Denver to Host World’s Largest Gathering of Hemp Industry Professionals
Originally Appeared in Let’s Talk Hemp Newsletter, March 2019
By Steven Hoffman
Hemp is changing the world, and as sales take off for all things hemp – from full spectrum hemp extract and CBD products to foods, textiles, building materials, plastics and more – nearly 10,000 producers, investors, entrepreneurs and others will converge on March 28-30, 2019, at the Crowne Plaza DIA Convention Center in Denver, Colorado, for the 6th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo.
NoCo Hemp Expo is the largest gathering of hemp industry professionals under one roof. The highly anticipated event includes an expert lineup of speakers plus a pre-conference Investors Forum on March 28, and full day events including a Business Conference on March 29 and Farm Symposium on March 30. An expanded exhibit hall is open for B2B visitors on March 29-30, and to the public on Saturday, March 30. Visit here for ticket info.
Program Highlights
Featured speakers for this year’s NoCo Hemp Expo include Colorado Governor and hemp advocate Jared Polis; Native American tribal leader turned hemp farmer Winona LaDuke; David Bronner, 5th generation CEO of legendary soap maker Dr. Bronner’s; renowned market researcher Dr. Michelle Barry; regenerative agriculture and soil expert Ray Archuleta; hemp expert and author Doug Fine; hemp entrepreneurs Dani Billings of Nature’s Root and Janel Ralph of Palmetto Harmony; and other leaders breaking new ground in the industrial hemp market. For a complete list of speakers, visit here and for a full program schedule, visit here. Other event highlights include:
Hemp Industry Daily Investor Forum, Thursday, March 28, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Legal updates and insights; investment trends and deal flow; opportunities and investments; networking; luncheon and more. Visit here for info.
Let’s Talk Hemp Business Conference, Friday, March 29, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Vertical integration; policy and regulation; compliance and certification; processing and manufacturing; market research; the global business of hemp. Visit here for info.
Let’s Talk Hemp Farm Symposium, Saturday, March 30, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Regenerative farming; soil health; genetics; new technology and equipment; regulations and compliance. Visit here for info.
Expo Hall, Friday and Saturday, March 29-30, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
With more than 225 exhibitors, NoCo6’s Expo Hall is open to B2B visitors on March 29 and March 30. The Expo Hall is open to consumers and the public on March 30. Features include an Equipment Zone, International Alley, Science & Tech Spotlight, Workshop Stage, Fashion Parade, Art Zone and more. Visit here for info.
After Party, Saturday, March 30, 8:00 pm – Midnight
Hang with friends at the Hemp Renaissance Ball After Party on Saturday, March 30, 8:00 pm – midnight at the Renaissance Hotel – Denver Stapleton. Buy tickets here.
Press Conference, Friday, March 29, 9:00 am – 9:45 am
For media attendees, NoCo Hemp Expo will host a press conference on Friday, March 29, 2019, onsite at the Crowne Plaza DIA Convention Center at 9:00 – 9:45 am, before the conference and exhibition hall opens. To qualify for a Press Pass, journalists, editors and media must complete a press application here.
“We are truly excited to have top leaders, founders and luminaries in the hemp industry participate in and support this year’s NoCo Hemp Expo,” said Morris Beegle, co-founder of Colorado Hemp Company, producer of NoCo6. “With more than 25,000 industrial uses, hemp is a gift to humanity and the environment. We have an incredible opportunity to build the kind of sustainable, regenerative, socially responsible marketplace we want, and NoCo Hemp Expo is where the hemp community convenes to plan and prepare for a bright future.”
Giving Back
NoCo6 provides support to nonprofit organizations including save-the-bees group Bee Heroic; hemp education group the Jack Herer Foundation; and Hemp History Week, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, June 3-9, 2019.
Thank You to Our Sponsors
GenCanna™, is the Presenting Sponsor of NoCo6. Other sponsors include Ambary Gardens, Botanical Rush, Canalysis Laboratories, CV Sciences, Enerhealth Botanicals, Extract Labs, Front Range BioSciences, Hawthorne Gardening, Hempsac, Ingenuity Beverages, Isolate Extraction Systems, Lazarus Naturals, Lilu’s Garden, New West Genetics, ProVerde Laboratories, Pure Hemp Botanicals, RAD Extracts, and Frank Robinson Law Group. Meet all of our Sponsor Partners here: https://nocohempexpo.com/sponsors/.
Tickets Are On Sale Now
Tickets are available for the Pre-Conference Hemp Industry Daily Investment Forum, Let’s Talk Hemp Business Conference, Let’s Talk Hemp Farm Symposium and B2B Industry Day in the Expo Hall. For all ticket levels, information and to purchase tickets, visit our website.
About the NoCo Hemp Expo
The 6th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo is produced by the Colorado Hemp Company, a division of WAFBA LLC (We Are For Better Alternatives), based in Loveland, CO. WAFBA also is the producer of the 2nd Annual Southern Hemp Expo and founder of TreeFreeHemp paper and printing services. Areas of focus include product and brand development, event production, consulting and advocacy. Visit NocoHempExpo.com, or visit our YouTube Channel for a video about #NoCo6. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter, #NoCo6.
Gaia Herbs Unveils Modern New Look and Three Innovative Product Lines at Natural Products Expo West 2019
Premium Herbal Supplements Leader Launches Hemp, Nootropics and Mushrooms & Herbs Functional Powder Lines; Reveals New Modern Consumer-Tested Packaging Design
BREVARD, N.C. (March 7, 2019) – Gaia Herbs, the leading herbal brand in North America, will unveil its new, modern packaging and three new product lines: Hemp, Nootropics, and Mushroom & Herbs Functional Powders, at Natural Products Expo West on March 7 – 9. Expo West attendees will be among the first to experience these exciting new innovations and are invited to visit Gaia Herbs booth #4139 for samples and additional information.
