3 minute read
Sowing the seeds of something bigger
Caroline Spencer finds out how 40 million hemp seeds are going to put Jersey on the map
Jersey Hemp is about to branch out into a new market - selling hemp seeds around the world. In 2022, 5,000 plants will be grown for seed, generating up to 40 million seeds, which will be sold worldwide. It’s one of the projects being overseen by Bruce Casely, who was appointed as chief executive officer of Jersey Hemp in May 2021.
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‘Once our organic, high-strain seeds obtain UK certification, they will be available worldwide and the Jersey Hemp brand will begin to obtain global recognition,’ said Bruce. ‘Not only will it help raise the profile of our business, but also Jersey as a centre of excellence for hemp production and innovation. Seeds trade on the commercial market for anything from 17 cents to $1.50 per seed, so clearly it is an attractive proposition.
‘The seeds we produce will be unique – certified, organic, feminised, and a high CBD strain. Feminised seeds help ensure an optimal crop yield.’
Jersey Hemp is already established in the health and wellness market for CBD oils and other hemp seed products. “ There are
‘There are more than 120 identified cannabinoid compounds that come from the cannabis plant genus,’ Bruce said. ‘CBD is just one of them. It’s an important offering in these days of mental wellness.’
Jersey Hemp, which has been operational for five years now, already sells from its own website, and is now expanding to three online platforms: Amazon, eBay and The Hut Group, a relatively new shopfront for premium brands.
“We are the only
Bruce, who hails from Edinburgh, has been taken on to commercialise Jersey Hemp, with the ambition to float the business on the stock exchange at some point in the future.
With a background in investment banking as well as the vaping industry, he has already given the business a clear structure, developed social values, provided students with an insight into the hemp industry and raised the profile of the business, offering tours of their headquarters at Warwick Farm. Jersey Hemp also rents out land to another pioneering local growing business, the Jersey Tea Company.
With 38.25 vergées at Warwick Farm, as well as other holdings around the Island, Jersey Hemp is now certified organic by the Soil Association and employs 12 full-time staff as well as taking on seasonal employees.
‘We are the only company in the British Isles to be granted a licence to extract hemp flower and consequently the only truly British CBD oil brand. For us that’s important - to have full provenance and full traceability. We’re organic and British.’
Because it is so fast-growing, hemp also has some impressive credentials when it comes to carbon capture.
‘Think of hemp as a “superplant”,’ Bruce said. Hemp, being a fast-growing tall crop, has the potential to outperform the carbon sequestration ability of trees, if the soil conditions are right.
Jersey Hemp has been working closely with its subsidiary company, The Carbon Farm, to improve soil health and sequester carbon through industrial hemp cultivation. Hemp naturally regenerates soils for other crops and trees, Bruce explained. Once established, it grows with minimal water and requires no herbicides or pesticides. This makes hemp the perfect companion crop as it returns nutrients to the soil, helping to rejuvenate the land.
“The CBD
‘The CBD industry is rapidly expanding,’ Bruce said. ‘It’s becoming more mainstream. CBD is being used by sportspeople, for example, it’s quite big in rugby. It’s attracting a younger market and we are developing flavourings to make it appeal to different demographics.
‘We are what I’d call modern rustic, and we are in the top quartile of price and quality, because of traceability and provenance, and being organic and British.’
