For Immediate Release
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
CONTACT: Adam Eidinger 202-744-2671
Hemp Food Sales Grow 50% Over
Last Year
Farmers Triple Hemp Acreage to 24,000 in 2005;
U.S. Farmers Missing Out
on New Cash Crop
SAN FRANCISCO, CA —
As scores of leading American companies that make and
sell a wide variety of consumer and manufacturing components
made from hemp seed, oil and fiber meet in San Francisco
on November 3-4, new market research shows that many
of these companies are experiencing strong growth in
sales. The hemp retail sales figures to be presented
at the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) annual meeting
demonstrate that retail sales of hemp foods and body
care made from hemp seed and oil continued their explosive
growth and are fueling a major expansion in Canadian
hemp farming.
The data on annual retail
sales of hemp food compiled by Leson & Associates
shows a 50% increase, from an estimated $8 million during
the 12-month reference period in 2003/04 to almost $12
million in 2004/05. During the same period, retail sales
of hemp body care products grew by 15% from $35 million
to about $40 million. Marketwide data on the much larger
sales of hemp fiber-based products such as clothing,
paper and auto parts was not part of this new research,
but should be available next year.
The increasing consumer
demand for hemp seed for food and body care continues
to drive growth in hemp acreage in Canada, the main
supplier of hemp seed products to the U.S. According
to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA), the trade
association representing all sectors of the Canadian
hemp industry, Canadian farmers planted over 24,000
acres of hemp in 2005. This is almost triple the 2004
acreage and 6 times the 2002 acreage of about 4,000
acres. Canadian farmers are reporting net profits of
$200 - $250 per acre and are very pleased to have a
successful alternative crop.
“Hemp food sales
grew 50% last year but that didn’t result in one
single acre of industrial hemp being grown here in the
United States because of the Drug Enforcement Adminstration’s
refusal to recognize hemp as distinct from marijuana,”
said Vote Hemp President, Eric Steenstra. “Hemp
is the only crop legal to import to the United States
yet illegal to grow here. We have been saying for years
that American farmers are being left out of this cash
crop, and this latest research is proof that the federal
law banning hemp farming is outdated, irrational and
hurting American farmers.”
Some members of Congress
are trying to change the federal ban in order to allow
states to regulate hemp farming. This summer H.R. 3037,
the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005, was introduced
but has yet to get a hearing and is unlikely to become
law this year. Currently fourteen states have passed
pro-hemp legislation.
Greater demand for
natural products and organic foods has encouraged new
products made with hemp, including auto parts such as
car door panels, tree-free paper, clothing and nutritious
foods. In 2004 the HIA won a three-year-long court battle
against the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to
protect sales of hemp foods in the United States. “Removing
the cloud the DEA put on the hemp food marketplace spurred
a surge in the supply and consumption of healthy omega-3-rich
hemp seed in America,” says David Bronner, Chair
of the HIA’s Food and Oil Committee and President
of ALPSNACK/Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. “Sales
of hemp foods are protected, but U.S. farmers won’t
benefit until Congress takes action to fix the law.”
Beta Sp or DV Cam Video News Release
available upon request.
For more information on industrial hemp,
please visit www.VoteHemp.com, the Web site of Vote
Hemp, a non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance
of industrial hemp.
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