“As a brand that has been a pioneer in the herbal industry for more than three decades, we are excited to reveal our new packaging at Expo West. Our new design further reinforces our mission of connecting plants and people with beautiful close-up images of the heroes of our supplements—the herbs. We are proud to have developed the design completely in-house, leveraging the talent of Gaia Herbs’ visionary Brand Experience team. In addition to our new look, we will also be introducing our latest innovative products that will help people on their wellness journeys,” said Elena Lécué, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Gaia Herbs. “We are particularly excited about our new Hemp line. Due to the recent passage of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (also known as the 2018 Farm Bill), which removed all parts of the Hemp plant from being categorized as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act in the United States, the marketplace is seeing an influx of Hemp products of varying quality. As the leading herbal brand, Gaia Herbs is proud to be bringing a new Hemp line to the market of the quality that consumers have come to expect from our brand, that is fully traceable to the source at meetyourherbs.com®, our comprehensive transparency program. In addition to that, Gaia Hemp extract is made from sun-grown American Hemp flowers, ensuring that people can feel confident buying Hemp from a brand they love and trust. We will also be debuting our new Nootropics line, featuring Gaia-grown™ Bacopa, and three new functional blends of Mushrooms & Herbs, providing support for cognitive, energy, and immune health.”*
The three new product lines transform Nature's wisdom into herbal formulas, combining science and tradition to create proprietary blends rooted in purity, potency, and integrity. Additional product details include:
Hemp: As pioneers and leaders in the herbal industry for over thirty years, Gaia Herbs is committed to producing some of the highest quality plant-based herbal supplements in the world, delivering the full expression of Nature. Gaia Herbs is pleased to introduce two new Hemp products: Hemp Full Spectrum Extract 10 mg and Hemp Full Spectrum Extract 20 mg — bringing our same reverence for plants and focus on quality to our new Hemp line.
Gaia Herbs Full Spectrum Hemp Extract contains less than 0.2% THC and is made with sun-grown American Hemp flowers. Gaia chose to use the Hemp flowers as they are known to be the main source of cannabinoids compared to other parts of the Hemp plant. Unlike products with isolated CBD, Gaia’s full spectrum Hemp oil contains a wide array of cannabinoids representing the synergy naturally found in the Hemp plant.
Through Gaia’s industry-leading Meet Your Herbs® traceability program, people can enter the ID number located on the back of their Gaia Herbs Full Spectrum Hemp Extract and learn where the Hemp came from; how it was grown, harvested and extracted; and the tests it underwent to validate its purity, integrity, and potency. Gaia Herbs is one of the few companies producing Hemp products in the world that allows you to do this for a simple reason: Gaia has nothing to hide and everything to share.
Gaia Herbs Hemp is available in two liquid potencies based on cannabinoids per serving. SRP $44.99 (10mg/mL, 1oz), $79.99 (10mg/mL, 2oz), $79.99 (20mg/mL, 1oz), and $129.99 (20mg/mL, 2oz). As a Certified B Corporation® dedicated to using business as a force for good™, Gaia Herbs is excited to announce that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of all Gaia Herbs Hemp products will be donated to support U.S. family farmers.
Nootropics: Nootropics — supplements that support mental performance — can play an important role in maintaining cognitive health.* Gaia Herbs Nootropics line offers all the powerful benefits of Nootropics as Nature intended, using traditional herbs to nourish your mind, so you can live your very best life.* The three products in this new line include:
Bacopa: Made with Gaia-grown™ Bacopa to promote a healthy, thriving mind.* When Gaia was unable to find Bacopa that met their rigorous quality standards, the company began a three-year cultivation process to grow its own Bacopa crop, becoming one of the only U.S. grown sources for this Ayurvedic herb. SRP $17.99 (60ct)
Agile Mind: Made with Bacopa, Turmeric and Ginkgo— a synergistic formula that supports healthy brain function and helps maintain healthy recall.* SRP $41.99 (60ct)
Nootropic Focus: Made with Saffron, Spearmint and Lemon Balm to support healthy concentration to keep up with life’s demands.* SRP $18.99 (20ct), $34.99 (40ct)
Mushrooms & Herbs Functional Powders: Nourish your body with Mushrooms & Herbs. Using Mushroom fruiting bodies harvested at the peak of their potency, Gaia Herbs Mushroom & Herbs Powders can be added to coffee, a smoothie, milk, or any other beverage of choice so people can get all of the health benefits of organic Mushrooms & Herbs in a convenient and easy-to-use format with no added fillers, flavors, or sweeteners. SRP ranges from $34.99 to $39.99. The three products in this new line include:
Mind Spring: Made with a blend of Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Turmeric, Holy Basil, Gotu Kola, and Ginkgo to support brain health and recall.*
Energy Thrive: Formulated with a blend of Cordyceps, Maca, Rhodiola, Schisandra, Shiitake, Ashwagandha, and Astragalus to promote energy and to support physical performance and endurance.*
Immune Shine: Made with a blend of Maitake, Chaga, Astragalus, Elderberry, and Ginger to support immune health and natural immune defenses.*
Gaia Herbs products are sold through natural and independently owned health food stores across the nation as well as through trusted online retail sites and GaiaHerbs.com. To find a store near you, visit GaiaHerbs.com/stores. For additional information about Gaia Herbs organic, ethically harvested herbal products, please visit GaiaHerbs.com and Gaia’s MeetYourHerbs® traceability platform. For press inquiries relating to Expo West, please contact Alyssa@rkpr.net.
About Gaia Herbs
Since 1987, Gaia Herbs has been connecting plants and people to nurture health and well-being. Today, Gaia Herbs is the leading herbal brand in North America with more than 200 liquid extracts, functional powders, teas, and patented Liquid Phyto-Caps™. Our dedication to quality and integrity is unparalleled and meticulously proven by science. We use organic methods to cultivate more than 6.5 million plants each year on our farm and we screen the plants in our analytical laboratory to pinpoint the exact right time to harvest and extract in our state of-the-art processing facility. All of that leads to products exceptional in their purity and integrity. We offer the industry’s first comprehensive herb traceability program, meetyourherbs.com®, which allows us to share complete transparency with our customers. We are proud to be a Certified B Corporation® Using Business as a Force for Good™. Our mission to nurture healthy connections with nature extends beyond our herbs through Gaia Cares, which champions environmental and social sustainability on our farm, our community, and around the world. Learn more at GaiaHerbs.com and join in the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
David Bronner, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Other Leaders in Natural Products and Industrial Hemp to Speak at 6th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo, March 28-30, in Denver
For Presence Marketing Newsletter, March 2019
By Steven Hoffman
Photo: Dr. Bronner’s
Hemp industry and natural products pioneer David Bronner, Cosmic Engagement Officer (CEO) of the 5th generation soap company Dr. Bronner’s, will be a featured keynote speaker at the upcoming NoCo Hemp Expo (NoCo6), March 28-30, 2019, at the Crowne Plaza DIA Convention Center in Denver.
In addition, Colorado’s newly elected Governor Jared Polis, who in his first State of the State speech in January 2019 announced his plan to “make good on the promise of industrial hemp,” will be a featured speaker at NoCo6.
Now in its 6th year, NoCo Hemp Expo is the largest gathering of hemp industry professionals under one roof. Approximately 8,000-10,000 attendees, including investors, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, farmers, producers, retailers and other leaders in hemp are expected to attend the 2019 event to participate a newly added pre-conference Hemp Industry Daily Investor's Forum on March 28, plus a full-day Business Conference, Farm Symposium and expanded Exhibition Hall open to professionals on March 29-30. Additionally, tickets are available to the public to visit the Expo Hall on Saturday, March 30.
