Naturally Splendid and Crop to manufacture hemp products

Canadian biotechnology company Naturally Splendid Enterprises has signed a letter of intent (LoI) with Crop Infrastructure to develop and manufacture a line of branded hemp seed, hemp protein powder and hemp oil known as Hempire.

Naturally Splendid will be responsible for manufacturing a wide range of retail products under the agreement, with an initial focus on hemp seed, protein and oil.

The product line will be expanded to include cannabidiol (CBD) fortified products as and when regulations allow the sale and distribution of cannabis extract and cannabis-formulated products.

The arrangement will see Crop assume ownership of the product line and the products will be marketed and distributed via the company’s distribution network.

Crop Infrastructure CEO Michael Yorke said: “We are excited to be working with Naturally Splendid, who was an early mover in the Canadian hemp market.

“We believe in the nutritional spectrum and health benefits of hemp and adding a consumer goods vertical was a logical progression as consumer data shows strong trends in plant-based foods and nutritional products.

“We are very pleased to bring our Hempire brand to Canada, which will now be under license in three US states and collectively four countries worldwide.”

The two companies are currently carrying out tests on the existing flavours and formulations already created for the Hempire brand, which will include a number of products that are enhanced with NSP’s HempOmega.

HempOmega is a soluble powder that has been created to offer essential omega-3 and omega-6 fortifications for a wide variety of products and beverages.

It acts as an alternative omega fatty acid ingredient to fish oil.

Naturally Splendid president and director Craig Goodwin said: “We are pleased to be working with Crop to create quality white-labelled hemp products for the Hempire brand.

“Naturally Splendid and Crop are developing several new hemp-based formulations that will be enhanced with our patented HempOmega ingredient.”