Pioneering Hemp in Peru: A Deep Dive into the Andean Trade Forum In this episode of the *Let's Talk Hemp Volume Up* podcast, host Morris Beagle recaps his experience at the Andean Hemp and Cannabis Trade Forum in Lima, Peru, and discusses the event's key highlights and discussions with various industry experts. The forum, organized by GCNC with assistance from Futura Farms, gathered stakeholders, government officials, and industry leaders from Peru and beyond to explore the burgeoning hemp market in Latin America.
In this episode of the *Let's Talk Hemp Volume Up* podcast, host Morris Beagle recaps his experience at the Andean Hemp and Cannabis Trade Forum in Lima, Peru, and discusses the event's key highlights and discussions with various industry experts. The forum, organized by GCNC with assistance from Futura Farms, gathered stakeholders, government officials, and industry leaders from Peru and beyond to explore the burgeoning hemp market in Latin America.
Morris speaks with Beau Whitney, Jill Reddish, Patrick Atagi, and other key players who delve into the potential of Peru as a strategic player in hemp production. Key topics include Peru’s emerging hemp laws, which set a THC threshold of 1% for hemp products, opportunities for exports, and the importance of a supportive regulatory framework. Experts also discussed the role of international cooperation, with shared insights on genetic research, regulatory lessons from the U.S. and Europe, and the need for accessible technology to drive the industry forward.
There was consensus that Peru and other South American countries could benefit from lessons learned in North America and Europe to avoid regulatory hurdles and market limitations. The podcast closes with an optimistic outlook for the hemp industry's potential growth in Latin America and upcoming events focused on hemp policy and global market expansion.
Show Sponsor - Her Many Voices - hermanyvoices.org
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 - Introduction and Welcome
00:00:38 - Overview of the Peru Tapes
00:01:00 - Event Background and Organizers
00:01:42 - Global Hemp Supply Chain Panel
00:02:15 - Her Many Voices Sponsorship
00:02:29 - Interview with Event Facilitator
00:03:09 - Challenges in the Peruvian Market
00:03:25 - Focus on Medical Cannabis
00:04:17 - Regulatory Landscape in Peru
00:05:02 - CBD and THC Regulations
00:05:30 - Event Collaboration with GCNC
00:06:04 - Event Planning and Execution
00:07:09 - Support from Peruvian Government
00:08:03 - Congressional Support for Hemp Regulation
00:09:03 - Regulatory and Law Enforcement Cooperation
00:10:02 - Importance of Stakeholder Conversations
00:10:49 - Future Plans for the Event
00:11:00 - Market Development and Investment
00:12:27 - Closing Remarks from Event Facilitator
00:12:57 - Interview with Jill Redish from GCNC
00:13:24 - GCNC's Role in the Event
00:14:07 - Event Agenda and Focus
00:15:09 - Feedback and Outcomes
00:15:53 - Meetings with U.S. Embassy
00:16:36 - Regulatory Comparisons and Suggestions
00:17:19 - Pollination Role in Marketplaces
00:18:08 - Future Event Plans
00:18:41 - Networking and Cuisine in Lima
00:19:06 - Peruvian Cuisine Highlights
00:20:04 - Interview with Rob Perro from ICIA
00:20:35 - ICIA's Role and Goals
00:21:00 - Event Impressions and Networking
00:21:23 - Future Collaboration and Integration
00:22:02 - Upcoming ICIA Event in Washington, DC
00:22:43 - Cannabis Industry Challenges and Solutions
00:23:53 - Interview with Patrick Otagi from NIHC
00:24:08 - Business and Personal Insights from the Trip
00:24:31 - Regulatory Landscape in South America
00:25:10 - U.S. Government Agency Challenges
00:25:38 - Support from USDA and Other Agencies
00:26:13 - Peruvian Market Potential
00:27:01 - Event Success and Future Plans
00:27:23 - Small World Connections
00:28:33 - Interview with Vito Cechak from Poland
00:28:56 - Support for New Markets
00:29:33 - Panel Discussion on Hemp Supply Chain
00:30:31 - Challenges in Industrial Hemp Development
00:31:08 - Government and Industry Cooperation
00:32:44 - Argentina's Hemp Market Development
00:33:14 - Genetics and Market Research in Argentina
00:34:00 - Cooperation with Local Companies
00:35:15 - Study Tour from Argentina
00:36:00 - Potential in Brazil and Other Markets
00:37:18 - Genetics Development for South America
00:38:09 - Challenges in Processing Industrial Hemp
00:39:08 - Investment in Processing Equipment
00:40:04 - Government Support for Hemp Projects
00:41:49 - Final Thoughts on the Trip
00:43:28 - Cooperation and Collaboration
00:44:00 - Opportunities for U.S. Investors
00:45:27 - Interview with Charles Warner from Cannabis & Tech Today
00:45:57 - Event Highlights and Impressions
00:46:09 - Reasons for Attending the Event
00:46:47 - STM Canna's Role in the Industry
00:47:31 - New Infuser Equipment
00:47:56 - Sponsoring the Opening Reception
00:48:46 - What is a Pisco Sour?
00:49:26 - Quality of Food in Lima
00:50:18 - Seafood in Peru
00:50:36 - Peruvian Asian Fusion Cuisine
00:51:25 - Event Size and Networking
00:52:14 - GCNC's Event Model
00:52:30 - Future Prospects in Peru
00:52:45 - Interview with Bo Whitney from Whitney Economics
00:53:50 - Reasons for Attending the Conference
00:54:01 - Presence in South America
Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends. I'm glad you could attend. Again, you are listening to the Let's Talk Hemp podcast. I am your host, Morris Beagle. Welcome to the show. Welcome to the Let's Talk Hemp Volume Up podcast. I am your host, Morris Beagle, and today we're coming at you from Lima with the Peru Tapes, a series of interviews similar to the Japan Tapes that came out a few weeks back, but less interviews and a bit longer interviews. This podcast was recorded at the Andean Hemp and Cannabis Trade Forum event, put together by our friends Chris Day and Jill Redish from the Global Cannabis Network Collective. The event brought together local stakeholders and private sector interests, government officials, regulators, law enforcement, and international hemp and cannabis industry operators and thought leaders. This was also another trade mission that included the National Industrial Hemp Council of America, NIHC, with support from a grant from the USDA's Regional Agriculture Promotion Program. The goal, to explore opportunities for collaborations between the developing Peruvian and Latin American hemp markets and U.S. companies. At the conference, I had the honor of speaking on the Global Hemp Supply Chain panel with Javier from Bazinga, Vito Jeznik from the Institute of Natural Fiber and Medicinal Plants in Poland, Maximiliano Baranoff from Industrial Hemp Solutions, who is originally from Argentina and now based out of Spain, Also, Patrick Taghi from NIHC presented on the current hemp investment market and other pertinent things happening in the United States and projects that the National Industrial Hemp Council are working on. This podcast is presented by our friends at Her Many Voices, where grassroots activism is driven by indigenous wisdom to protect all of Earth's children. For more information on this organization, visit hermanyvoices.org. Now, Let's get started. Sitting here with Bo Whitney from Whitney Economics. We're here in Lima, Peru. Just got done with the Andy in hemp and cannabis trade forum. How you doing today Bo?
undefined: I'm doing awesome. It's great to be in Lima Peru of all places I haven't been down to South America before so it's been it's been a great great trip so far.
undefined: I'd agree It's my first time in South America as well. And so I didn't know exactly what to expect but Lima's been pretty cool outside of the traffic.
undefined: Oh my god So
undefined: Why did you want to come to Lima and participate in this conference?
undefined: Well, one, I wanted to go golfing with you again, but that didn't happen. I hope your knee feels better.
undefined: Well, I did arrange the foursome, which was a great foursome. And unfortunately, it turned into a threesome because I did. I wimped out with my torn meniscus.
undefined: But I came down because I wanted to get a foothold and a presence in South America. El Planteo, one of the magazines, has featured my economics of cannabis and hemp in their publications down here. And so I wanted people to actually put some eyeballs on me. And it totally worked. It actually exceeded my expectations down here. It's a vibrant market. There's a lot of pioneering spirit here, both on the medical side and on the hemp side. So it was really exciting. So I wanted to come down and I've got these models for adult use of medical for every country in the world. And so I just gave a presentation on the South American market and then tailored it down to the Peruvian market and then talked a little bit about hemp as well. Oh, and then we did some tours of some dispensaries here. And that was illuminating as well. On the medical side, they're taking a very methodical doctored prescription basis perspective. And at the dispensaries, they actually do their own compounding, their own formulations right there on the spot. So they tailor it. Each prescription that's fulfilled is tailored to each individual medical patient. And I thought that was Um, that was just amazing. It was great to see an action.
