FNA InnovATE: Hemp Innovation
Wellness enhancement: How combined hemp and Ayurveda innovation could hold key to capturing mass market
Food regulators in markets across Asia, notably India and Thailand, have loosened restrictions on hemp seeds and related products in recent years, with consumer interest also growing amid a strong health and wellness focus.
Hemp seeds boast a whole host of nutritional benefits from being high in protein and omega fatty acids to being anti-oxidative.
But Hemp Horizon’s believes the integration of additional Ayurvedic herbs could boost the value proposition.
“What we are working on now is to integrate different types of flavours and ingredients into our products to increase the value for consumers,” Hemp Horizons’ parent company Health Horizons’ Co-Founder and CEO Rohit Shah told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“[This includes] working with Ayurvedic ingredients such as Indian ginseng, ashwagandha or turmeric and including those into energy bars [or other products] along with hemp.
“This will mean that the products will carry not just the nutritional aspects of hemp, but also the wellness benefits such as stress relieving or hormonal balance - and those kinds of qualities combined with the nutrition power of hemp [are what] will appeal to more consumers.”
In addition to energy bars, Hemp Horizons also carries a range of roasted hemp snacks in flavours such as Chilli Garlic and Chipotle, and has plans for energy and fitness drinks based on hemp moving forward too.
“The government really regulating hemp as a food products means that there is now a stamp on these products and innovations, and even us companies, that this is safe for human consumption as a food,” he added.
“This has gone a long way in helping to correct the big misconceptions around hemp and hemp products such as all of these being psychotropic substances and that consumption automatically means getting high.
“This has made a big difference especially for the second and third generation hemp products [which are hemp seeds processed into more types of foods and beverages and not just sold as seeds, oil or powder].
“The Indian market is really growing [in this area], and as the local and regional market matures further we will be looking more and more at not only local product development but also more export opportunities, [though] for now exports [need] to be focused on more mature markets such as Europe and the United States.”
Watch the video above to find out more.
