nutritious ingredient in animal feed. Already fit for human consumption, the goal is to have hemp approved as an ingredient or certified as GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) for animals, which would expand the market for the leftover plant meal that’s a by-product of the dehulling process.

“We are doing that behind-the-scenes work to create a better regulatory path forward for the industry as well as helping to facilitate the building of reliable supply chains,” Stark says, to ensure consumer confidence and future viability.

Reinforced supply chains

While it was met with great enthusiasm, the 2018 Farm Bill led to the decline of hemp cultivation for cannabinoids through a rapid oversaturation of the market that drove down profit margins. This is something the NHA is looking to avoid with the hemp fiber and grain industry.

“We need to build supply and demand simultaneously instead of the lopsided flooding of the market, so it’s a ‘slow and steady wins the race’ kind of thing,” says Stark.

Additionally, global supply chain issues that were exacerbated by the COVID pandemic emphasized the need for resilient domestic supply chains. This is especially true of hemp, given that the U.S. is the largest importer of industrial hemp in the world.

“We have farmers who would welcome adding hemp to their rotation and we have manufacturers that are more than happy to include hemp in their end products. It is that middle piece of the supply chain, fiber processing, that is one of the major problems,” says Stark.

Efforts are underway to encourage the development of dedicated processing facilities and more specialized purpose-built equipment to ensure existing gaps in the supply chain are being filled.

The average commercial-scale processing facility comes with a $25 million price tag but promises a great economic return. On average, each facility employs 117 people, with an annual payroll of $6.1 million, and a $30 million total economic output.

Stark and the NHA are reasonable in their expectations, “It’s not that we think hemp is going to replace existing products, but we know that hemp can make those existing products better, stronger, and more sustainable.”

Before this can happen there will need to be better regulations, a more robust supply chain and the support of legislators, industry, and the public alike.

Consumers can vote with their dollars by purchasing and requesting hemp products, as well as their ballots by supporting leaders who understand the genuine value hemp can offer people, the economy and the environment.

A chance to do things right

In addition to a Standing Committee of Hemp Organizations, the NHA also works to ensure the hemp industry is built on a foundation of diversity, inclusion, and equity via its Standing Committee for Social Equity.

“The hemp plant, the cannabis plant, is so diverse by its very nature it’s like it was meant for this purpose,” says Stark. “It brings people together. It’s one of the very few things that you can find that has bipartisan support and disenfranchised communities have been exorbitantly harmed by the prohibition of this plant, so it’s only right that we do everything we can to make sure they have a seat at the table.”

The hemp industry has a unique opportunity before it to build an industry that is fair, equitable, sustainable, and strong by its very nature, an industry where economic prosperity and environmental stewardship coexist.

To learn more about the NHA and how you can support their efforts, visit www.nationalhempassociation.org.

The post An Industry for the Good of All<p class="company">National Hemp Association</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

“We are not sexy,” laughs Owner and Founder Brandy Palmer. “We don’t sell anything that will get you stoned or be overly fun. We joke and say we’re more for the crunchy granola crowd; we’re for people who want to focus on health.”

The cannabis plant is the source of both marijuana and hemp. Marijuana contains a large quantity of THC—the psychoactive chemical that produces a high—while hemp does not. Under U.S. law, commercial hemp, traditionally used to make rope, ship sails, clothing, and oil, can only contain a maximum of 0.3 percent THC.

Many of the products available through Green Wellness Life contain, as their key ingredients, non-THC cannabinoid compounds extracted from hemp. There are dozens of known cannabinoids, with CBD oil “being one of the most well-known,” says Palmer.

The company stocks non-psychoactive CBD oils, capsules, edibles, and topicals from various manufacturers. These hemp / CBD goods are classified as either food or supplements, not drugs. The store also sells hemp clothing accessories and CBD products for pets.

At present, CBD tinctures containing herbal extracts dissolved in a carrier oil like MCT or hemp seed oil are the company’s best-selling product. Gummies and edibles, however, are the store’s fastest-growing product categories. It only sells CBD goods that have been naturally extracted, and it has a line of zero-THC products as well.

Green Wellness Life does not claim its wares are cure-alls for every ailment, and a disclaimer on the company website from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration states as much. That said, hemp products are commonly used to reduce pain, stress, nausea, and inflammation, and to aid sleep, stabilize moods, and bolster the immune system.

The company does not manufacture its goods, which Palmer sees as a plus. As a distributor, it can be picky about the goods it selects and is not beholden to a single brand or product.

“We don’t manufacture here, which is intentional. We carry more than twenty different brands because we haven’t found a brand yet that is all things to all people. We’re really intentional about carrying a number of different lines, so we can work with people and help them find their own unique best fits,” she explains.

Green Wellness Life distributes its wares across the United States, but not internationally. While marijuana and hemp are both legal in Canada, Palmer is wary about the complex regulatory requirements that accompany cross-border sales. Global distribution will have to wait as the company focuses on increasing its U.S. market share.