undefined: Yeah. It seems like that model though would be a bit difficult to scale. Is that correct?
undefined: Yeah. Well, there's, they're doing, you know, in some instances, 800 to a thousand patients a month. Um, and so that's, you know, that's pretty good. Um, and it's only just a handful of, of medical dispensaries. So it could scale with more dispensaries. But yeah, scaling at one location would be difficult, that's for sure.
undefined: And what types of delivery methods? Gummies, capsules, tinctures? What are they actually doing? Because they're not doing flour, correct?
undefined: No, they're not doing flour yet. And so they're doing gummies, And they're doing vapes and tinctures and other things. I even saw some balms. And so like, so in that regard, it's more on what I would call the derivative side. And definitely no flower. But there is reform underway that's being proposed and discussed politically in order to bring flower into the market. And so that should be you know, sometime in 2025. Right.
undefined: And from the hemp standpoint, which they do have a hemp law now, but the regulation side of it is not in place, correct? But they did pass a law and it's 1% and not 0.3%. Yeah.
undefined: Yeah. And so I found that to be interesting. There was some really good presentations on the different applications of hemp. I looked at the global hemp market and I break it down between the cannabinoid side, the fiber side, and the grain. They were mainly focused on the fiber side. with the skosh of of grains and then As well as on them on the cannabinoid market, so it's still in its in its infancy But they're looking at it from a global marketplace perspective. And so they're really trying to position Peru as a net exporter of Despite the inputs from the panels and stuff that said you should probably keep it here just indigenous to Peru, but I tend to agree with the government that says we can open up these foreign markets and position ourselves in the global marketplace. I think Peru is uniquely positioned to not only tap into, uh, satisfy some of the South American market, which is easier to do business since there's, um, uh, South American trade group. Um, and then they can also position for North America and Europe as well. So there's a lot of stuff going on here and it's just a, a small little country, but there's, you know, there's a lot going on.
undefined: Right. Well, I would agree. I know that they're very interested in the export market. And when I spoke, I talked about the fact that before you do the export, then you really got to figure out how you can do a local thing. You know, particularly the food side of things. I think that's really the low hanging fruit where we all have to eat and every market needs healthy alternatives, which there's not really a better healthy alternative than hemp seeds. It's an ingredient that could go into so many different things. And I walked through their little grocery stores and stuff and it's like, you don't see like a lot of superfoods and healthy stuff that's there on the shelves. And it's like, seems there could be a good opportunity. to incorporate hemp foods into this marketplace.
undefined: Yeah. And just to expand on that a little bit, you know, we're, we're in a country right now where there's a tremendous amount of poverty. And when you're impoverished, you tend to not eat as well. And when you don't eat as well, then you run into health issues. And so it really puts a burden back onto the government on the healthcare expenditure side. And so by bringing in a superfood like hemp grains and hemp meal and stuff, then you can increase the nutritional intake of the citizens. that can address a lot of health issues. You can get more protein, more omegas, just lead a healthier diet. And it's not all that expensive to do so. So it can meet the requirements of a low income population and still do beneficial, have beneficial results on the healthcare side as well.
undefined: Right.
undefined: I've developed some models on that. Like when I went down to Africa and talked about bringing hemp into the like the South of the Sub-Saharan African economies. Um, that was one of the things that really resonated with the governments there. It's like, you can do proactive medicines either, you know, with medical cannabis, or you could, uh, increase the nutritional intake of the animals and the farmers and the citizens. And, but that has a net result, a positive result on expenditures on healthcare. And so that's resonant in sub-Saharan Africa just as much as it's resonant here in South America. And so, you know, I looked at those models and there's a lot to be said for that.
undefined: Well, like you said, it's at the infancy right now and there is opportunity and they're looking to a lot of the people that were in the room at this event as to, you know, how can the international market participate and help Peru get its program going, medical-wise, and then on the hemp side. And I think there's going to be a lot of opportunities for U.S. operators to kind of jump into this market early on to potentially help from a genetics and research standpoint, equipment, technology, you know, to help them get up and running. So they can become self-sufficient, and then they can create a marketplace, and then turn around and start exporting. And like you said, with exporting into South America, I mean, there's a lot of countries here. And nobody has captured any of the industrial side of things yet, really, outside of, I guess, what, Paraguay? Lorenzo went into that, which was quite illuminating.
undefined: Yeah, it was fascinating. But you know, one thing that there's a couple of points that I want to add to this is that one, in the US, the hemp markets kind of going sideways or off the rails on the crazy train or backwards, you know, I'm not quite sure where it's going. But what I'm telling a lot of the hemp operators, in the U.S. is that, hey, look to these other external markets to partner with and you can create opportunities out of the U.S. and South America and Africa and Europe. And so that's, you know, that's, you know, an opportunity that is a lot easier to access rather than you know, trying to, you know, figure out the complexities of the US market, right? And so I found that to be really fascinating. And there's some pretty decent data now on some of the hemp acres and or hectares And so now that I'm down here, I've got the context to where I can put together the global picture for the number of acres in Europe, the number of acres in South America and North America and Africa, and then put together a holistic picture of what's going on globally for hemp. And so that was another one of the reasons I came down was just to make those contacts and get some data. And now, I've got access to a lot of data. So this is great.
undefined: You are king of the data when it comes to hemp and cannabis. So, well, Hey, it's, it's always good to hang with you. I, where'd we hang last time? Barcelona. Yeah. Barcelona. Yeah. Yeah. And we did play golf in Barcelona. I didn't, uh, I didn't wimp out on that one. I didn't have a bum knee at that point.
undefined: Yeah, but you know, there's in seeing these opportunities and making those contacts, it really shows that this is a global marketplace. And by having a global marketplace, we're all interconnected. And I definitely feel a lot more connected now down here. And that's what it's all about. It's all about the community. And so if we can do some stuff in North America, if we can do some stuff in South America and elsewhere, then we can move hemp along and we can move some of the cannabis reform along and really accelerate and do some really good things in the world.
undefined: Totally agree. Shout out to Chris and Jill from GCNC, Global Cannabis Networking Collective, for putting on the event and getting a lot of great people in the room together. These type of things, to me, I've really enjoyed it the last several years. It makes a huge difference to be able to get together with like-minded people and people that are pretty diverse in their perspective. We got something going off here?
undefined: Yeah, it's okay. All right. The genesis for this from my participation resulted in me seeing Jill in Berlin. We're at a conference there. And she was heading to the airport, just wanted a cup of coffee. They had closed the restaurant. I happened to have a pot of coffee sitting at a table. And so she said, hey, thanks for the coffee. Do you want to come to Peru? And, you know, but you never know where these things are going to germinate. But I'm really delighted that it did, and they did an exceptional job of bringing people together and really put together a real tight conference and very educational for a lot of people.
undefined: Yeah, myself included. It's like I obviously do a lot of conferences and stuff, but I found some very illuminating information at this one, it's like, wow, I actually never knew that. I haven't heard that before, so I thought it was very well done. So hats off to those two and their whole group.
undefined: You know, it also provided me access to data and to insights that I can also transfer to other marketplaces. So by learning what's going on here and applying it elsewhere, it just makes for better insights, better data, better analysis. So, in that regard, I'm quite grateful that I came down, and I think, overall, it's just going to improve the amount of educational materials and data that people have access to, and it just makes for a stronger market. The better the data, the stronger the market.
undefined: Yup. Any last thoughts on anything?
undefined: Um, yeah, just the, you know, there's a lot of people that are following their passions. Um, and they're less encumbered here than they are say in the United States. Um, but not only is there a shout out for the GCNC folks, but, um, but a shout out to the people that are down here and they're, they're the pioneers in the market. And, you know, they're carrying the water for everybody else and opening up opportunities. And, and so, you know, I just, it's really refreshing to see that pioneering spirit. And so the, the folks down here that are doing this every day, you know, hats off to them as well, because They're doing some really good things and they're very modest, but they're getting really tangible results. So that's really cool to see. It's inspirational. It is.
undefined: Definitely seen what we've had to go through the last several years in the United States. It's inspiring because in the United States, there's a lot of things that aren't very inspiring at this point in time. It's been a rough ride the last few years.
undefined: Yeah, for sure. And, you know, to see people, you know, taking the real simplistic approach, not getting out too far out over their skis, um, being humble, um, being altruistic. I mean, that's, I think it was a good reminder of where we all came from in this space, you know? And so it was good to see it was very refreshing.
undefined: Yeah, I agree. Well, it's been awesome hanging out with you. Wrap this thing up and see you. I don't know when I'm gonna see you again. You're not coming to Thailand.
undefined: Are you? Maybe not. I'm not sure but You'll definitely see me again in Barcelona and this time. I'll bring my sunscreen.
undefined: There we go Yeah, and no co and then Berlin for a ha Yeah, I'm sure we'll be crossing pass. There's a lot of conferences between now and next summer. So I
undefined: Yeah, and I really appreciate what you're doing as well. I mean, you're bringing people together. You're giving them a platform and a voice. And, you know, so you're a very essential role in this whole industry and this whole movement. So thanks a lot.
undefined: I appreciate that. As Patrick Itagi likes to say, working together works. And he says that a lot. All right, man.
undefined: All right. Thanks a lot.
undefined: All right. We'll see you, though. And here we go again. Andy and Hemp in Cannabis Forum. I'm sitting here with Chuck, Charles Warner, Cannabis & Tech today. And gonna cut it up with Chuck. What's going on, man?
