Australian Primary Hemp raises capital to take advantage of Australia’s burgeoning hemp industry
Australian Primary Hemp Pty Ltd is raising capital to meet Australia’s demand for the newly legalised hemp industry.
Australian Primary Hemp (APH) is a fully vertically-integrated hemp business that oversees hemp seed importation and licensing, growing, seed dehulling and processing into seed oil, protein and fibre powders, that APH supplies to both the wholesale and retail marketplace, as part of a full paddock-to-plate supply chain.
The Geelong-based business was founded by two childhood friends, Charles Mann and James Hood, who grew up on 3rd and 5th generation sheep farms in Victoria’s Western District before boarding together at Geelong Grammar School.
After spending their 20s in the city, the pair returned to their faming roots in a bid to produce a new form of bioavailable protein, initially investigating the feasibility of farming crickets, but later deciding to plant hemp after researching the crop’s high level of plant protein, together with the other vast health benefits of hemp.
What started out as humble roots, converting a disused shed on the Mann family farm into a makeshift office, quickly grew to a large-scale processing plant that has since produced more than 500 tonnes of hemp seed products in just three short years. The tipping point for the business was when the pair convinced friends and family to back the importation of premium Swiss-German dehulling equipment, which was ordered in early 2017, well before the legalisation of hemp food products in Australia was passed – a bold punt that paid off, positioning APH as the only hemp company in Australia to hold such equipment at the time of legalisation.
The pair then set about converting Australia’s established hemp seed market in health food stores from cheap foreign imports that were labelled not for human consumption across to their Australian grown product offering the consumer a superior quality seed, together with value-added products including an Omega-3, 6 & 9 hemp seed oil, a pure protein powder to add to plant-based smoothies, a gut-health-focussed protein + fibre powder.
It’s a full family operation in Geelong, with Hood’s sister leading the retail sales and distribution, and Mann’s chemical engineer wife overseeing the licensing partnerships, although the biggest personality in the business is Hood’s mother, who is APH’s official brand ambassador, spruiking first-hand the benefits of hemp oil in treating her arthritis.
The pair keeps a pin board in their Geelong headquarters filled with letters from customers who have used their hemp oil to address an array of health issues, from arthritis to eczema, psoriasis to acne, which they use as a daily motivator to keep staff focussed on the goal of becoming Australia’s primary hemp wellness body.
The company is scheduled to list on Monday 30 September at $0.020 per ordinary share. Further information can be found at www.ausprimaryhemp.com.au or by visiting the ASX website.
