Naturally Splendid Enterprises (NSP.V) has made a smart choice by manufacturing plant-based energy bites for an international, sports nutrition and healthy lifestyle company.
Having a diversified product portfolio to fall back on is never a bad option, especially with what’s been happening in cannabis over the past few months. Cannabis companies with one revenue stream are finding their revenues dive as the fallout from the cannabis bubble bursting begins to show itself. Now, even with the legalization and sale of edibles on the horizon, it’s unclear that anything’s going to change.
“While the Company acknowledges that the edibles opportunity presents significant growth and revenue potential, much of that industry has been challenged with finding viable economic models. Having a viable business opportunity outside the cannabis space, yet complimentary to that market, mitigates the challenges many cannabis companies are experiencing while still positioning NSE for an industry that is expected to grow both in Canada and abroad,” said Craig Goodwin, chief executive officer of Naturally Splendid.
Naturally Splendid is ostensibly a hemp company. They have expanded their expertise beyond nutrient packed hemp staples like hemp seed hearts, proteins and oils, which they rebranded as NATERA in 2014. Now they offer a wider range of hemp formulations including sports formulations as well as bio-technology advanced products like HempOmega.
Splendid’s new client is an internationally reaching company with annual sales over CAD$100 million from their 15,000 retail stores, and e-commerce platform. The company has 16 experience in the plant-based natural health and performance products industry. They are a high-growth, natural health food and supplement company on Profit 100 list of fastest growing companies for the past five years. They will be working together with Naturally Splendid to manufacture their plant-based energy bite at the latter’s Safe Quality Food Level 2 certified facility in Pitt Meadows, BC. This line is expected to generate revenues to NSE in excess of $1,000,000 Canadian annually.
The global industrial hemp market size is expected to reach USD $10.6 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. and the market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 14.0%.
The benefits of hemp
The nutritional content of hemp is linked to a number of potential health benefits.
Hemp is a complete protein, containing all nine amino acids required, but lacking the phyto-component found in other plant-based sources that inhibit absorption. If that wasn’t enough on its own, it’s also a safe and healthy option for the vegan or vegetarian crowd, or anyone else looking to avoid fish or eggs, in that it is a plant based source of concentrated omega-3 fatty acids.
The acids, however, are alpha-linolenic acids (ALA), which are poorly converted to DHA and EPA in the body. Acids required formulated brain, skin, eyes and blood pressure and circulation respectively. But despite this inefficient conversion, hemp is still one of the richest sources of ALA, and represents a good source of healthy fats.
Hemp is also great for the planet. It grows anywhere without extensive use of fertilizer or pesticides, and is considered to be one of the most sustainable and ethical crops on the planet. It’s beneficial to both the soil and the atmosphere, and possesses a series of wide uses, ranging from a substitute for livestock as a less expensive protein source, and trees as an alternative source of raw material for wood and paper products.
—Joseph Morton