SPEAKER_09: What's up, Morris? What an event, huh? Holy smokes. What'd you think? It was amazing. You know, I feel like that when it comes to an event, there's like the location, there's the people, and there's the food. Those are like the three things that I think of. And I feel like this one, man, we like knocked it out the park, all three.
undefined: Yep. All three. One, two, three. Two out of three ain't bad, but three out of three is great.
SPEAKER_09: Three out of threes, yeah. We're getting the Hall of Fame with those numbers.
undefined: Yeah. Yeah, so why did you come out to the event?
SPEAKER_09: What brought you out here? Honestly, I had missed a lot of the last ones. I hadn't been able to go to a lot of the events that I like to, and so this one was sort of on the radar. Chris had told me, dude, you need to come to this. I knew you were coming, I knew a couple other people was coming, so I basically just made the decision that I was coming to this one, and it turned out to be a great decision because, yeah, I think there's going to be a lot of business and a lot of good content that comes from it.
undefined: Right, and so you're out here not only on behalf of Cannabis in Tech today, but company that you're owner in and working with? What's the company? What do they do?
SPEAKER_09: Yeah, it's called STM Canna. Basically, we help people make pre-rolls. Pre-rolls are one of the fastest, most profitable segments of the cannabis industry. But pre-rolls are hard to do by hand. They're labor intensive and time intensive. So we make machines, design them, patent them, and manufacture them right here in the USA, and we help manufacturers make really, really kick-ass pre-rolls. Anything post-harvest, from the grind, to the fill, to the weigh, to the close, and even now, infusing.
undefined: Oh yeah, because you've got an infusing piece of equipment as well that kind of goes with the whole thing.
SPEAKER_09: Yeah, we've got a new infuser that's actually a 3-in-1, so it can infuse carts, edibles, or pre-rolls.
undefined: Really?
SPEAKER_09: Yeah. That's what everybody wants. It's all about the live rosin. It's all about the full spectrum. It's all about the infused. People want the whole kit and caboodle.
undefined: Right. And so if you're hearing the little taps in the background, that's just Chuck tapping on the table every time he talks, just so you know.
SPEAKER_09: That's just me being me.
undefined: Oh, highlights from the event?
SPEAKER_09: Man, I'd have to say that, you know, one of the biggest highlights, obviously, we sponsored the opening reception. So I thought that was really cool. I've come to the conclusion that sponsoring a reception at an event is better than just about anything else, because Everybody's there. They're excited to talk. The pisco sours are flowing and it's just a really great way to break the ice for the rest of the three or four days that you're at an event. So to me, the reception is what I'm going to look for at future events when we do something. So that was definitely it. The actual conference itself was great. I feel like I learned a lot. And then of course, you know, just getting to go out and eat and, you know, hang out with the people who are really forming relationships, I think was the, you know, the icing on the cake.
undefined: Well, for those that don't know what's a Pisco Sour?
SPEAKER_09: A Pisco Sour is, so this is their, in Peru, this is their liquor. It's distilled from grapes and, but it's not a wine, it's a spirit and then they mix it with, you know, gosh, I don't know, probably some sweet and sour, some ice, they blend it all up and it is quite refreshing. So, highly recommend the Pisco Sour and also they've got some Cusqueña. Cusqueña is their beer here, which we've had one or two of those.
undefined: Well, you mentioned food is one of the three things, and the food this trip has been just unbelievable.
SPEAKER_09: It really has, and I think it's just because I feel like everything is so fresh. I feel like nothing we ate, even at the hotels and stuff like that, I feel like it was all, you know, from a farm or a market or something, you know, close by. I don't feel like it was super processed like we get a lot back in the States.
undefined: Right well i can tell you that from a fish standpoint and i had heard i when i got here there was a guy from hawaii who's probably in his mid-60s who's lived in hawaii goes to mexico goes to thailand is moving here to peru he's like Peru has the best seafood on the planet." And I'm like, really? Wow. So it seemed like a pretty valid endorsement. Yeah. It's like if you're the Hawaii guy, when Hawaii's got pretty dang good seafood and he says this is the best place on the planet, it's like, ah, but we'll find out. And I would have to say that the seafood has been amazing.
SPEAKER_09: It's been really, really good. And specifically, too, the ceviche. I've had ceviche before, but here, just something about those ingredients, the way they do it, the different varieties and everything like that, it was like I've never enjoyed eating raw fish more.
undefined: And have you ever had Peruvian Asian fusion before?
SPEAKER_09: No, no, but it's just great. You know what I mean? There's just so many, there's so many flowers and I mean, not flowers, flavors. And, and talking to some of the locals here, you know, they kind of make fun of the food in other countries, you know, in, in South America, they're like, oh, you know, Venezuela, the food's crap or this right here. So even the people that live here know, they have awesome food in Peru. Like, they just, they kind of have that cockiness, you know, like in Colorado, we got great powder, they know they have great food here. Right. We got good green chili in Colorado. We do have great green chili. Dude, we would blow their minds if we brought some green chili here.
undefined: Maybe we can introduce that to South America.
SPEAKER_09: I think we should, dude. That is right there. That's one of the best things we got going in Colorado.
undefined: Exactly. Well, export business. Trade mission right here.
SPEAKER_09: I'm telling you, I would like that. But no, it's just been a really cool event. And one last thing I want to say is I kind of like the size of this type of an event. How many people do you think were here? 100? Yeah. I like that. A 75, 100 person event to me is kind of that primo number. Anything less you can kind of feel like you've done it all or you've talked to everybody or something like that. And then once you get into something like an MJ biz or something like that, you're never going to talk to everyone. You're gonna be going all over all the time, running around and everything like that. This, I feel like, is just that perfect sweet spot, a number of people at an event, where you can get good business done, get your networking in, do all the stuff you're trying to do, and it doesn't feel completely overwhelming.
undefined: Completely agree. And that's really the model for GCNC. And Chris and Jill did a fantastic job, highly curated. So hats off to those two. Yeah. And I'm looking forward to participating with them again and other events and coming back to Peru here in the next year or so.
SPEAKER_09: Yeah, I'm excited to see what we do here. You know, Jose, I'm hopefully going to be doing some stuff, you know, with him, but I just love his passion, what he's doing here, you know, with Andean Farms. And the future, I think, is really, really bright in Peru.
undefined: Yeah. Well, cheers, bud. Have safe travels back and we'll catch you back in Colorado. Catch you later, buddy. All righty, man. Sitting here with Jill Reddish from GCNC, the Global Cannabis Networking Collective. How are you doing?
undefined: I'm doing really well. I'm quite excited to be here for this event. It's been a really awesome experience for everyone involved. Really productive.
undefined: What made you want to come to Peru?
undefined: Well, when we co-founded the Global Cannabis Network Collective, we knew that the best way we could help drive business is by listening to our members. And so when some of our members came to us just about a year ago, Jose Escalante and his business partner Raul Inoque with Futura Farms. They knew that a lot of things were slowly gaining momentum with the Peruvian government in terms of both hemp and medical cannabis. And they came to us actually and said, look, help us put together an event that'll help really drive the momentum forward. So in terms of Chris and myself as co-founders, this was really a member-driven event, and we knew that the market opportunity here in Latin America is just evolving and just kind of needs more momentum and more buy-in from the regulators. And we knew that we could do that kind of event. So we put together a fast-paced one-day trade forum. We really packed the agenda. And since there's great interest for both the hemp side of things as well as the medical cannabis, the agenda was really packed with the morning focused on hemp all across South America with, of course, a focus on Peru. And in the afternoon, we kind of shifted gears into the medical cannabis space and drew in speakers from really all over the world and all across South America for a very packed but productive day.
undefined: Yeah, I was very impressed with the effort and the results that you guys did, so hats off to you and Chris and Futura Farms and everybody that participated. Great lineup of people and programming, so I'm very happy for you. I'm glad to be participating.
