WholeHemp's roots are deep – they stretch back to 1995 when we started our first hemp business. For well over 25 years, we have been involved in the Canadian hemp industry through our businesses, organizations we have started and support and a variety of research programs. We launched Pure Hemp rolling papers to the North American market back in 1997 and grew our first hemp crop in 1998.
In those early days we founded the Ontario Hemp Alliance which later merged with other provincial organizations into the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA). From 1999-2001 we were honoured to partner with Dr. Ernie Small of Agriculture Canada (the only cannabis researcher to be awarded the Order of Canada) on a three-year research project where we grew and analyzed 180 different international cannabis strains. That project led to the start of a hemp breeding program in 2000 with partner PhytoGene Resources and we currently have five varieties of hemp listed on Health Canada's List of Approved Cultivars.
In the intervening years we started researching CBD and realized that hemp was the ideal source of this amazing cannabinoid. With the CHTA we successfully lobbied the Federal Government to include hemp-based CBD in the new cannabis regulations and incorporated our latest cannabis venture ABIDE. ABIDE’s first foray into the legal cannabis space was the launch of WholeHemp, the first Canadian brand to focus solely on hemp based CBD products in early 2021.
One of our core beliefs at WholeHemp is to be stewards of the environment and promote the benefits of living in co-operation with the land. Growing hemp is environmentally friendly as hemp plants are naturally hardy and resistant to pests. All our Hemp is sun grown outdoors. Over 100,000 acres of hemp are grown annually across Canada, all outdoors without the extra costs (financial and environmental) of growing indoors or in a greenhouse.
Another environmental advantage is that all parts of the hemp plant can be used. Flowers are used for CBD, seeds are a nutritious health food and stalks can be used for their exceptionally strong natural fibre. All our products are grown and manufactured locally reducing our carbon footprint.
WholeHemp products are packaged in sustainable packaging – glass jars and zip pouches instead of plastic containers. Our hope for the future is that environmentally friendly options and practices become the norm instead of the alternative.
There are few plants that can boast as many uses and properties as hemp. One of the most remarkable is CBD. Hemp is Cannabis that contains less than 0.3% THC, but is naturally high in CBD (cannabidiol). WholeHemp products are full spectrum, whole plant CBD products which means that unlike products made with CBD isolates or distillates our products contain not only CBD but other trace cannabinoids and terpenes which together have a synergistic effect commonly known as the entourage effect. Interested in learning more?
Check out this article: https://projectcbd.org/science/the-plant-the-whole-plant-nothing-but-the-plant/.
We value the process that goes into perfecting a craft. There are no short cuts to learning by experience, with practice and dedication. From the beginning all WholeHemp products have been produced artisanally. All our hemp is craft grown locally by a select group of tremendously talented and hard-working hemp farmers. WholeHemp products are made exclusively with natural, botanical ingredients that you recognize when reading the labels. They are hand produced in small batches locally by us to ensure the highest standards are met. It's not about maximizing efficiencies and economies of scale, it's all about bringing the highest quality full spectrum CBD products directly to you.
To sum it all up, when you purchase WholeHemp products, you can buy with the confidence that you are getting the benefits of whole plant products and you are supporting environmentally friendly local famers and manufacturers with decades of knowledge and the strictest levels of quality.