PARTNERSHIP: Investigating Market Opportunities for Novel Hemp Based Products

There remain unrealized economic and community development benefits of a vibrant industrial hemp industry in North America. But the warning by Michal Bowman in 2019 was correct, “CBD, at some point, will turn into a commodity”. The long-term success of hemp will include paths that can effectively aid in the agricultural transition facing many rural communities. These include hemp fiber and seed for human and animal food, oil, personal care products, industrial fluids, textiles, building materials, bioplastics, and substitutes for a variety of paper/paperboard uses. Yet, the hemp industry continues to face hurdles, ranging from production and processing, to manufacturing and market development. This project will investigate current and potential markets for hemp based products, including already produced foods (from grain) and novel, yet to be produced products from hemp fiber and grain using IRI supermarket scanner data to identify trends in actual consumer demand. Objectives. This project has three major objectives: 1. To determine the trajectory of historical and current demand for hemp foods in the retail market by consumer demographic characteristics and region. (Lead: Dr. Zheng) 2. To determine quality characteristic preferences of U.S. consumers for emerging hemp product applications, including one biomass products (paper), one construction material product, one textile product, and one grain product. For each product, we will include an environmental, a performance and a certification characteristic. 3. The Extension objective is to strengthen knowledge, skills, and networks among farmers, processors, Scope of Work and end- users. (Co-Lead: Dr. Mark) Drs. Mark and Zheng will report directly to Dr. Kolodinsky and be responsible for delivering estimates of the demand for hemp foods in the US market and developing materials that can be disseminated through manuscripts, presentations, and extension materials for dissemination.