undefined: That's greatly appreciated and you know this whole event is just kind of that one day culmination of a much bigger picture of course. We did a lot of work ahead of time to create connections across our members and some of the local businesses who were involved. I know that plenty of follow-up meetings have happened already and or are at least scheduled to be happening and I'm looking forward to hearing a lot of the outcomes that will result from bringing all of these folks together and getting kind of kind of getting people excited and helping to move things forward.
undefined: Well, we've had several meetings since the event and that was with the ag minister, the congressman who's looking for suggestions for the regulations that they're going to put together for the hemp law, and listening to the U.S. stories and kind of our perspective is things that have not gone well that they can avoid, which hopefully they listen to some of the suggestions that we made because If they can do it right, they're going to benefit. If they fall into the trap like the U.S. and Canada and Europe have with these little hiccups and stuff, then it'll just hold them up for a while. So hopefully they can avoid some of that stuff.
undefined: Yeah, we really wanted to paint a picture of do some kind of compare contrast about different regulations and why certain markets function better than others and how regulations might hamper business development. So hopefully that can be avoided because there's definitely a lot of opportunity down here. It's a great Climate for for hemp and there's a lot of small farmers who are looking for different ways to earn more income and get get involved in put their their Put put their products out on a global marketplace, so it'll take time for sure But hopefully I think we'll we'll see some fruits yielded from today.
undefined: Yeah Well, we just got done meeting with the US Embassy, which is always cool to come into a marking set down with them I really never thought that I'd be sitting down at U.S. embassies and embassies in various parts of the world, but it's happened here and it happened in Japan a few weeks ago, so it's like, hey, I could get used to this kind of thing, you know?
undefined: Yeah, exactly. It's kind of really a fun role to be that sort of pollinator between different marketplaces, isn't it? I love that we always keep running into each other at these events, doing our little pollination and making sure people know each other who we realize would collaborate well. We're thrilled that you were able to make it Morris.
undefined: Well thrilled to be here You guys did a great job and hopefully we'll be back here again in the next year or two and see how things are progressing
undefined: Yeah, there's been definitely a lot of interest from the local market and so I'm hopeful that that will, you know, continue to build for next year. We came in with this kind of idea for a one-time event but, you know, just start to see what the other interest is down here and get the buy-in from the businesses. So, if it looks like we can do it again, we would certainly love to be involved because that's what GCNC is all about, you know, making the business happen.
undefined: Well, thanks again for everything. Any final thoughts?
undefined: Yeah, it was just really fantastic to hear from everybody, getting to meet new people to them and be the ones to bring those folks together. So we're really thrilled to do this event. It feels like it was a success and we heard all of the kind of feedback that we wanted, but it was productive and it's been great. Hopefully we will do it again next year.
undefined: And the food and the networking have been fantastic, by the way.
undefined: Oh, Lima, you know, does not disappoint when it comes to cuisine. So I think that's probably something that plenty of folks, especially in the States, are unaware of. So it is a draw to come down here to Lima and have some delicious ceviche and the fresh fruits and everything. I love it.
undefined: The seafood is unbelievable. I was not expecting it to be as good as it was, but it was, it's… you know, right there in the top two or three in the entire world, probably.
undefined: Oh, absolutely. It's been a wonderful time down here in Lima. All right. Thanks again. Yeah, for sure. Thank you.
undefined: I'm with Jose Escalante. Yeah. From Futura Farms, who's sponsoring really the one who helped facilitate this whole thing has been working in the market for the last five years. Yeah. So great job, man. It's great to meet you. And thanks for bringing everybody out here.
undefined: Thank you, Morris. It's such a pleasure to have you here. You and all the guys that came here was the output was amazing. I didn't expect this much.
undefined: Well, you've got a market that's completely untapped. Hasn't been legal here. trying to do both the medical side and the industrial side. I know you started on the industrial side and found that it was going to be easier to really get going with the medical side. How did that happen?
undefined: So we started looking to focus a lot on hemp R&D. In 2019, that didn't happen because the regulation supported medical cannabis, not necessarily industrial hemp. And with the pandemic, the development of cannabis, the cannabis industry stopped. So what we had was medical cannabis, so we decided to focus on that, while we slowly pushed the hemp regulations. And that happened this year. So it was five years of a lot of work with hemp, while doing a lot of work also in medical cannabis. And I can't complain. It's been a journey, it's been a great journey. Hard, but beautiful.
undefined: Well, it seems like things are in pretty good shape here as far as the foundation of the law and regulations. I know that you've got 1% THC for hemp rather than 0.3 like we do in the United States, which I think is a great move. The whole world should move to that, the United States, Europe, Canada. 0.3 is an arbitrary percentage. the regulations are going to be coming. Now, the law's there, but the regulations need to be in place to be able to really open up the fiber side and the grain side, and then the CBD side as well. Because CBD is currently kind of under the medical program, correct?
undefined: Yes, so all cannabinoids sold in Peru legally are sold under the medical program. You need a prescription for both CBD and THC. Prescription for CBD is simpler, it's a receta medica simple, while prescriptions for THC are receta medica especial, a special license, which is physical. So you need to stay in the pharmacy once you get the product.
undefined: Okay. And how did this event come together, the Andy and Hemp and Cannabis Forum, and working with Chris and Jill and GCNC?
undefined: Yeah, so… We were looking to do this event, and this event was going to happen. It wasn't going to be an international event. It was going to be a local event for hemp and cannabis in a university, a local university here. It was supposed to happen on March 2020, so that didn't happen. Then we worked, we focused on medical cannabis, and because of that we got to meet prison jail, the GCNC. We really made a connection. We really made a connection, and we've been friends for, what, three years now? Four years, I guess. And we've been speaking about this, like, hey, we should do this event, we should do this event. And last year, we decided to do it. I mean, the regulations here are ripe. The market is ready for scale. The demand is generated already by the informal vendors. It's not that there's no cannabis being sold in Peru. And we have the regulatory means to formalize all that demand. So we decided to take leadership on that and try to try to do this event. It was hard. It was very hard to put it together. I mean, Chris and Jill's work bringing all you guys from the U.S., from Europe to Peru is, like I said, the output was amazing and I can't complain. I'm very, very happy.
undefined: I thought the conference was really good. You covered A lot of very key topics for the medicinal side as well as the industrial side. I thought it was well balanced. Good room full of people. Again, Chris and you guys did an awesome job curating the room. The participants from from a sponsorship standpoint, and then the congressman who did a keynote. How is he, as far as being a leader, trying to push for good regulations and get this market off the ground?
undefined: Yes, so we met Arturo Alegria a few years ago, I guess in 2022. It was all of a sudden. It was a surprise for us. They reached out and they reached out to most of the people in the industry. He wanted to develop this hemp regulation. We spoke with a couple of congresspeople, most of them very open to hemp and cannabis. But Arturo really took the lead. And well, it was 2022, and the law came in 2024. So he's been very supportive of us, not only Congress, but the regulators also, DHMID, which is the medicine, the medical regulator dependent of the Ministry of Health. They are very good. They follow the rules. They're very strict with the rules, but the rules work. So if you follow the rules, you'll get a market. And Dirandro, which is law enforcement, the police, they're the same. They just want us to follow the rules. Their philosophy is this is legal. You shouldn't be illegal anymore. There's no reason for you to be illegal. It's not super expensive to set up shop here. So I can't complain. The regulators and the legislators here in Peru, at least for this segment of the market, have been very supportive. They continue to be supportive. We've had Ministry of Agriculture here, Ministry of Health, the police, in the event, learning, looking to learn. They're keen on learning. So I don't think that happens. in lots of places around the world?
undefined: It doesn't, and it's very important to be able to have conversations with stakeholders, the industry, government, law enforcement, and make sure that everybody understands what this plant is, whether that's medical, chemical side cannabinoids or if it's industrial for materials or grain for nutrition and food and You got to appreciate it when you've got champions in Congress that are like hey This is something that we should be incorporating into our agriculture and into our medical system So hats off to Peru for taking you know, the first steps to get this going great first event and you're gonna follow this up again next year and
undefined: Let's see what happens. We'd love to. We have some plans definitely. The next step at the moment is… making all what we've spoken about in this event happen. So we're going to focus on that. There's a lot of, like I said, there's a lot of scale to do in the market. The hemp regulation coming in very shortly will definitely give us the excuse to make this all over again and give you guys reasons to come back to Peru and see not see the same thing. What we want to do this event when we have, if it's in a year, it's in a year. If it's in two years, it's in two years. If it's in three months, it's in three months. But we want you to come back here and see, hey, they spoke about this and this is getting built. Probably not finished yet, but being built. Regulations are coming. People are investing in hemp. We have business with hemp textiles, like we've been speaking about. the chemical side of it, there's a lot of opportunity flowering in the market. So what we'd like to do is every time, every iteration of this event, to have a couple of novelties so people get to really be engaged and not say, yeah, this is the same stuff as several years ago. Why come all the way to Peru? Any final thoughts? Thank you. Thank you, Morris, and thank you all for this. It's been a huge honor for me to host you in my country. I'm very happy and thank you. Thank you for giving me the time.