A tireless advocate for cannabis legalization and numerous other social justice and environmental causes, David Bronner will address the opportunities and challenges facing the hemp industry and how to navigate business growth in an exploding market, as industrial hemp is now legal under the 2018 Farm Bill. David’s talk, scheduled for Saturday, March 30, also will address hemp’s key role in regenerative organic agriculture to help rebuild soils, sequester carbon and mitigate climate change.
Photo: State of Colorado
Governor Polis, an Internet entrepreneur, educational leader, former U.S. Congressman and Colorado native, is a longtime supporter of the hemp and cannabis industries. He advocated for expungement of non-violent cannabis-related criminal records, expansion of Colorado’s medical marijuana program and non-cooperation with enforcement of federal prohibition during his campaign. Governor Polis even had the programs for his inauguration on January 8 printed on hemp paper.
“Hemp is an amazingly versatile crop, and I’m proud to see Colorado’s rural communities leading the way to unleash its untapped economic potential,” he said during the campaign. “As Governor, I’ll support our farmers and innovators who want to develop industrial hemp—and I’ll tell the federal government to stay out of their way.”
The hemp industry is poised for exponential growth now that this incredibly useful plant is legal to grow and sell in the U.S. for the first time in over 80 years, and is expected to reach $4 billion in sales by 2022. Visit www.nocohempexpo.com.
NuLeaf Naturals, Leading Provider of CBD Wellness Products, Expands Nationally to 1,600+ Retail Locations; Will Feature Brand at Natural Products Expo West
Visit NuLeaf Naturals at Booth N1735, North Hall, in the Hot Products section at Natural Products Expo West, March 6-8, 2019, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.
Denver, CO (February 27, 2019) – NuLeaf Naturals, a leading manufacturer of whole-plant CBD wellness products, is quickly gaining traction in the natural products channel and has been invited once again to exhibit at the world’s largest natural products trade show, Natural Products Expo West, March 6-9, 2019, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.
The brand was founded in 2014 and has national distribution in more than 1,600 retail locations across the United States including New Seasons Market in Oregon, Westerly Natural Market in New York, Jungle Jim’s in Ohio, Alfalfa’s Market in Colorado, and many other prominent natural products stores nationwide. For retail locations, visit here.
“NuLeaf is our most popular CBD product,” said Organic Food Depot Manager Jim Jacobs “We love it.” Westerly Market located in the heart of New York City echoed similar thoughts, "NuLeaf is our best-selling CBD oil brand.” According to New Seasons Market, "Customers love that the product is highly concentrated and contains no additives.”
Wholesale inquiries are welcome. Please contact NuLeaf Naturals, tel 720.372.4842, email contact@nuleafnaturals.com
Visit NuLeaf Naturals and sample its full line of CBD wellness products and dietary supplements at Booth N1735, North Hall, in the Hot Products section at Natural Products Expo West, March 6-8, 2019, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.
About NuLeaf Naturals
Founded in 2014 by a group of health-conscious plant medicine aficionados, NuLeaf Naturals is one of America's top pioneering hemp companies. The company vision is to continue to create cannabinoid wellness products that promote a healthy body and mind and to help people and their loved ones live a happier, healthier life. NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil is 100% organic and contains all the synergistic cannabinoids, terpenes, essential oils, and other beneficial phytonutrients of the original plant. The brand is committed to providing the highest quality products in their most pure and simple form. Visit www.NuLeafNaturals.com, email contact@NuLeafNaturals.com.
FDA Announces Plans to Tighten Oversight of Dietary Supplements; Issues Warnings to 17 Companies
Photo: Pixabay
For Presence Marketing Newsletter, March 2019
By Steven Hoffman
In what Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb called “one of the most significant modernizations of dietary supplement regulation and oversight in more than 25 years,” FDA on February 11 announces plans to strengthen its oversight of the dietary supplements market.
“In the 25 years since Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), the law that transformed the FDA’s authority to regulate dietary supplements, the dietary supplement market has grown significantly. What was once a $4 billion industry comprised of about 4,000 unique products, is now an industry worth more than $40 billion, with more than 50,000 – and possibly as many as 80,000 or even more – different products available to consumers,” Gottlieb said in a statement.
According to FDA, the use of dietary supplements, such as vitamins, minerals or herbs, “has become a routine part of the American lifestyle.” Three out of every four American consumers take a dietary supplement on a regular basis. For older Americans, the rate rises to four in five. And one in three children take supplements, either given to them by their parents or, commonly as teenagers, taking them on their own, the agency said.
Commissioner Gottlieb’s statement acknowledged the widespread use of supplements and also that “most players in this industry act responsibly” under the regulatory framework that exists under current law. He also said, however, that “bad actors” have been able to “exploit the halo” created by good companies, and so have been able to distribute and sell potentially dangerous products that put consumers at risk.
“As the popularity of supplements has grown, so have the number of entities marketing potentially dangerous products or making unproven or misleading claims about the health benefits they may deliver,” Gottlieb said.
Under the new policy, FDA is developing a “rapid-response tool” to alert the public to avoid buying products that may contain unlawful or potentially dangerous ingredients. The agency also is looking to update its compliance policies with new dietary ingredient notifications (NDIs), which requires manufacturers to alert the FDA of any ingredients that weren’t sold in the U.S. before 1994.
“An effective NDI notification process represents the FDA’s only opportunity to evaluate the safety of a new ingredient before it becomes available to consumers and helps promote transparency and risk-based allocation of resources,” Gottlieb said.
FDA also is creating the Botanical Safety Consortium, a partnership between the public and private sectors, to evaluate the safety of botanical ingredients and mixtures in supplements.
“As we celebrate in 2019 the 25th anniversary of the passage of DSHEA, AHPA shares Commissioner Gottlieb’s vision…of finding the right balance between preserving consumers’ access to lawful supplements, while also protecting the public from unsafe and unlawful products and holding accountable companies that are not in compliance with the law,” Michael McGuffin, President of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), said in a statement. “AHPA has previously communicated specific suggestions for regulatory improvements to FDA and we look forward to a robust and transparent discussion on how best to serve Americans who include supplement products in their families’ health care choices,” he said.
Regarding NDIs, McGuffin added, “AHPA has invested significant resources to assist industry in submitting NDI notifications that meet the statutory requirements to bring a new ingredient to market. We have also submitted thoughtful comments to FDA’s prior draft NDI guidance documents and will continue to provide input so that any eventual guidance is both useful to the trade and does not stray from FDA’s statutory authority.”
