SIAL 2022: Better Hemp Company Nov 1, 2022
Better Hemp Company: Make the world better one spoon at a time!
Better Hemp Company produces high quality bulk hemp foods and ingredients as well as unique and delicious retail hemp food products. Their bulk foods include: Hemp Hearts, Hemp Oil, Hemp Protein and Hemp Butter. Their retail products include: organic and conventional Hemp Hearts, Hemp Heart Almond Butter, Hemp Heart Peanut Butter, with more to be launched over the coming months.
Hemp products are very trendy now. Better Hemp food made from homegrown hemp seed is very popular here in Canada and became also successful outside the country. Their products definitely fill a need in the vegetable protein niche, which is growing now very fast around the world, but more in North America. Their innovative and delicious products are also nutritious, vegan and rich in many vitamins and minerals essential for a healthy way of life.
“Hemp seeds are a nutritious and versatile food that are rich in protein, essential fatty acids, polyunsaturated fats and numerous vitamins and minerals, including iron, magnesium, manganese and potassium to name a few,” explains CEO Dan Kreklewich.
When Dan started his business in 2017, hemp was already a product planted by farmers in Manitoba, but the demand for hemp products was not as popular as it is nowadays. “Our primary business was to manufacturer bulk hemp but we began very fast to develop creative and unique retail products as well. We are answering the needs of people to get some delicious products with a real nutritious value. With the growing demand for vegan proteins, it brings us to develop better taste products with a good texture. That’s how our spreads (almond and peanut butter) began. Our goal it’s to make the world better with better nutritional food and a better taste !”
In addition to their tasteful peanut butter and almond spread, they working now to market a honey and hemp butter as well as a chocolate hemp butter. “Retail products are growing and we hope they will become our main business soon over the coming years.” says the CEO.
As he went to participate as an exhibitor at the recent SIAL Show in Montreal, with the WTC group association, we asked him a few questions to get his feedback from the show.
Interview with Dan Kreklewich
WTC: Was it your first time at SIAL?
Dan Kreklewich: Yes. We were scheduled to attend in 2020, but it was cancelled due to Covid-19, so we were very excited when we were able to attend this year.
WTC: What benefits did you expect from attending SIAL show in Montreal?
DK: Because it was the first SIAL trade show in Canada since the beginning of Covid-19, we expected attendance to be low, and we weren’t sure how the attendance would be.
We expected to meet some new potential customers, and to possibly meet some potential suppliers. But we had muted expectations because of Covid-19.
WTC: How did it go? Are you satisfied with how it went? Did you reach your targets?
DK: We thought it went very well and it exceeded our expectations. Attendance was higher than we expected, and we had many great discussions with potential customers as well as potential suppliers for new products.
WTC: Did you get some good/new leads ?
DK: We got many new leads, and are very hopeful that we can convert them into customers. If we convert a few of them into customers, we will consider the show to be a great success.
WTC: What challenges did you face at SIAL if any ?
DK: Sampling our Hemp Heart Almond Butter and Hemp Heart Peanut Butter is very important as we feel it is necessary to have people taste them and understand how delicious they are. We did not think we would be able to sample our product until shortly before the show. The show was a much bigger success because we were able to sample them for potential customers.
WTC: What would you like visitors to take away from your participation in the SIAL tradeshow?
DK: The number of attendees, and quality of potential leads are/were tremendous. We are eager to attend again in the future.
WTC: How successful do you think your business/products will be over the next 5 years? And did your presence at SIAL show helps you to prove you right in your “niche” products.
DK: We hope that our retail products, and in particular, our hemp heart almond butter and hemp heart peanut butter, and our upcoming hemp heart honey, will be sold in most grocery stores and health food stores in North America in the next 5 years. If those products are a success, our SIAL attendance will have been the first step in that direction.
WTC: How was your experience working with the WTC for this activity? Do you want to come back again for another SIAL Show ?
DK: Taking part with WTC was tremendous. They helped to organize it, looked after many details including the artwork and counter for our space, and made it affordable. We would not have been able to do this show without them. We definitely plan to return for future SIAL shows.
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