undefined: Well, thank you for taking a leadership role and bringing folks together and spearheading this for Peru because cannabis should be available to everybody.
undefined: Yes, it will. At least in Peru, it will. And that's my commitment. All right. Well, thanks, man.
undefined: Thank you. Have a good one. I'm here with Catherine Moreira, who is the Latin American representative for the National Industrial Council of America. How are you doing today?
undefined: Hello, Morris. Thank you for the opportunity to speak in your platform. It's a pleasure.
undefined: Well, thank you for participating with us and jumping on board with NIHC and being the administrative organizer of our schedule and everything. It's great to have another participant that helps us kind of figure out what we're going to do day to day. And so you've done a wonderful job.
undefined: Thank you. I appreciate it.
undefined: So why don't you tell the audience a little bit about what you do here in Latin America, the commodities you work with, and how you came to be part of the NIHC program.
undefined: Sure. So, hi. Well, thank you, Morris, again. We're basically an in-market representative agency that works with different commodity groups. They're FAS cooperators, so I work with hops and other commodities as well. And with NIHC, we basically came online to work as a partner with NIHC to implement activities in Latin America. since RAP funding came in, so this is like in the developments still, and we are launching the Latin American program coming to the Andean Hemp and Cannabis Trade Forum, as well as starting to get a grasp of how the Peruvian economy is looking in terms of potential opportunities to bring not only the U.S. hemp industry, but also see any export opportunities for the U.S. hemp industry in Peru and in the region. So, my intake on the event specifically, I think it was fantastic that we were here. taking the pulse of what's going on in Latin America, since there were a lot of stakeholders that are part of the public sector here in Peru, but also the private sector of other Latin American countries that were present. What we're trying to do with our program, especially in Latin America right now, We're trying to aim not only trade in different countries of Latin America to start these conversations like we've started since we got here to Peru, get them to know a little bit about industrial hemp, what they can do in terms of the hemp market, and also we had very interesting conversations with regulators and regulators were present at the event. So there's a lot of interest in knowing what the U.S. is doing, the U.S. hemp industry, and obviously some of the successful stories around what is the regulation framework that actually works, that is going to help the Peruvian hemp industry thrive here. And also, well, looking at more in a broader spectrum, we are very, very focused on education. So the NIHC is working on launching a Latin American tailored website that is in the makes. We're also going to be doing a lot of social media marketing to target not only trade, but also universities, research institutes that are already researching and developing any information revolving the industrial hemp process. Let's say if a country is more focused on hemp oils or hemp grain or bioplastics, just to get a grasp of what each individual Latin American country is doing right now. So we're doing this outreach with universities and institutes. We're trying to plan technical seminars for next year so we can put different people in the room, not only the public and private sector, but also government stakeholders to start to participate in these discussions so they know how, for example, they can regulate hemp properly. industrial hemp within their legislation and regulations, but also know what they can do with hemp. What are the investment opportunities and how the U.S. can be a potential ally in this process, not only as a supplier, but also we can teach them our know-how and technology transfer, support them and connect them with the U.S. hemp industry specifically to try to implement or improve trade opportunities, but also for them to have a grasp of, okay, if I want to invest in this opportunity, what do I need to have in place? What kind of machinery? What is the supply chain that I need? So I think there's a lot of education not only towards the consumer, but also in the different players that play a role in the industry to get these things to happen.
undefined: Absolutely. Every time we go out on these little trade missions, there's things that are really key from an educational standpoint. If we're going to Europe, we're learning things that Europe's been doing for 30 years that we can hopefully bring back to the United States, and vice versa when we come to Asia, Japan, or now Latin America. They're looking to us for assistance and how do we get our industry up and going? Stakeholders in the United States provide us materials to get our industry going before they actually start really growing and producing themselves, technology, equipment, genetics, agronomy, research. we're just getting started here in Latin America and obviously we know that there's a lot of countries, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, a lot of countries are very interested in getting industrial hemp up and going within their country and they are going to all do things slightly differently but hopefully we can help them roll out a regulatory and a a legal way of dealing with hemp that's not so burdensome for operators. It makes sense. It doesn't need to be over-regulated. It obviously needs to be regulated. We've seen in the United States where there's just certain things that these regulatory barriers end up driving investment out of the market. It's not helpful to grow the industry and so hopefully through some of our mistakes and some of the mistakes that have gone on in Canada and Europe, these countries can learn from those mistakes and not repeat what we've already done.
undefined: That's true, like we don't want history to repeat itself. And it's a great opportunity to be here right now in Peru, since I don't know if we've mentioned this previously in the discussion, but the law that regulates industrial hemp just got approved in June. So we had some conversations with government entities as well, where they were actually asking for U.S. partners advice on how to regulate hemp that is actually successful and taking into account they don't want to repeat the mistakes that have been made by other major international players in the market. So I think that Peru has a very tangible opportunity Also, since we got to participate in these discussions, I think it's something that adds value. And we are definitely promoting to continue these discussions in order to get Peru not only to buy U.S. hemp, but in the future even supporting them to, taking them to the place to become an explorer at some point. So I mean, there's a lot of different opportunities that are tangled together, and I think that this was a good start. The event and our presence here is going to make a major impact in how things are going to be moving forward in the next few months.
undefined: Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And they're very appreciative of us joining the conversation and providing some guidance. So, yeah, I think that they've got a really good opportunity to put things in place correctly here at the get-go, since they haven't really rolled things out and made a bunch of mistakes. The feedback they've got from NIHC, myself, and Chris, and Jill, and other participants, I think has been really illuminating for them. And it's like, hey, this is actually good advice. It makes sense. And we'll see where things are at in the next 6 to 12 months if they've taken our advice. And I hope so. It'd be good to come back here in the next year or so.
undefined: Yes, definitely looking forward to it and well we're definitely glad Morris that you were a part of this as well and NIHC and we see all of this in real time in the works so we're very fortunate to be a part of this process.
undefined: Any final thoughts?
undefined: Maybe I can say that I think the event was a huge success. It connected different players in the hemp and cannabis industry to share their experiences. All of them had different backgrounds, coming from different countries, from different challenges that are being faced, not only in their local and international markets, but as well as their regulation per se. So it's very interesting to see and contrast what South American countries are doing, what has been working, what has not been working, how they look at the U.S. in all of this dynamic, and how we can become potential partners in different ways. I see that partnerships are being developed, but obviously each South American country is a unique market with unique needs. And definitely it was good to see that and see all of these different players in the same room sharing ideas, sharing experiences. So I think it was a very valuable opportunity and all of the conversations that revolved around it. I think it was a great opportunity and a great start.
undefined: Well, it's been awesome to have you jump on board with NIHC and participate. And thanks for all you're doing.
undefined: Thank you, Morris, for the opportunity.
undefined: All right. We'll take care. Bye. Hanging out here with Patrick Atagi, National Industrial Hemp Council of America. How are you doing today, Patrick?
undefined: Doing great. It's been a great conference and very enlightening. And so, yeah, but also ready to get back home.
undefined: Yeah, it's been a long last week, I guess, pretty much. And a fair amount of traffic here, but man, the food's great.
undefined: Yeah, no, absolutely. It's been a wonderful trip, both from the business side of the equation and just from the personal, being able to learn more about South America.
undefined: Yeah, so they're a little behind the curve here, but it does seem that I think waiting like they have could be beneficial in the long run based on hopefully avoiding some of the pitfalls that we've faced in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and hopefully they listen to some of the suggestions that we've made during this visit.
undefined: Yeah, absolutely. I think they are in some respects ahead of the game with some of their regulation that the 1% are going to avoid a lot of problems that the U.S. had. They also have a better partnership between the government and the private sector where In the U.S., you know, it's ongoing with one agency, the FDA Food and Drug Administration, and I'm just still surprised even after my 20 plus years in Washington, D.C., how this one agency can cause so many problems on something that pretty much is a straightforward resolution.
undefined: Yeah, I would agree. You've obviously been in the government side of things way longer than I have, and I'm observing from the sidelines, but I look at the agencies and it's like, you know, the USDA has been pretty supportive for a new specialty crop slash commodity crop, and they're throwing money and trying to develop it. But yet another agency, the FDA, continues to just put up roadblocks and hurt the industry all across the board.