Under its tightened regulations, FDA also is hoping to make enforcement processes easier, which allows employees to issue warnings to companies and consumers. The agency on February 11 rolled out part of its plan when it sent warning letters to 17 companies for “illegally selling” products that it said claim to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
“I’ve personally benefited from the use of dietary supplements and, as a physician, recognize the benefits of certain supplements as a part of a comprehensive care plan,” Commissioner Gottlieb said. “It’s clear to me that dietary supplements play an important role in our lives as we strive to stay healthy. It’s also clear that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration plays an important role in helping consumers make use of safe, high-quality dietary supplements while also protecting Americans from the potential dangers of products that don’t meet the agency’s standards for marketing.”
Can The Natural Products Industry Help Reduce Medication Addiction?
Photo: Pexels
For Presence Marketing Newsletter, February 2019
By Steven Hoffman
Originally appeared in the Feb. 2019 edition of Presence Marketing News and New Hope's IdeaXchange
Benzodiazepines can be as dangerous as opioids. The natural products industry offers alternative, non-addictive pain treatments such as CBD and herbs.
A new study, Patterns in Outpatient Benzodiazepine Prescribing in the United States, published in JAMA Network Open revealed that prescriptions for benzodiazepines—an addictive class of pharmaceutical drugs to treat anxiety and insomnia—doubled from 2003 to 2015. About half of those prescriptions came from primary care physicians. The report also found the largest increase in drug prescriptions during this time period was for back pain and other types of chronic pain.
This troubling trend indicates that a growing number of Americans are seeking medication and relief from stress, insomnia and chronic pain—conditions that are common to many of us in everyday life. Unfortunately, too many people are turning to addictive prescription drugs to get them through the day…and night.
Crisis, what crisis?
While many physicians consider the drugs comprising the focus of the study—benzodiazepines, better known by the brand names Valium, Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin and others—are best recommended for short-term use, the same study found that long-term use of these pharmaceuticals also is on the rise: Continuing prescriptions for such medications increased by 50 percent from 2005 to 2015. Healthcare providers have expressed concern that long-term use of such drugs can cause physical dependence, addiction and death from overdose.
Similarly, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the opioid crisis in America is thought to have started in the late 1990s when pharmaceutical companies assured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to prescription opioid pain relievers and healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater rates.
“I don't think people realize that benzodiazepines share many of the same characteristics of opioids,” said Dr. Sumit Agarwal, an internist, primary care physician and researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He was a lead author of Patterns, which was conducted with Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. “They are addictive. They cause you to have slower breathing; they cause you to be altered in terms of mental status. And then, eventually, [they] can cause overdose and deaths,” he told NPR this month.
“Side effects…are effects”
The opioid epidemic is not new. But now, another class of addictive pharmaceuticals containing benzodiazepine is being increasingly used—and abused—by a growing number of Americans seeking relief from chronic pain, stress, insomnia and other conditions.
So, how can the natural products industry and integrative healthcare providers help consumers find alternatives to addictive pharmaceuticals such as opioids and benzodiazepines, which often come with potentially damaging side effects? As my friend and colleague, Chris Kilham, the “Medicine Hunter” who travels the world in search of botanical remedies, has said, “The side effects often listed with pharmaceutical drugs are not just side effects…they’re effects!”
Since the opioid epidemic has come to light in recent years, several healthcare and government officials have highlighted holistic and integrative medicine therapies such as chiropractic medicine, acupuncture and massage therapy as powerful and effective treatments for chronic pain, according to the National University of Health Sciences (NUHS).
“These modalities have been part of National University's focus on conservative, evidence-based care for many years,” NUHS President Joseph Stiefel, a former chiropractor who holds a doctor of education degree, said in February 2018. “As more Americans discover the risks involved with opioid medication, natural medicine is quickly becoming a first line of treatment.”
Other major organizations that have advocated for complementary and alternative medicine as a potential solution to the addictive pharmaceuticals crisis include the American College of Physicians; the Journal of the American Medical Association; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine; the National Institutes of Health; and others, reported NUHS.
CBD for consumers, athletes, veterans and opioid addicts
With the legalization of industrial hemp in the U.S. and the emergence of full-spectrum hemp extract and cannabidiol products, the market is estimated to grow to $22 billion in sales by 2022, according to a cannabis-industry consultancy, Brightfield Group. Combined with turmeric (curcumin) and other herbal and natural remedies, dietary supplements and functional foods, the natural products industry has a unique opportunity to provide consumers with much-needed, non-addictive alternatives for helping with anxiety and stress, sleeplessness, inflammation and pain.
In addition, researchers at the University of Missouri and the Washington University School of Medicine concluded in a September study that cannabis, including cannabidiol or CBD, may play a role in ameliorating the impact of opioid use disorder. “Because CBD is neither intoxicating nor rewarding and has an extremely large therapeutic window and impressive safety profile, the use of CBD to inhibit opioid craving has great therapeutic potential,” the researchers said.
For amateur and professional athletes, CBD may provide a healthier alternative to the opioids often prescribed for pain management. “As a former college basketball player, I know well that many college athletes and former pro athletes rely on heavy, often daily dosing of anti-inflammatories and even opioids,” Nick Kovacevich wrote in Forbes in August. “CBD appears to provide natural pain relief and possibly even some anti-inflammatory benefits without getting anyone ‘high,’ he added.
Sports leagues, including the National Football League and National Basketball Association, frown upon the use of CBD. However, the BIG3—a professional 3-on-3 basketball league founded by rapper, writer and actor Ice Cube that features former NBA players—announced in June that it had become the first U.S. pro sports league to permit the use of CBD for pain management and recovery. “More than a dozen countries, including Canada and Israel, have approved CBD-based medications for both professional athletes and consumers,’’ the BIG3 said in a statement. “In the U.S., the shift is beginning to happen as the medication is not only used for pain management but preferred over the powerfully addictive opioids and pain-relief drugs that are often the only other option.’’
For veterans “tired of the standard VA cocktail of opiates and psychotropic medications,” a group advocating for natural treatments for PTSD and led by the founders of Colorado-based retailer Warfighter Hemp, is seeking to introduce a new bill “calling on the [Veterans Administration] to conduct scientific and medical research into the safety and efficacy of CBD derived from industrial hemp on veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain and other illnesses and injuries.
“The VA Medicinal Hemp Research Act of 2019 is a pragmatic and bipartisan piece of legislation that would improve and, in many cases, save the lives of veterans across the country,” wrote Steve Danyluk and Boone Cutler, both veterans and founders of Warfighter Hemp, in The Hill earlier this month.
