Hemp Foods Australia make a range of Certified Organic hemp food products at their 11,000 square foot factory in Bangalow. The Australian owned and operated company has been the Southern Hemisphere’s largest hemp food manufacturer, wholesaler and exporter for some time, and now their products are finally available at home as well!
Hemp Foods Australia are leading the Australian hemp industry toward sustainable growth with a vision of thousands of hectares of hemp cultivated using organic no-till farming techniques. The recent legalisation of hemp food has given Australian farmers a great opportunity to get in on growing hemp, and Hemp Foods Australia, now in business for nearly 20 years, is ready to help. They’re creating a fund and lending their expertise to assist with the transition to organic farming - which isn’t always easy on Earth’s driest continent. It’s vital to consider factors such as soil microbiology, mineral density and how much compost to add to optimise the soil’s water-holding capacity, but it can be done, and the rewards for Australian agriculture and Australian consumers of healthy hemp products will be great.
Hemp Foods Australia was started in 1999 by the same man who started the hemp industry in the UK, Paul Benhaim. Paul and the company’s Australian owners believed that hemp had a big future in Australian agriculture – but as hemp foods weren’t yet legal here, the early days were a little difficult. In the absence of a local market, few Australian farmers wanted to grow hemp, so the company initially focused on research and laying the groundwork for future expansion. By 2013 they had the largest hemp food factory in the Southern Hemisphere and were exporting their products to Europe, North America, Japan and South Korea. Following legalisation in 2017, they have begun working with Australian farmers like Harry Youngman to establish a sustainable domestic hemp industry that will encompass not just food but other uses including skincare, biofuel and bioplastics.