undefined: Yeah, it's just astounding. Obviously, the National Industrial Hemp Council, the NIHC, has been a beneficiary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA grants, but also Jacob Waddell with the Hemp Building Institute. received an EPA grant, and then now Hempatextra received a grant from DOE. So it seems like everybody's moving forward and there's a major, it's not even a roadblock, it's like a cement barrier around the White House, and that being the FDA, and, you know, concerning, you know, as you were in these meetings too, that, you know, the Peruvians, and as I mentioned before, working pretty well with their government and the private sector, They're poised to enter the hemp market and even excel, exceed what the U.S. is doing. So that was our talk with the State Department and Foreign Ag Service here in Peru representing The U.S. here, you know, is our concern is, you know, we're missing a major opportunity where the Peruvians and the Uruguayans and Argentinians and Brazilians are all, you know, looking at moving forward. So very, very looking at a lot of work to be done.
undefined: And well, we'll keep plugging along. I think this was a great conference. I think Chris and Jill and the GNC did a wonderful job bringing together a curated group of people from stakeholders around the world to local stakeholders to government officials and regulators. And it was solid. So I look forward to coming back here.
undefined: Yeah, absolutely. I agree with you 100%. Chris and Jill did an excellent job and I have to laugh because I was just the day before my flight here. I was in Fort Benton at the IND HAMP meeting in Great Falls. I was meeting there, but I'd literally been in Great Falls and that's where her family's from. So it was kind of funny. Small world, even though we're global. But, you know, as I mentioned before, working together works and, you know, working not just domestically but internationally to build a framework globally of hemp, you know, that will work. And, you know, I see the pathway. We just got to get everybody on board to row in the same direction.
undefined: Well, amen. I think that's a good way to end this thing. So safe travels back and I look forward to connecting with you in the U.S. here pretty soon and then maybe in Thailand.
undefined: Absolutely. Thanks, Morris. I'll take care of it.
undefined: Sitting here with Rob Pierro. What's going on, bud?
undefined: What's going on, Morris? This was pretty amazing. Being in Peru, being with pharmaceutical companies in South America and talking cannabis and hemp. It was awesome.
undefined: So why don't you tell the folks what you do while you're here?
undefined: Yeah, my name is Rob Perro. I'm the founder and president of the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association. We are an international trade association devoted to advancing cannabis and hemp for tribes and tribal operators. And here in Peru, advancing the conversation around indigenous nations and world commerce, which has been a standard for Indian nations. We've been importing, exporting for years. And now this is a new commodity and we're looking to get involved. So what do you think the event? It was amazing. It really was it was a small Kind of exclusive event but a lot of the top minds in the cannabis and hemp industry Really looking to share as much knowledge as possible and resource each other. So I Saw a lot of deals being made. I saw a lot of relationships built and you know a lot of Problem-solving.
undefined: Yeah. Well, we've been fortunate to connect several times this year and NOCO, and then at the Lower Sioux unveiling of their facility, and now here. And I think, you know, there's going to be a lot of this to come over the next year, two years, three years as we really try to integrate and work more collaboratively together.
undefined: I agree. I feel like it's all hands on deck at this point. You know, things are moving so quickly in cannabis and hemp and, you know, from policy to regulation to, you know, understanding the market, right? Like, and that's ultimately how people get paid is you got to be able to move product. So I think with all these heads in the room, Those are the things that we're focused on and those are the things that are getting done and I couldn't be more excited to keep building relationships with you, find ways to integrate our networks, provide more value, raise more capital, and get more projects off the ground.
undefined: Well, you're doing a fantastic job and you've got an event coming up here and in November in Washington, DC, I believe. So what's up with that?
undefined: It's the 3rd National DC Indigenous Cannabis Policy and Industry Summit, November 13th, 14th and 15th in DC. You can go to indigenouscannabis.org and the link is right on top of the website. This is for native and non-native. This is practitioners. This is interdisciplinary. This is from retail to consulting to regulation. We're packing it all into two and a half days. This will also be post-election, so there'll be a lot to talk about.
undefined: Yeah, well, hopefully we'll know who the president is by that time and we don't have to wait till January to figure it out.
undefined: Yeah, right. And either way, I mean, I mean, the ball's in our court, right? Like, we got to keep the cannabis ball moving in the right direction. So regardless, you know, we'll be getting shit done and connecting as we always do. And, you know, trying to advance, in my opinion, you know, a better solution for the earth, right? Like, we know this can provide wellness for our bodies, our minds. We know this can also heal the soil, and we're seeing what's happening in the climate right now. We're all living it. We're loving these long summers, right? But something's got to change, and I think this is a change-making event.
undefined: Absolutely. Well, I think our time's up because your taxi just got here.
undefined: My Uber's here, man. All right.
undefined: Well, safe travels back, bud. Appreciate it, Morris. We'll see you in Nova. All right. Sudden here in Lima, Peru with Witold Ciesiak from Poland from the Institute of Natural Fiber. How are you doing, Witold?
undefined: Yeah, I'm good. I'm good. I'm really excited to be here. This is my first time in Peru and first time in this part of the world with guys who are as much excited of industrial hemp as I am.
undefined: Yeah, it's been a very good gathering that they put together with people from around the world and throughout South America. My first time here, too.
undefined: Yeah, definitely, definitely. I've met very interesting people, and I think that these guys here in Peru, they're at the beginning of the journey, so they need our support. Definitely support of our institute, which has like 90 years experience right now in industrial hemp. And kind of our mission is to help new markets and development. So again, I'm really glad that I was invited to this event here in Lima. And I think that it's just the beginning of kind of cooperation with local guys.
undefined: Yeah, and we got to speak on a panel together for the first time. You've been to NOCO before and we've connected in Europe before at EHA. It was great to sit on a panel with you and Maxi Miliano and then Javier from Benzinga. So yeah, we had a cool little panel about the hemp supply chain.
undefined: Yeah, to be honest, that was my first time when I had a panel with such interesting people. Yeah, I think that we touched very important areas of global value chain related to industrial hemp. but from my perspective we should have more definitely more time because there were so many aspects to discuss about but I hope that we will leave it for the next virtual workshops or maybe next visit here in Lima.
undefined: Yeah, well, when you got 45 minutes and there's such an expansive topic, it's hard to touch on all the important aspects of it. It was good. The whole conference was good. I was pretty impressed with the lineup of people that they brought to the event.
undefined: Yeah, to be honest, I was surprised that they already have here guys who are in the industrial hem business. For example, as far as I remember, company WTS, they are focused on textiles made from natural fibers. And definitely I need to come back to the CEO of this company to talk about his experience, his potential and his needs. Because from my European perspective, I believe that processing straw is very important in long run for development industrial hemp sector. So that's first example. The second, I had and still have kind of feeling that they have good group who are in touch, let's say, with government. local government because again, that's my personal view. I think that especially at the beginning of development industrial hemp sector in new countries, I would suggest to be in strong relations with government and if it's doable, to get some funds for cooperation, for investment, and definitely for supporting relations, international relations, because from my experience, we still are, let's say, in global market. And this market is still undeveloped in general, globally. So we need to help each other. So it means to share our experience and our knowledge and help each other. So that's my point, which I would, let's say, rise if I would be asked how to start industrial hemp sector development in Peru.
undefined: Yeah, I think they're looking to Argentina because Argentina legalized, I think, last year, and the government committed like $106 million U.S. dollars to getting the HIP program off the ground there. And so I think that they, you You did a bunch of variety trials in different areas to kind of start seeing where things can happen regionally there in Argentina. Did you provide any genetics to Argentina? You did, right?
