How green is the Green Mark? The green heart of Austria is known for its diverse agricultural land and agricultural products, especially pumpkin seeds. But can Styria also do hemp? We were out and about looking and asking what was going on.
Hemp in Styria - not a marginal phenomenon
If you take a walk through Graz's old town, you will find CBD shops, hemp or head shops and hemp vending machines. Grow shops like Baumhaus Graz can also be found not far from the center. The impression that Austria's second largest city has jumped on the “hemp bandwagon” is not misleading. Less visible, but still present, are the cultivation fields for industrial hemp in Styria . Behind the doors of huge greenhouses, thousands of plants grow and mature in the best conditions. More on that later.
Interview with Bernhard Pirker from BHG Greenfield GmbH
There is a Greefield sales location at one of the best addresses in Graz, on Sporgasse. Under the store label “ Hemptheke ” you will find a high-quality range of CBD and hemp products. The Leoben-based company has specialized in the development of CBD oils, cosmetics and dietary supplements since 2016. As a franchisor, you offer a concept that can be described as a specialist drugstore with hemp specialization . Of the around 2,500 products in the range, the main ones are Greenfeld oils, aromatic flowers and Cayoba smoke distillates - especially those for pain. Thanks to the self-developed sports CBD oils – activation and regeneration – even professional athletes from a wide variety of sports come to the Hemptheke. The products manufactured in Leoben are certifiedorganic andvegan . Mr. Pirker is primarily concerned with “honest” products . The naturalness of the flowers from Austria, for example, is a key concern for him. Especially when it comes to the topic of “CBD content”, it becomes clear that there are no tricks involved. The flowers with CBD content of 3 - 6% do not contain any additives that unnaturally increase the CBD content.
Is Styria fit for the future when it comes to hemp?
Worth mentioning are the numerous companies from Styria that work with hemp and have recognized the enormous benefits and future potential of the plant. Greenfield is just one example. Hanfkatze, a company from Hart near Graz, also relies on Styrian hemp and offers sustainable hemp and CBD products in its vending machines located throughout Austria. The partner for this success story is Hanfama, which operates one of the largest and most modern hemp production facilities in Europe - in the middle of Styria.
Aside from the producers and hemp shops in Styria, which together make a motivated impression and have discovered the future potential of hemp for themselves, there are also dark sides. In particular, arbitrariness from the authorities and excessive police motivation seem to be a problem in Styria. Arrests during the basically legal sale of young plants, strict authorities and bureaucratic mills that grind very slowly - the feedback could be better.
It remains to be seen whether Styria, with its fertile soil and enormous potential for hemp cultivation, is suitable as a location for companies in the hemp industry. In any case, the next step is for politicians to put a stop to official arbitrariness through legal framework conditions.
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