Chocolates, coffee, alcoholic beverages, energizers, creams, shampoo, oils and infusions. It might look like part of a normal grocery shopping list; However, all these products and many others not only have in common that they are on the racks, but that they are all produced from non-psychoactive cannabis or also called hemp.
Although the decriminalization of its cultivation, production and commercialization in the country has just completed three years and its regulation is going to last two years, the supply and demand of these products have grown exponentially.
According to figures from the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries, until last October there were more than 150 products with hemp and non-psychoactive cannabis on the market with sanitary notification, as established in the public database of the National Agency for Regulation, Control and Sanitary Surveillance (Arcsa).
In Tabacundo, the “world capital of roses”, the first legal cannabis crop in Ecuador is already being harvested
This growth in supply is evident in the wide range of products available on the market. In supermarkets, for example, there are Yaal chocolates −manufactured by AOG Foods− and Choco Medical −made by Ecuatoriana de Chocolates−. In addition, the Intense brand that offers a vodka cocktail flavored with cannabis and passion fruit; and a complete line of cosmetic products from the Beautik brand, with shampoo, conditioner and cream, made by Laboratorios Beautik Ecuador.
Of the more than 150 products on the market, those of a cosmetic type are the most representative with 56%, followed by products for medicinal use with 25% and finally food products with 19%. However, there may be other products that do not require registration, for example, those based on hemp fiber, so there is no information in that category.
According to the Vice Ministry of Production and Industries, this distribution is aligned with international market trends, in which cosmetic products with hemp and cannabis present greater growth, due to the flexibility of the regulations regarding this type of product; while, on the contrary, food and pharmaceutical products have less flexible regulations, which slows down the availability of these products on the market.
To date, the National Registry of Hemp Licensees of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) has enabled 169 licensees, of which 107 have a license 3 for the cultivation of non-psychoactive cannabis or hemp and 25 with a license 5 for the processing of non-psychoactive cannabis or hemp and production of derivatives of non-psychoactive cannabis or hemp.
One of these licensees announced at the beginning of December the first industrial hemp cultivation and processing project in the country with an investment of $10 million. It is an alliance between the international company Green & Growth and Nobis Holding de Inversiones, with the support of Laiha (Latin American Industrial Hemp Association).
For a first phase of cultivation, 100 to 1,000 hectares are worked, and the projection is to scale up to large extensions with higher investments, from $25 to $50 million, starting in 2025.
First export of Ecuadorian cannabis arrived in Switzerland
In this short time Ecuador has also managed to export this raw material. Last July, the Ecuadorian company CannAndes sent 5 kilograms of dried hemp flower and one liter of pure tincture of cannabis extract to Profields SA, a company dedicated to the manufacture of medicines based in Oberglatt, Switzerland.
CannAndes signed a hemp investment agreement with which it committed to invest $3 million and generate more than 300 jobs. Until July, it had invested more than $1 million in research and development of the hemp plant and created more than 20 direct formal jobs, according to Diego Espín, co-founder and CMO of CannAndes, who shows his varied product catalog on his Instagram profile: ground roasted coffee with hemp extract, cannabis tea, CBD oil (cannabidiol), among others.
Imports grew 1,052% from 2020 to the first half of 2022
Imports of hemp-derived or related products have shown growth of more than 1,000% from 2020 to date. According to information from the National Customs Service of Ecuador (Senae), in 2020 307 kg of organic cannabis seeds were imported with a value of $2,522, and 20 kg of dried flower for $8,089, with total imports of $ 10,611.
In 2021 imports grew 670% over the year, as the imported value increased to $81,709. Imported products other than dried flower and hemp seeds were distilled and isolate extracts of CBD, hemp oil, and CBD droppers.
Meanwhile, until June 2022, with respect to all of 2021, imports of this type of product amount to $122,333, 49.72%. In total, from 2020 to the first half of 2022, imports grew 1,052%. The main countries of origin are: United States, United States, Canada and Colombia.
However, the authority clarified that there are no specific tariff subheadings for products with cannabis or hemp content, that is, a lotion with cannabis oil and one without cannabis oil are traded internationally under the same tariff subheading; Therefore, the detail of the information is obtained from the constant commercial description in the customs declarations.
One of the companies that imports this type of product is Home Beauty Care, which was created in July 2021, five months after the regulations came into force. The firm imports from the United States products of the Israeli Wellness brand that is sold in more than 20 countries.
“This regulation was issued in February 2021, our company started in July 2021, that is, with the regulations already in force. It helped us to crystallize the idea of importing and marketing Wellness, since these products are actually derived from cannabis, because they are based on hemp seeds, in this case they are not psychoactive and they do comply with the regulations”, explained Valeria Cantos. , public relations officer for Home Beauty Care, which also distributes the French brand Gernétic Internacional.
Cantos assured that the demand for these products has been excellent in the national market.
He highlighted that hemp seed is the most nutritious vegetable protein on the planet, which provides essential fatty acids 3, 6 and 9, highly beneficial for hair health, which gives added value to its products, which he assured: “They are not something common in the market.”
“The acceptance has been excellent during this time, we are still making the brand known, it is something new and innovative, which is just expanding, but people are very interested in acquiring it, due to its benefits for hair health,” added Cantos, who assured that the company plans to continue marketing more of these products and growing as a comprehensive wellness center. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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