undefined: Yeah. Argentina is very important market for us right now. So coming back to history, I've been to Argentina first time in 2018 just to make kind of market research. And I was surprised and in some way disappointed because they started to do low, let's say, regulations from different way, how we do it, for example, in Europe and probably in States. Because first, they started to change law related to marijuana or medical marijuana. They didn't raise in these documents industrial hemp, which is called here Caniamo Industrial. But after a couple years, it was 2021, I had first contact with guys from industrial hemp solution companies. They are located in Argentina. and they predicted that law would be changed soon, and they asked us for cooperation. So, according to this meeting and our long-term, from today's perspective, cooperation, we supplied them with our genetics, and yes, you are right, they did many trials in many, let's say, locations in Argentina, and Uruguay and according to these trials our genetics perform well, so that's why we have continued our cooperation and we are sending to them sewing seed material and we also have signed with companies from Argentina and Uruguay, distribution agreements and licensing agreements. Just I think that it's very interesting information. It was last year, as far as I remember, we had a delegation of officials from Argentina. They visited us in Poland. It was kind of study tour. We tried to showed them how the value chain looks like. So I believe that it helped them to speed up low regulations changes and it helped them to understand that it's worse to deal with Kanyamu Industrial. Yeah, so that's our perspective. We will see what will happen. Definitely, from my perspective, Argentina and Uruguay are the most, let's say, developed so far in this part of the world. All of players are looking for Brazil because it's a huge market. But so far, as I know, it's not regulated, but probably in the upcoming year or years, They will change law regulations, so then we will be ready to jump there and to supply local farmers and processors with our sowing seed material, our genetics. But what else is interesting for us is the Polish HEM program. is to cover territories which are located near equator. Because our genetics, even if they are tailor-made, they are sensitive to photo-periods. So the closer to equator, our genetics perform not so good as we expect, as we have, for example, in Poland. So our new project is to cooperate with universities or governmental institutions located in countries near equator, for example Colombia or Ecuador when we are talking about South America, to breed new genetics by crossing or some other way and that's in my opinion, very interesting. And I believe that we will do that soon.
undefined: Well, there's going to be a lot of work needed to create genetics that are going to work well throughout South America, whether that's Peru, Colombia, Brazil, particularly on the industrial side, not necessarily on the cannabinoid and marijuana side, but definitely when it comes to fiber and grain.
undefined: Yeah, that's kind of challenge because in our reality to breed new genetics it takes like 10 years because we do it in an old way, let's say. But I would like to raise another thing because that's what we are facing all over the world. So, of course, we can supply as a Polish hemp program local stakeholders with sowing seed material, some knowledge, but definitely the most important part is to find off-takers. And then, fulfill the whole value chain, because processing industrial hemp is very difficult and challenging. So even if you want to go to process, let's say, industrial hemp for food products, then you need to find dedicated to this process processing lines. When you are thinking about textiles, it's definitely more complicated and I'm afraid that they don't have too many or even none processing lines for, let's call it, decortication or removing fiber from the straw. So that's the problem which we need to consider at the beginning and we need to help them in at least advising which line would be the most appropriate for this particular moment of their development? Correct.
undefined: As you know, it's definitely can get pretty spindy when it comes to bringing in some of those processing equipment. The decortication lines are in the millions of dollars, most often if it's a LaRoche or a Timifer, Tatham, all of this stuff that's coming from Europe where most of the better separation machines and processing. It's being built in Europe.
undefined: Yeah, you are right. We had good examples of such processing lines in states. But I'm afraid that they are not so effective as we expected. So unfortunately for the US, we should come back to ideas and products which we have in Europe. Right. So you mentioned about these companies, La Roche or Temafa. Yes, they definitely, they're expensive. But if we are thinking about long run in this business, We need to invest money and do it in the right way. So that's why, in my opinion, there should be a kind of share in such activity from the government to support them in some funds. Maybe not 100 percent, but let's say half of that. We can give a good example of such, let's say, project which was or is still in Sweden. There is a company which is called Ecolution. They've just created and built extremely new facility. where they are gonna produce fiber, hemp fiber of course, textile grade and insulation products and I would recommend to stakeholders from South America to try to arrange or to create a project which will be focused on the same idea because I truly believe that for example insulation products are something which we can utilize very easily even if it's let's say a little bit more expensive than regular fiberglass insulation, but we are talking about totally different products. And these products are much better when it comes to their characteristics than fiberglass products. And I think that such kind of products influence definitely better on the environment, which at the end of the day is also very important for us.
undefined: Totally agree. So, we got a couple minutes left. Final thoughts on the trip to Peru and the whole experience?
undefined: Well, fingers crossed. I hope that, you know, having these contacts in both sides will be, let's say, continued. It's just not a one-day visit or a one-time visit. I hope that it's just the beginning for the long-term cooperation between all, let's say, attendants and speakers, because as far as I know, we had here guys from US, from Europe probably only me, but from different countries, from South America. I've met in person finally a guy from Chile, and I think that it's also very interesting area for industrial hemp, maybe not only for processing, but as far as I understood the idea of agriculture activity in this country, they are more focused on sowing seed production than big-scale production because of the lack of the lands. So, from my perspective, that might be interesting to do multiplication of caniamo industrial in Chile. So, I think that they should compare their assets and their potentials, I mean different countries, and maybe share it to be, let's say, dedicated or to be professional in some areas, food, sewing seat production, insulation products, textiles, at the beginning, and then continue this process. Maybe that would work in this part of the world.
undefined: I think cooperation, collaboration is the only way to get to where we want to go because working against each other is not going to get us anywhere and working together will take us across the finish line at some point.
undefined: Yeah, definitely. We still are saying that the pie is huge. So there is no space for competition right now. There is definitely space for cooperation and synergy. So I see, maybe I'm too optimistic, I see also a big space for US guys here in this part of the world. First, it's much closer than to Europe, I mean to European, let's say, players. And I think that you are more open for investing in Kanyamo Industrial than guys from Europe. I raised this because one of the panel was dedicated to investment and financing project. So I understood that people from US, as I mentioned before, are more open. and understand it better than business angels or some banks even from Europe. So maybe there is also something which might help these guys in development.
undefined: Well, it's been awesome to hang with you and I'll probably see you at NOCO and definitely see you in Berlin for EHA.
undefined: Yeah, thank you very much. But at the end, I would like to add that I usually don't attend to HEMP Expo, but there is only one at NOCO. So my really appreciation to you, Maurice, that you have the best HEMP Expo worldwide. So thank you very much.
undefined: Well, thank you. I appreciate that, Vito. Thank you very much. Look forward to hanging with you in Poland.
undefined: Yeah, definitely, you should.
undefined: I'm sitting here post-event with Maximiliano Baranoff from Argentina via Spain. Now you're back in Spain, right bud?
undefined: Yes, Maurice, how are you? Yes, I'm back in Madrid after this amazing forum.
undefined: Yeah, well, since we had a hard time connecting for a time to record after the event because we were both all over the place we had to do it this way so this is this is the final wrap-up of the show between me and you yeah oh excellent yeah we squeezed the most of that i mean the because
undefined: You know, when we started communicating about the event, about how curated it was, it was for real. I mean, the audience, I mean, each participant has the ideal profile that you need in this kind of event to set the foundations of the industry, right? So that was amazing. And that was why we couldn't speak earlier.
undefined: Yeah, we both ended up after the event doing all kinds of meetings and so forth. That's what events like that are for, is to make a bunch of connections and connect with people that we might not have connected with before and those that we have connected with before catching up on things. So I thought it was really good.
undefined: Me too, Maurice. And comparing with other events, I don't want to compare it with specific events, but usually, you know, you try to focus, of course, in the amount of people. I mean, The greater, the better. But sometimes, you know, the smaller, the better. Specifically for the purposes that we went to to Peru, that is to settle, you know, the the the pillars of the industry. So it was the right. I will say that I dare to say that was the perfect, you know, or anything organizational wise was perfect.
undefined: It's nice to have lots of people depending on the event, but it's also nice to have a smaller amount with just the the right people. And that was what this event was. And Chris and Jill did a great job as well as, you know, the Futura Farms folks, Jose and Raul. They really got what they wanted.
undefined: 100% because at the stage that we are in general in South America, you do the same in the States. I mean, it's key to articulate with the public and private sector. It's key. And it was like that here, right? With the congressman, the one who wrote the law that is just about to be being approved. Then, you know, some players from the private sector, they will be the off takers of the HEM derivatives. So everything was just right.
undefined: Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited for Peru. I'm excited for South America. I'm excited to see these countries hopefully take a look at the U.S., Canada, Europe and realize the mistakes that we made and not make the same mistakes. That was one of the things that I really wanted to express to the congressman and the ministry of health guy that we sat down and talked to. And it's like, don't make these mistakes. So just keep it simple. And, um, and you can have a very exciting, flourishing industry in a fairly short amount of time, if you do it correctly.
undefined: Yeah, you know, we have an expression in Argentina that we said, like with Monday's newspaper, take action. And, you know, we already know what happened in Europe, in the States. And we are lucky to have that information because we can avoid those mistakes. Right. And I think that was the purpose of this closed doors meeting that we have with the congressman. And I really value your your role there and IHC role with Patrick, you know, and everybody together helping to to accelerate the process in these countries. Because, you know, it's not that we can play alone and it's better, more pie for us. I mean, people usually don't understand that, you know, joining players. I mean, you are not sharing slices of the pie. You are getting a bigger pie. So we need to create a globally can buy for everyone and especially for the end users because they are the ones who will benefit because of the hemp crop, right?
