Living Harvest has a hit with Hempmilk

Tag : Soy Milk Powder

Drink a glass of hemp milk made by Living Harvest. Sit back, andwait.
Nothing happens.
Yes, the hemp milk is made from the hulled seeds of cannabissativa, the very plant featured in the 1936 cult classic "ReeferMadness." But these seeds are from industrial hemp, bred virtuallyfree of the THC that powers its disreputable cousin.
Rather, it's the seeds' nutritional cocktail -- including acomplete protein, vitamins and Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids -- thathelped propel the Northwest Portland company's sales to a projected$6 million this year -- double that of 2007. The numbers also speakto the product's migration into the mainstream -- a pointaccentuated by the fact that Fred Meyer carries it in about halfits 129 grocery stores.
Behind this growth is the near-religious enthusiasm -- andinnovative marketing tactics -- of the couple behind the company:Christina Volgyesi, 40, and her husband, Les Szabo, 45, who'vehelped Living Harvest snag a 29.4 percent share of the hemp-as-foodmarket. Their success also has drawn at least one national foodcompany into the hemp-milk game.
"This has been incredible," Volgyesi said recently at the company'sPearl District headquarters.
With packages of the company's line scattered on a conference roomtable, she offered samples: hulled hemp seeds -- which taste likesunflower seeds, only richer -- and vanilla, chocolate and"original" hemp milk -- smooth, nutty and light. Packs of hempprotein powder and a bottle of hemp oil -- a nutritional supplementthat can be used instead of flax or olive oil -- remained unopened.
Their biggest marketing hurdle, Volgyesi said, was the widespreadperception that hemp is attractive only to those drawn to itscountercultural symbolism. Overcoming that -- and a limitedmarketing budget -- forced her to draw deeply on skills she honedwhile promoting Coke, Pampers and other products in Eastern Europefor the global advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi.
So instead of advertising directly to consumers, she zeroed in onretailers and distributors, lugging cartons of hemp milk to as manytrade shows, conferences, coffeehouses and other venues as shecould muster. Her sales pitch was simple: Just taste it.
"When people try it, it's a slam-dunk," she said.
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