Hemp foods today in Canada started over 40 years ago with tofu in Mendocino County.
How did food become hemp’s first billion-dollar segment, for years the one with the most consumers, retailers, products, sales and profits driving the most acres?
The renewable consumable hemp segment with a total market near 100%, and legal globally?
Yes that one, and in only 30 years! It wasn’t happenstance or random, but rather the hard work of skilled food marketing professionals doing what they do best with a decent budget.
After pivoting from a successful 14-year soyfoods marketing career, in 1994 I started a movement by being the first to market sophisticated branded perishable foods made from hempseed to the masses, not only proving the viability of a new industry but changing society’s stigmas too. That revolution in food became hemp’s first billion-dollar industry and 90% of Canadian hemp. For decades it was the leading value-driver for hemp, globally.
Receiving the first 3 hemp industry awards for food innovation, I was the first food professional in hemp foods in North America and paved the way for those I inspired to follow. I went from buying tons of soya to tons of hempseed, not unexpected for a “leading innovator of 1986” who was #281 on the 1993 Inc. 500 and the grandfather of today’s hemp food industry.
The Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. was an unlikely honor: 1) an unemployable neurodivergent high school dropout; 2) selling a very-hard-to-scale product (perishable food); 3) namely “America’s most-hated food” (tofu) in the Reagan ’80s; 4) while also attending University full-time at night for five years studying Marketing; 5) in a “virtual” company outsourcing almost all operations; 6) started with only $400 with no loans or investors; and 7) with positive cashflow from Day One ensuring sustainability.
Back in 1986, trade magazine Food & Beverage Marketing wrote “In reviewing the product and market trends of 1986, FB&M has found that leaders are innovators. Which brings us to the “FB&M 10: Leading Innovators of the Year.” This select group was compiled from Product Initiatives’ most innovative companies for the first half of 1986. Product Initiatives evaluated these firms for innovation in formulation, packaging, technology, positioning and marketing.
“As Lawrence Graham, executive vice president for public affairs, National Food Processors Association states: “Companies that successfully enter into the arena of new product development will be the leaders in the marketplace of tomorrow.”
“Brightsong is a one note company with variations on a theme. This Petaluma, Calif.-based firm is staking its claim on the popularity of tofu, considered one of the hot growth categories for 1987. All of the products in Brightsong Food’s lineup are tofu based, ranging from Tofu Pumpkin Pie to the mozzarella-like Tofu-Rella.
“In fact, according to Richard Rose, Brightsong’s president, the firm is developing so many tofu product concepts it can’t manufacture all of them with its limited facilities. As a result, Rose says, “Brightsong is changing the nature of its business from a production-oriented company to a product development firm.” While still marketing its own product line, Brightsong is licensing the formulation of several tofu-based products. Through these efforts, he explains, Brightsong has been able to expand its business on an international basis– adding Japan, Australia and China to its roster.”
Read how it all went down in “From Rella Fella to Hemp Nut.” Coming soon…