undefined: So true. So true. You guys in Argentina, you've been working at it for a while and new regulations just got published in the last week. You want to talk about that briefly as to what's been going on there and what you expect to happen in the coming year or two?
undefined: Yeah, Maurice, actually, where Peru is standing right now, we in Argentina, we're at the same point three years ago. So that's why I told the congressman, right? I mean, if you get this law approved, I mean, of course, it's a huge milestone. But just the same day that we have that meeting, I think was two or three days ago, Argentina published the, you know, the regulation after three years of getting the law approved. So, you know, it's not like you can It's not just a victory getting the law, but then you need to get the regulation. So it took us three years to get there, and it's important for them to learn about that, right? Because, for example, I don't know, the hemp agency, the agency who runs the hemp and cannabis industry goes under the Secretary of Production in Argentina, and they don't and they don't have anything to do with, you know, with the production on the field, you know, after harvesting, maybe after harvesting, when you start processing, but then all the permits that the farmers needs and everything, that secretary has nothing to do with that. And that takes, that makes the effort like double, right? So they putting all the, you know, the different steps across the value chain under the right, you know, institutions and secretaries and ministries, is the right way. And back to your main question, when we started, we started around four years ago, and we were focused, we are focused on transformation, right? I mean, both from the grains and the fibers. But we were forced to be involved upwaters in the genetics, right? Because there was no genetic development in South America. Actually, there was, and until the 70s, Argentina has a not huge, but a good size of a textile industry with linen and hemp. And then, you know, in the middle 70s, we had a dictatorship and they put the guys in jail. I mean, the industrial guys that were developing that in jail and then disappeared the land races that we have in Argentina. So we needed to start from the scratch. And we tried like around 30 different varieties for grains and fibers. in like 20 different locations across Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. And more than 5,000 micro plots to understand which variety perform. I mean, that was the pillar of the industry. So we were forced to be involved on the genetics as well. But our main goal is the transformation, right? I mean, we are not seeing the genetics as a business itself. I mean, we are giving the seeds, we are financing the seeds to the farmers as any other specialty works, right? In South America, I mean, we are used in that model, that business model with, I don't know, chia or mustard, you know. But for us, it was really important to secure the supply chain so we can sit with a huge of takers and start developing this, right? If you can secure the supply chain, you get to sit with McDonald's, with Unilever, you know, when the big companies that we need on our side to develop this crop because they have the commercial channels and they are the right partners for everybody in this industry.
undefined: Yeah, well, it's exciting that you guys have got to the point that you have now and all that R&D genetics development will hopefully pay dividends. Did you identify a handful of genetics that are going to work and are you working on propagating those so there's enough seed to plant?
undefined: Yeah, actually there was a few varieties that performed well, but the best ones that we found was for grain was Genola from the Polish Hemp Program. So we work a lot with them and Bialobrewski, you know, but the middle part of Argentina, you know, because Argentina has a template weather. And as you may know, I mean, the main development of hemp varieties were in Europe and now in the States, in Canada. So we share those kind of climate conditions. So that's why in general, French varieties perform well as well, but you know, Polish perform better. So that's why we license those varieties to start reproducing locally because it makes no sense to import the seeds because we have a huge ocean in the middle. And we needed to decrease the cost of the seeds for the farmer. So the profit for them are similar to soybean or corn that are the main traditional crops in Argentina. So now the profitability for the farmer is similar and they have the incentive to incorporate hemp into the crop rotation because usually a farmer in Argentina, a mid-sized farmer has a I don't know, their plots are around 500 hectares. So they can rotate the crops, right? So we did that work. I mean, our main milestone to achieve was that, was identify the right varieties, start reproducing locally and make the farmer to get money from this so they can pick hemp among other crops, right?
undefined: Right. Well, I'm sure that Vitold is happy to be licensed you a couple of good varieties.
undefined: Yeah yeah I mean and we are working a lot together and because actually we're licensed not only for Argentina but for Uruguay as well and we are trying to to develop a G2G program you know a government to government for example with Paraguay because northern Argentina and Paraguay and Brazil and so on going north are subtropical and tropical weathers and as you may know the European varieties don't perform well there so So we are developing a breeding program together with Chinese varieties because of the ones who adapt well there. So we need to work together in this. And fortunately, we are gathering together a team, an international team for this, because I don't want to exaggerate, but I think that, you know, South America has much to say in this industry and will have a huge role in the hemp industry globally.
undefined: No question about it. After spending time there and just looking at the amount of farmland that exists, and if you get the genetics right, and you guys haven't made a bunch of mistakes yet, I think that 10 years from now, South America could be the dominant player in the hemp industry, potentially.
undefined: Yeah, I believe so. I mean, it's a matter of time, but I mean, the outcome will be the same, will be that And I hope that in 20 years now, maybe 30, 20, before 2050, I think that hemp will be a main raw material. I mean, it won't be niche like now. People will hear about the hemp, such as plastics, you know, will be like similar.
undefined: Yeah, there's no question about it. Well, we're getting a bit short on time here. Any final thoughts that you want to share before we call it?
undefined: No, I think that what we are doing, I mean, what you are doing, that you have much more time than me involved in this industry. I mean, helping, you know, sharing knowledge, technology. And I think there is a lot of potential synergies among the States, Canada, Europe, countries that are developing hemp for such a long time in collaboration with South America, but not just collaborating, but thinking on the long run, I mean, doing business together, I think there are three different pillars where we can collaborate. With this, the breeding programs for subtropical and tropical weathers, I think that's key. Then, helping with technologies to develop off-takers, right? Because, for example, we are upwaters on the first industrial transformation, but then we need people that want to do blocks, to do plasters, to do sunglasses, or to do biocomposites, or do whatever. I mean, they want to incorporate the hemp in. We need to license technologies from Europe, the States, Canada, for developing the industry, so I think that we can collaborate in there as well. And then of course, as you know, I think there is a bottleneck, not for the grains, because you know South America has a huge edible oil a complex that we can take advantage of but but in terms of the fibers I think there is a bottleneck because there's no decortication line yet in South America and and the good ones are pretty expensive so I think that we can collaborate I mean with the main with local suppliers for example for the the conveyor belts or some basic stuff that you can find locally I mean in order to you know to lowering the costs and to get more processors in South America. So I think that in those three pillars, we can collaborate and make good business for European companies and American companies.
undefined: No question about it. There's a lot of opportunity to work together over the next several years and just moving everything in the right direction. So I completely agree. 100%. All right, man. Well, it's been great catching up with you. It was awesome to see you. I hope to see you at NOCO. Hope to see you in Berlin for EHA next year. And who knows? Other places. We're just getting this thing going.
undefined: I hope so. And sooner than that, Maurice, you are invited to come to South America. in December. I mean, Beetle will come. I mean, we will be visiting the plantations and our facilities. So whenever you want to come, you're more than welcome. And it was great to share with you these few days in Lima, Peru, sharing this amazing food and people and places. So it was great. Let's keep doing this. It's amazing.
undefined: Yeah. Yeah. We had some fun. It was it was some good times.
undefined: Yeah. Yeah, amazing. Amazing. It's a way that you know people and you build long-term relationships, right?
undefined: Yep. All right, man. Well, have a great day and we'll catch up again soon.
undefined: You too, Maurice. And safe travels, that you keep traveling.
undefined: All right, man. Take care. And that wraps up this special episode, the Peru Tapes, here at the Let's Talk Hemp Volume Up podcast. I want to give a big thanks to all the participants and organizations that made this event a great success, including the GCNC, Futura Farms, O2 Vape, World Textile Sourcing, STM, NIHC, Organical, Clever Leaves, Green Dispensary Marketing, and Pro Innovate. Thanks to all the guests for taking time to chat with me and provide their thoughts. Bo Whitney, Jill Redish, Charles Cutting It Up With Chuck Warner, Rob Pirro, Patrick Atagi, Jose Escalante, Catherine Moriera, Maximiliano Baranoff, and Vito Shasnek. It's inspiring to see how far the hemp industry has come, and I'm excited to see what lies ahead. Also, a heartfelt thanks to our Let's Talk Hemp show sponsor, Her Many Voices, where grassroots activism is driven by indigenous wisdom to protect all of Earth's children. Next stop for me will be in Washington, D.C., November 13th through the 15th, for the third annual National Indigenous Cannabis Policy Summit. hosted by the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association, headed up by my colleagues Rob Pirro and Mary Jane Oatman. After that, I'm headed back to Bangkok at the end of November for the third annual Asia International Hemp Expo. As always, if you want to learn more or stay connected, Head over to letstalkhimp.com or follow us on social media. We've got plenty of exciting episodes lined up, so make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening, and until next time, let's keep the conversation going and rock on.