The Buzz about Hemp at the Expo West
by Ron Alcalay, hemperdasher, vitalhemp.com
OK, so it's not just the hemp building materials and hemp car applications that are exciting people about the real benefits of industrial hemp.. The people and companies at the Natural Products Expo love hemp more than ever. Of course, some countries and companies (Canada, Nutiva) have long been vital players in the future of the most-useful (and profitable) agricultural crop.
So what's different this year? While vital hemp held down the root of the hall with our hemp clothing and accessories booth at the far end, one didn't have to go far to find hemp thriving in other places.
hempette
A few rows over, Ziggy Marley debuted his Hemp Rules™, organic roasted and flavored hemp seeds that contain no THC and serve as a most excellent source of easily-digestible protein and Omega fatty acids. While the sweet smell of hemp's cousin may have been present at Ziggy's concert Saturday night, so was his message about industrial hemp, projected all night on the wall of the great hall as his music soothed our souls and animated our show-worn bodies.
revelers get the message
Back in the vital booth, we had innumerable non-hemp related visitors interested in putting their logos on our superior, comfortable hemp clothing. Ben from Big Tree Farms bought three hemp t-shirts to keep him cool in Indonesia. Our new friend from Lifefactory bought a hemp button-down to style the streets of San Francisco. The Lundberg Rice crew and the folks at Frey Winery all want hemp apparel for their family-owned companies. Why? Because they understand what the natural products industry and many in America have known for decades and have until now been too timid to say: that hemp is the best resource for so many things, and whether cotton, timber or oil interests like it or not, hemp is here to stay!
Beyond the community that forms and catalyzes each year, what I love most about Expo West is the innovation. Like mad organic scientists, we come with our new inventions--uncanny mixes that revitalize a category, like hemp and chocolate or goji berries and chocolate or pretty much anything and chocolate!
--And then you're shaking the hand of the inventor (or perhaps the Director of Marketing) and letting them know how good it tastes, or they're letting you know how good it works, and if they're humble, like the guy who owns the bamboo-encased water bottle company, they'll even tell you a weakness. In this case, how some people don't love the plastic tops…. And then I'm suggesting the hemp bioplastic alternative (like Audi, BMW and Mercedes use to replace the petroleum-based plastic interior body panels of their cars), and the guy's excited, envisioning an even more sustainable product for next year and writing it all down….
And then, that night, at dinner, an old friend tells us he heard a Whole Foods Buyer say that hemp's the new thing, and I laugh a little inside, because as well all know, it's been the new thing for about six thousand years…but I'm happy to hear it, because I've got this new style of hemp yoga pants that we just designed….
Ron Alcalay
Hemperdasher
vitalhemp
vital hemp.com
store: 310.450.2260