Addiction issues in older adults
While anti-anxiety medications can be prescribed as a temporary means of easing depression, improving sleep and reducing anxiety, research published in November in the JAMA Network found that prescribing benzodiazepines may lead to long-term use in older adults. At greatest risk of long-term use were white patients and those who received prescriptions for larger amounts of the medication, the study, Factors Associated With Long-term Benzodiazepine Use Among Older Adults, showed.
“Use of benzodiazepines by older adults [has] been associated with a host of potential risks including falls, fractures, motor vehicle accidents, and potentially, an increased risk of dementia. Additionally, when these types of medications are combined with other prescribed medications, such as opioids, they can increase the risk of unintentional overdoses and death,” Dr. Lauren Gerlach, lead author of Factors, told Healthline. Gerlach is an osteopathic doctor and geriatric psychiatrist at the University of Michigan.
Grace Cheng, who has a doctor of pharmacy and is a practicing pharmacist at the University of California Los Angeles, told Healthline in the same article, “Benzodiazepines can be a rapid solution for debilitating symptoms, such as the inability to fall asleep and resolution of an acute panic attack, which leads to patients’ satisfaction and perceived benefits of therapy. This may result in dependence and longer duration of use. However, they do not address the chronic management of insomnia, anxiety, and depression,” Cheng was not associated with Gerlach’s research.
There’s seemingly no end to the sources of stress and anxiety in today’s fast-paced society, but by no means are they strictly a modern-day problem. Independent natural products retailers can continue to serve health-conscious consumers and capitalize on long-term health issues such as aging, inflammation, stress, insomnia and pain with such products as turmeric, capsaicin, valerian, kava, passionflower and more…and now CBD to help provide natural alternatives to potentially addictive pharmaceuticals for anxiety and pain.
Healing through Hemp…and Honey
With a mission to support veterans and educate consumers about natural health, Colorado Hemp Honey hits the road to introduce Double-Strength Raw Relief Honey with 30 milligrams of whole plant hemp extract per serving.
Parker, CO (January 30, 2019) – Colorado Hemp Honey, the original hemp honey company, will hit the road this spring at leading healthy lifestyles expositions in the U.S. to introduce its new Double-Strength Raw Relief artisan honey with 30 milligrams of full-spectrum, naturally occurring hemp extract per serving. The company’s goal is to educate people about sustainable and organic agriculture and the importance of preserving bee health, along with showcasing its line of hemp-infused honeys at Natural Products Expo West, the world’s largest natural products trade show in Anaheim, CA. Colorado Hemp Honey also will feature its products at the 6th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo, the nation’s largest gathering of hemp industry professionals, in Denver, March 29-30.
Further, the company is dedicated to supporting the veteran and service-animal communities through its various philanthropic partnerships.
“We can’t wait to get out there and talk with healthy lifestyles influencers, advocates, business leaders and enthusiasts about the tremendous benefits of CBD and full spectrum, whole-plant hemp extract,” said beekeeper and farmer Nick French, co-founder with his wife Ali French of Frangiosa Farms, which produces Colorado Hemp Honey. “The naturally occurring CBD in our products calms the mind and soothes the body, supporting its inflammatory response and toning the endocannabinoid system.”
Frangiosa Farms, founded in 2008 in Parker, CO, to create local artisan neighborhood honey using organic practices, is dedicated to responsible beekeeping in the face of the bee population decline through community education, backyard beekeeping workshops, and support of locally sourced raw honey. In 2015, Nick and Ali created Colorado Hemp Honey using raw honey from the farm, full-spectrum, plant-based, non-isolate hemp extract, and organic essential oils.
Frangiosa Farms donates 10 cents from every jar of honey sold to Veterans to Farmers, with a mission to “train veterans in agricultural systems, technologies and business operations for a fulfilling and sustainable lifestyle.” Similarly, the company donates a portion of each jar of Colorado Hemp Honey Pet Tincture sold to support Freedom Service Dogs of America, which helps train and transform the lives of shelter dogs to serve as companion animals for veterans and others suffering from serious injury.
Combining the Raw Power of Hemp and Honey
Colorado Hemp Honey combines the healing powers of raw honey, organic essential oils, and cannabinoid-rich whole hemp extracts in a product formulated to help provide relief. Double-Strength Raw Relief contains twice as much full-spectrum hemp extract as the company’s popular Relief honey without sacrificing any of the delicious sweetness and complexity.
Colorado Hemp Honey is made from 100 percent pure, raw Rocky Mountain honey directly from the farm’s hives and industrial hemp from its fields and those of other Colorado farmers. Colorado Hemp Honey uses a proprietary blend of Colorado-grown, non-GMO, pesticide-free hemp and handles it gently to preserve terpenes and phytonutrients such as amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins (including B1, B2, B6, D, and E), fatty acids (including omega 3 and 6), and trace minerals (including iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium, and potassium).
In addition to hemp honey in jars and sticks, Colorado Hemp Honey produces a line of diverse products, including pet tinctures with propolis, hemp-infused coffee and hemp honey chocolates. All products are triple tested for purity and potency.
Colorado Hemp Honey products are available in leading retail stores and natural food and pet retailers nationwide and online at www.coloradohemphoney.com. For wholesale inquiries, contact Dave Podesta, dave@frangiosafarms.com, 415.310.1659.
About Frangiosa Farms and Colorado Hemp Honey
Frangiosa Farms was founded in 2008 with the goal of creating local artisan neighborhood honey using organic practices. In 2015, Nick and Ali French created Colorado Hemp Honey using raw honey from the farm; full-spectrum, plant-based, non-isolate hemp extract; and organic essential oils. Frangiosa Farms helps save bees and veterans with its community outreach efforts, supports local farmers, and recently began growing industrial hemp. Colorado Hemp Honey has been featured in Food & Wine, Westword, and CNN, among others. Colorado Hemp Honey products are available in natural food and pet retailers nationwide. Visit www.coloradohemphoney.com.
Visit Colorado Hemp Honey Booth N2236 in the North Hall New Products Pavilion at Natural Products Expo West, March 6-8, 2019 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA, and at the 6th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo at the Crowne Plaza DIA Convention Center in Denver, March 29-30, 2019.
Media inquiries: Steve Hoffman, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com, 303.807.1042
Wholesale inquiries: Dave Podesta, dave@frangiosafarms.com, 415.310.1659
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Farm Bill Legalizes Hemp Production in U.S.; Plus, Wins and Losses for Organic Farming, Nutritional Supplements and Animal Welfare
Photo: Agriculture.house.gov
For Presence Marketing Newsletter, January 2019
By Steven Hoffman
Originally appeared in the Jan. 2019 edition of Presence Marketing News and New Hope's IdeaXchange.