On top of having a highly diversified inventory, it stands out from the competition through its commitment to education. “I want my customers to understand what they’re taking and why… Education is primary,” she asserts.

To this end, the company provides detailed information on its website and posts a weekly hemp Q and A column on its blog. Recent blog posts have focused on questions such as ‘Can CBD Go Bad?’ (The answer is yes, although “It’s more likely to degrade than spoil.”) and, ’Can I Travel with CBD?’ (Yes, you can within the United States, but it would be best to check the legal status of cannabis in other countries before trying to visit). The team also produces videos and maintains a social media presence, with the occasional live presentation on Facebook.

“Service and education are what we are truly best at. There are a lot of products and a lot of questions out there. I would love to be a resource for people that don’t know where to go. I am always going to give you straight answers. I couldn’t tell you the number of times when people have said, ‘Will this help my x, y, z?’ and my answer is, ‘I don’t know, but here are some more resources. Let’s see if it does help you,’” Palmer says.

All products sold by Green Wellness Life are certified by third-party inspectors and come with a guarantee, she adds. The company website links to batch test results for products which include capsules, drink mixes, moisturizers, tinctures, cat treats, and more. Certificates of analysis show when the batch was collected, if it contains THC, the total cannabinoids, and a multitude of other details.

This is a relatively new firm. A few years back, Palmer took a position working as a project manager for a Michigan-based manufacturer of hemp-based health products. This work sparked her interest in holistic wellness and led her to found her own company with her husband Jim in 2015. The idea was to serve as a distributor of certified hemp / CBD goods and provide information about hemp’s healing benefits to customers.

At first, the fledgling company did not have a physical location. Products were stored off-site, and Palmer arranged delivery to customers.

“I figured out pretty quickly that I didn’t like [this arrangement]. A customer would call and say, ‘This bottle changed,’ or ‘This is different than what’s on your website,’ and I didn’t have the products in front of me to be able to confirm or deny. I decided to start warehousing on my own,” she recalls.

A “little, teeny space,” comprising six hundred square feet, was rented to accommodate an office and warehouse. The company began doing its own shipping, but then people began showing up at the office to purchase products in person. Given this development, Palmer decided to open a brick-and-mortar outlet in 2017 to augment online sales.

Last year, the company launched a second venture called Grow Green Wellness, with a focus on indoor plant cultivation. The online business offers garden accessories, grow tents, plant nutrients, containers, insect repellent, and the like. Customers vexed by Michigan’s short outdoor growing season can now raise “whatever type of plants they’d like to grow,” year-round, she says.

The firm had a staff of three for a time, but is currently “a two-woman operation,” and as a small business, it is both flexible and highly responsive to market trends. However, Palmer is cognizant of certain economic realities in the hemp / CBD space. While she “hopes there’s room for both,” large and small suppliers in the cannabis sector, Green Wellness Life tends to favor products from large firms. Bigger companies have the personnel and technical ability to “offer a consistent quality product,” she explains.

Smaller ones might be staffed by people who are “passionate about the plant,” but are often incapable of meeting her stringent quality and marketing benchmarks. “When you’re selling online and looking for a nationwide audience, you need to have consistency,” Palmer notes.

For all that, this remains a very community-oriented company. The firm supports local charities including animal shelters and an organization that helps teenage mothers. Green Wellness Life provides workers $500 a year to donate to the charity of their choice.

It also offers an ‘Eliminate the Stigma’ scholarship, a unique initiative in which participants explain “what CBD means to them or how it’s impacted their life. It’s pretty humbling to read some of these stories and poetry and see the work that’s gone into art projects and all these people explaining what it’s meant to them,” she says.

The winner of the Eliminate the Stigma scholarship receives $1,000 and recognition from Green Wellness Life.

In the future, Palmer plans to launch a subscription service and expand the company’s cannabinoid offerings. Not counting the COVID virus—which briefly shuttered the retail outlet—she says her biggest challenge comes from the legal marijuana market. Michigan has joined a series of other states that have legalized recreational pot, a move which has impacted sales at hemp / cannabinoid outlets such as this.

“I firmly believe there is a place for both hemp and marijuana and they both can have benefits for clients, but as we’ve seen the growth of [legal] recreational marijuana, we’ve seen a decline in the hemp-based industry around here,” she says.

Palmer, however, has no plans to expand into the marijuana market in part because “my community at this time would not allow it, and I don’t want to leave this community. This is where my family is and where I want to have my business.”

Five years down the road, “I would like to have five to six employees, so we can be doing larger-scale education, marketing, and media but other than that, I like what we’ve got going on. I don’t want to change our branding. I don’t want to change how we do business. I want to offer the same exceptional level of service, but on a larger scale,” she affirms.

The post Hemp for Health<p class="company">Green Wellness Life</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.