Volume 4, Issue 19, Winter 2002, ISSN 1498-8135

Table of Contents
(scroll down for editorial and masthead)

Part I: New Products
New Products Feature
Feature Plug: Return of the JIHA by Arthur Hanks

Part II: Hemp Marketing
To Certify or Not to Certify? by Kevin Ablett
Hemp Marketing: success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration by Ruth Shamai
Things all hemp marketers should know by Kevin Ablett
The OHA display at The Guelph Show 2002 by Louise Hollingsworth

Supporting Advertisers This Issue:

The Cool Hemp Company - www.coolhemp.com
Hempola Valley Farms/Hempola - www.hempola.com
BioHemp Environmental Technologies Ltd. - www.biohemp.com
HMG Sales and Marketing Inc. - www.hempmanagement.com
Saskatchewan Hemp Association - www.saskhemp.com
The Hemp Industries Association - www.thehia.org
Natural Emphasis - www.fastfuelup.com
Hempfood.ca - www.hempfood.ca
The Hemp Club-THC - thehempclubthc@hotmail.com

Special Thanks to:

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps - www.drbronner.com
IndustrialHemp.net - www.industrialhemp.net

Editorial

Heading into our 5th year of producing industrial hemp in Canada, there are some nice indicators at work that tells me we are making good progress. We are continuing to see new products make it to the shelves, new companies entering the field, and the increasing distribution and availability of hemp-based products (in Canada at least).

Certainly, there are no shortage of hurdles for the brave and we know we have a long way to go. I salute all the marketers and lobbyists who have been working hard to bring hemp to the people. This industry requires fortitude.

Fibre markets (see our fibre feature in our last issue) are complicated by technical and access issues. US regulatory confusion has played a part in limiting development of hempseed markets, but let us not overemphasize the fact. Consumer awareness and acceptance of hemp on all levels is growing, but these markets are still rather small and will be small for the next few years.

Many people will argue with me over those last points, but hear me out. We have much more hemp in bins up here than the continental markets can absorb. Hemp hype helped create the overproduction scenario in Canada, but the biggest reason was that farmers felt that they had no alternative. Because of low prices for almost all farm crops in the modern era, we are losing thousands of producers every year in this province alone. Hemp gave them some hope, so they took a risk.

I believe that hemp will find little hope in commodity markets. Those are global markets and they are fickle. There is no reason to believe that we can keep them once we create them.

An alternative future for hemp in North America as both a farm crop and in associated value-added industries depends on our ability to spur regional economic development and to create regional markets. So far, focused regional market development has been very limited. Perhaps it's time to start mapping out these kind of strategies.

This message is critical for American legislators who are working to remove legal barriers to growing hemp in their home states. Learn from the Canadian experience and think about what hemp can bring to your community. Look around you and see where hemp could fit. And for Canadian hemp, maybe we should start thinking of Canada first, and exports second.

***

There is a lot of breaking news in the USA, which I have chosen not to reiterate in this edition of the HR. So, please see our Hemp News Page (http://www.hempreport.com/subscribers/news.html) for the latest. A lot of the mainstream reporting on hemp remains, from my point-of-view, superficial but sometimes one gets surprised by the "meat" that shows up in the wire stories.

***

Some other interesting news. The Saskatchewan Hemp Association has hired me on as office manager for 2002. I will be coordinating licensing and other grower services for our producer members this year. I will also be helping to match buyers with producers and vice versa. Looking for some fresh production? Perhaps the SHA can help looking for some older inventory? We have that too. Want to build an alliance of companies, people and farmers across Canada for the long term health of the industry? We can help you with that. Lets talk. My new work number is (306) 757-4367 and email is arthur@saskhemp.com in case you don't have it already.

How my work with the SHA will impact on the Hemp Report is hard to say at this point, but the HR team is interested in continuing with this project as time allows. Our next issue will be our 20th and will be out on the web by June 2002. See you in a few months.

Arthur Hanks
Regina, Saskatchewan
March 2002

MASTHEAD, CREDITS AND MORE INFO:

Publisher: HCFR Publishing, #13-2255 Smith St.,
Saskatchewan, Canada, S4P 2P5

Editor-in-Chief: Arthur Hanks arthur@hempreport.com
Sales & Sponsorship: Jason Freeman jason@hempreport.com
Web News Editor & Webmaster: Tom Murphy webmaster@hempreport.com
Distribution, Subscriptions & List Manager: Tom Murphy webmaster@hempreport.com
Associate Editor: Dr. Alexander Sumach rheading@becon.org

ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Kevin Ablett kevin_ablett@hotmail.com, Ruth Shamai ruth@ruthsfoods.ca, and Louise Hollingsworth info@ontariohempalliance.org.

SUBMISSIONS: Submissions are most welcome. Please contact Hemp Report editor-in-chief, Arthur Hanks, with your story, research, or information for inclusion. Please note we are always looking for good quality pictures and photos, preferably submitted in GIF or JPEG format.

DISTRIBUTION: The Hemp Report is available for free to interested parties only on the Internet. Direct subscription for this issue is 2,225+. We encourage associations working in the industry to circulate The Hemp Report to their members.

Other nonprofit use is encouraged.

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READERS : Want to promote good & independent hemp information? Download, print, and post our new Hemp Report Flyer. All that you need is a color printer and a pair of scissors. Post the Hemp Report Flyer on bulletin boards at hemp stores, co-ops, health food stores, feed & farm stores, or your work place, with permission, of course.

     The Hemp Report is supported entirely by the hemp industry and by you, the subscriber. Advertising by our sponsors barely covers the costs for web site hosting, domain name registration, and other like expenditures. The time that we spend on producing The Hemp Report is entirely unpaid. To help us continue to provide original content please visit our Amazon.com PayPage and make a donation. A very little goes a long way.

Thank you,
Arthur Hanks & The Hemp Report Team.

To go to Part I, New Products, click here.

To go to Part II, Marketing, click here.

________________________________________________________
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