President Donald Trump on December 20 signed the 2018 “Agriculture Improvement Act,” known to most Americans as the Farm Bill. There was strong bipartisan support for the $867-billion Farm Bill, the twice-a-decade omnibus legislation that funds projects under the purview of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from nutrition and food stamps to soil conservation and agricultural trade. Trump’s signing of the bill into law just before Christmas was spurred in part by pressure from farmers battered by an ongoing trade war with China that has disproportionately affected U.S. producers of soy and other agricultural goods.
The Farm Bill scored some wins and losses for organic food and farming, nutritional supplements and animal welfare, while also for the first time in more than 80 years legalizing the commercial cultivation and sale of industrial hemp in the U.S., as summarized below.
Photo: Whitehouse.gov
Hemp, Hemp, Hooray!
For hemp producers across the U.S., the Farm Bill is nothing but historic. “The Farm Bill…both legalizes hemp as an agricultural commodity and removes it from the controlled substances list. It gives states the opportunity to be the primary overseers of hemp production. It also allows hemp researchers to apply for competitive federal grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and makes hemp eligible for federal crop insurance. Together these features will encourage new opportunities for struggling farmers and their families, new products for use in construction, health care, and manufacturing, and new jobs in a broad range of fields," said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), sponsor of the hemp provision.
In an interview with Fox Business News, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue welcomed the new hemp legalization. “This is an industrial-use product, medicinally as well as other products, and we look forward to developing markets for it if it’s a profitable crop. Agriculture needs new products,” he said.
While the previous Farm Bill, passed in 2014, eased some federal regulations on CBD production, the new bill goes much further, reported Chris Chafin in Rolling Stone. “Most importantly, it removes hemp and any hemp derivative from the Controlled Substances Act, legally separating it from marijuana and putting its supervision under the Department of Agriculture. In the most basic sense, these plants serve three primary uses: fiber (paper and cloth), seeds (for hemp oil and food), and cannabinoid oils. It’s this last category that’s the most profitable and has the biggest potential for growth. The bill defines hemp as any part or derivative of cannabis with a THC level below 0.3 percent on a dry-weight basis,” Chafin reported.
U.S. hemp-based product sales grew 16% to reach $820 million in 2017 and is expected to surpass $1 billion in sales in 2018, led primarily by hemp-derived CBD, food, personal care and industrial products, according to the publication Hemp Business Journal. While "it’s still unclear how different federal agencies will interpret the new rules...it doesn’t matter — people in the CBD industry are calling the new [Farm Bill] legislation a game changer," Chafin added.
More Research Funding for Organic
While more money was dedicated to organic farming research – from $20 million annually to $50 million annually by 2023 – changes to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) may make it harder for small organic farmers to be fairly represented and to remove synthetic ingredients in organic production, says one organic industry observer.
Other organic industry wins in the Farm Bill included preserving the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program to help organic farmers pay for the costs of organic certification. According to Max Goldberg, editor and publisher of Organic Insider, between funds that were not used in the last Farm Bill and new funds in this Farm Bill, $40.5 million is available to help offset the costs of organic farmers obtaining organic certification. In addition, $5 million was earmarked for technology upgrades and data tracking for fraudulent organic imports, along with increased enforcement authority to crack down on fraudulent organic products from abroad. Also, $5 million was allocated for the Organic Production and Market Data Initiative, an important program for policymakers, researchers and industry participants to understand organic production and market data, track trends and create risk management tools, reported Goldberg.
According to Organic Insider, as a result of the Farm Bill executives of farm companies are now allowed to sit in farmer-designated seats on the 15-member NOSB. “This has the potential to dilute the voice of independent organic farmers while favoring the interests of large organic production companies. For example, an executive at a large farm company with zero first-hand knowledge of farming could now be holding a farmer-designated seat on the board,” cautioned Goldberg.
Also included in the Farm Bill is a new provision about NOSB voting procedures that govern decisions about which synthetic materials are allowed in organic production and processing, which could “make it easier for synthetic materials to stay on the National List for decades,” Goldberg observed.
SNAP Excludes Multivitamins
While some food assistance measures sought by retailers under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) were secured in the 2018 Farm Bill, the SNAP Vitamin and Mineral Improvement Act was dropped from the bill. “An important step toward improving the nutrition status of low-income Americans, this provision would have allowed SNAP recipients to purchase a multivitamin-mineral dietary supplement with their program benefits, said Steve Mister, President and CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition. “We are saddened that low-income Americans will not be given access to this option to help improve nutrient gaps in their diet. CRN remains committed to expanding consumer access to multivitamins and will continue to support policies that ensure all Americans, regardless of socioeconomic status, have equal opportunity for good nutrition,” he added.
Also, while President Trump signed the Farm Bill without any proposed changes to SNAP work requirements, on the same day USDA announced in a proposal that it seeks to have all Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) ages 18-49 on SNAP placed into work programs. Currently, ABAWDs must work or participate in an employment program for 20 hours a week to continue benefits for more than three months. State waivers, currently available in seven states, and partial waivers, currently available in 29 states, can allow them to receive benefits without working in times of bad economic conditions. The USDA proposal would limit the duration of such waivers. With unemployment currently at 3.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there’s no reason able people shouldn’t be working or seeking work, USDA argues. In 2017, SNAP was used by 42 million Americans, or about 1 in 8, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
"This blanket solution might work — if institutionalized racism did not exist in the U.S.,” writes Beth Kaiserman in Forbes. “In 2017, 21.2% of Black Americans and 18.3% of Hispanics fell below the poverty line, compared with 8.7% of whites, according to Talk Poverty. In 14 states and Washington, D.C., black unemployment is twice as high as white unemployment, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Black and Hispanic workers also earn less than their white and Asian counterparts, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Trump Administration ignores the true struggles of people of color in this country. These systematic changes create further inadequacies, making it harder for people in poverty to build better lives,” Kaiserman said.
Animal Welfare – Dogs and Cats in Food Finally Illegal
While none of the animal welfare provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill address the large-scale problems caused by factory farming and Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in the U.S., a small handful of items in this year’s bill modestly address the inhumane treatment of animals. One such provision prohibits the import, export, and slaughter of dogs and cats for human consumption. Eating dogs and cats is uncommon in the U.S., but until now, it had been legal in 44 states.
In addition, included in the Farm Bill is the Pet and Women Safety (PAWS) Act, which strives to address a problem for both humans and companion animals: Victims of domestic violence are often afraid to leave because of concern their abusive partner may abuse or kill their pets in retribution. The PAWS Act commits more resources to housing domestic violence survivors with pets and changes law enforcement policy so these situations are more addressable in our current legal framework, which imposes only mild penalties for killing someone’s pet, reports Kelsey Piper in Vox.
