As in all life situations, what you need to ask a hemp company depends on who you are and what you need to know. Our job is to ensure that there is something for you to derive from this piece, whatever be your nature of interaction with a hemp company.
To be able to do that, we’ve conducted extensive research on the different types of hemp businesses. The guidelines we provide on critical queries that hemp companies need to answer relates to varying hemp industries. However, our focus is mostly on two critical aspects: quality assurance and legal compliance.
You may be a farmer planning to cultivate hemp as a rotation crop for the first time, or a consumer looking for a hemp-based product. You may be a wholesaler of something derived from hemp or a retailer selling hemp-based products online. Quality assurance and legal compliance matters for all.
So, here goes our critical queries checklist:
If You Want To Be A Hemp Farmer
You’ll obviously have a lot of questions to ask experts in hemp farming, but which hemp company would you go to? The seed sellers, of course.
The questions you need to clarify before you buy your seeds:
1. Whether the company has a THC certificate to authenticate that the seeds are from hemp with 0.3% or less THC. Just in case this abbreviation baffles you, THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive substance that gives the drug cannabis/marijuana its capacity to get you high.
Hemp is a botanical cousin of narcotic cannabis as it belongs to the same plant species – Cannabis Sativa. However, hemp lacks the high THC content of drug cannabis/ marijuana. That’s what makes it safe.
However, in most countries including the US where hemp growing is legal, there is a restriction on the THC content. Do ask for that certificate to ensure legal compliance.
2. Ask for quality certification to endorse that the seeds they sell are from organically grown hemp only. Hemp is naturally resistant to insects and needs no pesticides. It needs little or no extra irrigation or manures as it is capable of absorbing minerals from the soil.
It is easy to grow hemp organically. Plants of the cannabis family, hemp included, grow fast and naturally like weeds. Hence the nickname “weed” for drug cannabis. It is still necessary to ascertain that you are buying the right seeds from organically grown hemp only.
3. Ask for certification that they are selling you feminized seeds. That is what you need to use these seeds to grow a crop.
If You Want To Be A Wholesaler
Hemp is an incredibly versatile plant, the whole of which can be used for a wide range of products. It is possible to eat, wear, live, and drive hemp – literally. Hemp seeds and hemp seed oil are exceptionally nutritious as dietary supplements. They also have a number of benefits for skin and hair health.
Cannabidiol or CBD oil produced from the flowers and leaves of hemp has a number of health benefits especially for our central nervous system (CNS). It is good for our brain health, that is. Research is ongoing to determine its other benefits.
The outer layer of hemp stalks yield bastfibers used for hemp textiles. The inner woody core known as hemp hurds are used to produce hemp paper, hemp bioplastic, a composite building material known as hempcrete, and other industrial products. Hemp also yields hemp biodiesel and hemp ethanol.
So, your scope for wholesaling in hemp is quite extensive. However, hemp seeds, hemp seed oil, hemp CBD oil, and hemp food products using hemp seed and hemp seed oil derivatives are the most sought after items currently. Personal care items using hemp seed oil or CBD oil are also in high demand. To be a wholesaler of this range of products, you need to ask your suppliers for:
1. Legal certificate/license to authenticate that the supplier has produced the hemp lawfully. Special licenses are necessary in most countries that grow hemp. Retailers would certainly like to know that the products they source from you have legal compliance. You wouldn’t want to be caught on the wrong side of law either.
2. Ask for quality certification to ensure that the products have been made from organically grown hemp only.
3. Ask for laboratory reports to certify that the products actually contain the ingredients that they claim to have.
4. Check for THC percentage certificates. In most countries where hemp and hemp products are legal, there is a strict control on the THC content, which must not be more than 0.3% as per dry weight.
5. In the case of hemp seed oil, ask for certification to ensure that it is cold-pressed oil from organically grown hemp.
6. Ask the company if they have received any awards or certificates of excellence from any recognized government or non-governmental authority. That would be a pure bonus.
7. Check for social justice policies such as nondiscrimination and inclusion, no use of child labor, and environmental commitment. Consumers world over are becoming increasingly caring for these values. Your retailers would want these clarifications.
If You Want To Be A Retailer
Assuming that you want to retail hemp seeds, hemp seed oil, hemp CBD oil, hemp-based food products, and personal care items, you need to check your wholesalers for the following:
1. Does your wholesaler/s have the necessary license to be in this trade? Ask for a legal compliance certificate.
2. Ask your wholesaler/s to share the quality assurance and legal compliance documents of their suppliers.
3. Ensure that the products they supply have organic authentication and laboratory test results of actually having the ingredients that they claim to have.
4. Ask for the THC percentage certificate: THC content in none of the hemp products should be more than 0.3%.
5. Consumers globally have become far more aware and concerned about certain values like nondiscrimination and inclusion, no use of child labor, and environmental commitment. Ask your wholesaler to share documents that prove their alignment with these values.
If You Are A Consumer
Hemp-based products are swarming both brick and mortar and online marketplaces with their growing popularity. Recent acts of decriminalizing hemp in different countries, US included, have added to this boom. However, there is ample reason to be cautious when buying hemp-based products.
Just to make you doubly careful, a 2017 study published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) found only 26 of 84 tested articles to have accurate labeling. So, do check the following:
1. The manufacturing company has a legal license to produce the item.
2. Quality certification of the product from a recognized authority.
3. Organic certification from a recognized authority to ensure that only organically grown hemp has been used.
4. If you are buying hemp seed oil or any personal car item using it, or a food item using the oil, check for certification that the oil has been cold-pressed.
5. If you care for social justice values, then ask for certification that the company follows policies of nondiscrimination and inclusion, uses no child labor, and has environmental commitments.
Whether you buy online, or from a physical store, look for these answers on the company website. If you do not find them, it is probably a company you should discard.