Finally, the Farm Bill closes a loophole on animal fighting, such as cockfighting or dogfighting, currently illegal in all 50 states. The bill extends that prohibition to all U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico and Guam, as well.
Of note is that an amendment sought by U.S. Representative Steve King (R-IA) to prohibit states from setting their own animal welfare standards was removed by Congress from the final Farm Bill. After important animal welfare measures for humane treatment of farm animals and race dogs passed in California and Florida, respectively, King’s amendment was designed to nullify states’ rights regarding animal welfare. The amendment could have interfered with “state restrictions on gestation crates for pigs, tail-docking of cattle, and horse slaughter, along with state bans on the sale of foie gras, eggs from hens kept in extremely small battery cages, and pets from puppy mills,” according to an analysis conducted by the Animal Welfare Institute.
ShiftCon: How Do You Influence the Influencers?
Reach Top "Eco & Wellness" Bloggers, Social Media Influencers, and Other Change Agents with Your Brand at the 5th Annual ShiftCon Eco-Wellness Influencer Conference October 3-5, 2019, Atlanta, Georgia
ShiftCon is a unique media conference and expo bringing together leading natural, organic and eco-friendly brands and the online eco-wellness blogging and social media universe into one powerful, collaborative - and influential - community.
And your brand is invited to be there.
Featuring workshops on social media best practices, food safety, nutrition & wellness, GMOs, organic and sustainability – and through networking events, hospitality suites and a Product Expo – ShiftCon offers attendees opportunities to learn about brands and meet with companies and nonprofits creating a healthier, more sustainable world.
Our previous conferences featured natural, organic and LOHAS industry leaders including:
Gary Hirshberg, Chair of Stonyfield Farm and co-founder of Just Label It
Anna Lappe, nationally known author of Diet for a Hot Planet
Robyn O'Brien, author of The Unhealthy Truth, Executive Director, Allergy Kids
Gunnar Lovelace, co-founder and CEO of Thrive Market
Lisa Leake, author of 100 Days of Real Food
Jenny McGruther, author of Nourished Kitchen
Tell your brand's story to the community that applauds, celebrates and promotes your health and eco-friendly values. Create a custom sponsorship package to best fit your marketing goals.
For information about sponsorship and exhibiting or media kit requests, contact
Marinda Thomas, marinda@gmail.com, tel 650.248.5445
https://shiftconmedia.com/about/
Blockchain for Romaine?
Originally Appeared in New Hope Network’s Idea Xchange, December 2018
How an Emerging Technology Can Be Used in Food Safety, Supply Chain Transparency and More in the Natural, Organic and Nutritional Products Industry
By Steven Hoffman and Sam Kressler
If you were following the news over Thanksgiving, you’d have heard about romaine lettuce being pulled from grocery shelves nationwide due to an E. coli contamination warning issued on Nov. 21 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control. For those paying closer attention, you also would have heard about how the use of blockchain technology could be a food safety solution for the leafy greens and fresh food industry. Blockchain also has the potential to provide traceability and transparency and prevent fraud in the supply chain for food, beverage and nutritional products makers – and ensure consumers that a product is exactly what it claims to be. Originally invented for the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, blockchain is still an emerging technology. This primer takes a brief look at blockchain – what it is, and what it offers as a tool for the natural products industry.
What Is Blockchain Technology?
In order to explain blockchain’s potential applications, it is helpful to understand how the technology works. Despite foundations built on some pretty complex math, the concept of blockchain is surprisingly straightforward. Every blockchain implementation is at its core a giant, decentralized database that acts much like an accounting ledger. Transactions are debited or credited among users on the platform but unlike traditional ledgers, the transaction record doesn’t reside in a single location. Rather, as a “shared ledger,” there are copies of the ledger -- and each transaction -- simultaneously residing on potentially millions of computers, or “nodes,” around the network that are continuously updated in real time. Since the blockchain is a database, entries can never be erased, only updated, which means that even if someone attempted to falsify information, the previous records would always be available, residing on every machine across the network and therefore publicly accessible to everyone on the platform. As a result, data is immutable and inherently trustworthy, unable to be falsified or manipulated once it is in the system.
Photo: Pexels
Food Safety
Because of the inherent immutability of any blockchain platform, the implications for improving response time to and transparency during recalls is substantial. Currently, Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA) teams within the food industry work off of a “one-step up, one-step back” model; in every step of the supply chain, each link is responsible for knowing where they procured an item (one-step back) and where it goes after it leaves their hands (one-step up). Currently, while digital records often (but not always) exist, they are isolated from each other at each link in the chain, slowing down response time and obfuscating transparency.
In a recent experiment, Walmart collapsed the time it took to determine the identity of the farm and farmer of a fresh, sliced mango sold in its stores from nearly seven days with existing technology down to 2.2 seconds using a blockchain implementation built by the IBM Food Trust. In light of the recent recall of romaine lettuce, let’s think about the implications; the tainted lettuce could be identified, recalled, and traced to its source almost instantaneously instead of what will most likely be a multi-day or multi-week search for the source of contamination. Instead of a national warning against eating any and all romaine, the affected pockets could be isolated and controlled discreetly, minimizing public health implications, as well as avoiding consumer fear, confusion, and lost revenue for growers, distributors, and retailers.
The fact that Walmart and IBM are working together is quite significant. In order for a FSQA blockchain implementation to be effective, every link in the supply chain needs to be involved. A system-wide rollout "will be led by the big guys because the infrastructure is so complicated," according to Bryan Armentrout, CEO of The Food Leadership Group, an FSQA consultancy based in Loveland, CO. The smaller players that dominate the natural products industry would be hard-pressed to gain the necessary traction with their production and distribution partners, or to corral the necessary level of funds required for implementation, for that matter. To that point, the IBM Food Trust has brought on the likes of Walmart, Kroger Co., Driscoll’s, Dole, Golden State Foods, McCormick and Co., Nestlé, Tyson Foods, Unilever, Carrefour, and Wakefern Food Corp. as partners. Beyond the sheer authority of their collective market-share, these producers and retailers control some of the planet’s most complex – and least transparent -- supply chains.
On Sept. 24, 2018, Walmart released a letter to its leafy green suppliers mandating adoption of its new blockchain platform. This is all ultimately a boon to the natural products industry. With the potential for overlap at the procurement, co-packing, manufacturing and distribution levels, as well as a robust platform that already exists with the IBM system, future hurdles to adoption for smaller businesses will be lowered significantly.
Challenges remain, however. For example, how does the platform ensure that producers at the beginning of the supply chain (think: mango farmers in Ecuador or cacao growers in Madagascar) have access to the technology required to upload necessary data to the blockchain? Likewise, just because certificates and other FSQA data can’t be modified once inputted to the blockchain doesn’t mean that falsified information can’t be uploaded by unscrupulous actors from the get-go. “You can keep a trail of where goods are created," said Carlo Las Marias, COO of CoinAlpha, a blockchain-based financial products company, "[but] the downside is that you have to trust how the data gets onto the blockchain in the first place." Fortunately, the pilot programs being rolled out by the likes of Walmart and Unilever are small enough that these and other potential issues will intentionally be identified and addressed before any global roll-outs are enacted.
Traceability: Organics and Dietary Supplements
Organic is the most transparent, the most consumer driven and the most heavily regulated food system in the world, according to Gwendolyn Wyard, VP of Regulatory and Technical Affairs for the Organic Trade Association (OTA). Because of that, blockchain as a traceability tool in organic production and trade makes sense, she said at a seminar at Natural Products Expo West in March 2018. “OTA has a task force dedicated to preventing fraud in organic and is putting together a best practices guide for industry to adopt to ensure authenticity. Currently, we are working on a project looking at supply chain from farm to shelf and part of that is putting together a mitigation plan and strategy that would incorporate the implementation and use of blockchain,” she said.
Logan Peterman, Agricultural Research and Analytics Manager for Organic Valley, agreed that the organic industry is in the early stages with blockchain. “We are aware of some organic certifiers considering blockchain technology for international imports, particularly in terms of grain and other commodity markets where we have substantial issues with co-mingled products. They are looking at biological markers that they might be able to use to ensure integrity, but again, it’s all very early stage,” he said.
For dietary supplements, blockchain could present some unique advantages, said Trinanjan Gupta, CEO of the technology solutions company Dreamweaver, in a panel at Natural Products Expo West. “Ensuring transparency in the supplements industry requires capturing data with each supply chain partner and sharing it with your suppliers on one side and your customers on the other,” he said. “The supplements industry is interesting because it’s global in nature. With each transfer of ownership, we need to be sure that the ingredient and quality information is shared. From there, the certificate of analysis or any other ID document needs to be attached to each transfer of ownership as you share information in the supply chain,” Gupta added.
Challenges to transparency, according to Gupta, include “change management,” where companies need to insist on supply chain transparency, often with reluctant partners; attaching ingredient information to each transaction (“Easier said than done,” he said); data standards are not defined yet in dietary supplements; and “The first mile is always very complex,” Gupta said. “It’s happening at the farm somewhere in the world and it’s always difficult to get that first mile information. However, with smart phone technology, farmers in India and Africa are able to share data, he said.
“Now, in real time, we can send information to a cloud-based infrastructure – a farmer in the field in Africa can enter data into his mobile phone, and information can be captured instantaneously across the world. Ten years ago, a farmer could store the data but how could he share it? The cloud changes that. Blockchain now ties it all together and makes sure that this data is captured and shared between the farmer, processor, importer, manufacturer, distributor and ultimately the consumer. The end goal is to enable the consumer when they buy a product to be able to scan a bar code and at the click of a button instantly get all the information related to the product. That can only happen if you are able to link all these hubs in the supply chain,” Gupta said.
From a blockchain point of view, all this data now being captured at each transaction level is being saved and shared in what is called a distributed ledger. “This is a fantastic platform for supplements: the data is stored, immutable…and it is something which adds multiple levels of security. Additionally, blockchain makes fraudulent behavior very difficult to do,” claimed Gupta. “If there is data that has been stored as part of the blockchain platform, you cannot go back and change it; if someone changes it, it creates a new record and tells you that someone made a change there. So, there is an audit trail you cannot escape,” he said.
The opportunity for blockchain, he concluded, is that accurate information can be shared all the way back to the origination and that “each element in the chain can contribute to this full volume of information that can be transparent and contribute to your brand.”
Of course, even without blockchain, which can be a large investment for small businesses, supplement manufacturers can ensure full traceability using best practices and tools at hand, said Elena Lécué, EVP of Sales and Marketing for Gaia Herbs in Brevard, NC. Speaking of the company’s Meet Your Herbs™ consumer traceability program, “Our innovation is a unique code associated with every product batch, allowing us to have full traceability including certificates of quality without the need for blockchain,” she said. “Because we are committed to radical transparency, Gaia Herbs is certainly watching developments in blockchain technology, yet, we are a GMP certified business and fully FDA compliant. That requires lots of certification and we make test results for purity and potency of our products publicly available. You can make proof of quality and information about the provenance of the product available using current practices without relying on blockchain, if you are testing every batch.”
Blockchain, Fair Trade and Sustainability
Other players, including World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Oxfam International, are exploring blockchain technology to ensure the protection of endangered seafood, and to ensure farmers in developing nations receive fair prices for their agricultural products.
Recently, WWF teamed up with blockchain technology and sustainable fisheries partners in the fresh and frozen tuna sectors of the Western and Central Pacific region to strengthen supply chain management and help stamp out illegal fishing and human rights abuses. In a report published in August 2018, WWF said, “More and more, experts view full supply chain traceability and transparency as the only way to ensure against the continued entry of illegally or unethically produced seafood products into the seafood supply chain. Blockchain can be a significant part of the solution. By providing this transparency and traceability, it can enable the market to both reward producers who engage in best practices, and exclude illegal and unethical producers.”
Oxfam, for its part, is working with small-scale organic rice farmers in Cambodia, and in November 2018 launched BlocRice, a project that “aims to test blockchain technology and its smart contracts, a digital three-way contract farming arrangement between primary producer, Cambodian rice exporter and retailer in Europe, to improve farmers’ livelihood and their supply conditions,” Oxfam said in a statement. The project will focus on introducing blockchain technology to the organic rice value chain by registering all chain actors with unique identification codes on blockchain; introduce smart (fair trade) contracts between farmers, agricultural cooperatives and exporters to ensure fair income and proper payments for farmers (women farmers, in particular); introduce cashless payment to farmers; and design a consumer communication component from Cambodian producers to consumers.
Learn More
What Can Block Chain Really Do for the Food Industry, Forbes, Sept. 30, 2018
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jennysplitter/2018/09/30/what-can-blockchain-really-do-for-the-food-industry/#1d6565ce488e
IBM Food Trust
https://www.ibm.com/blockchain/solutions/food-trust
Video: Blockchain and Food Safety with IBM and Walmart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMOF0G_2H0A
Provenance: Social Mission through Blockchain Technology
https://www.provenance.org
Note: This article was co-authored by Steven Hoffman and Sam Kressler, founder of Stir Consulting, an innovation strategy and product development firm serving the natural foods, culinary and food service industries. Visit www.stir-consulting.com.