Industrial hemp is legal in all 50 states and companies are working to get CBD, insulation, textiles, and biofuel made from it to the masses. These three companies hope their partnership will help connect the growers and buyers.
Vancouver-based blockchain application company Global Compliance Applications Corp. (APP:CSE; FUAPF:OTCQB; 2FA:FSA) is partnering with two other companies to offer affordable ways for growers to connect with customers in the burgeoning hemp industry.
GCAC’s Efixii app and blockchain allow those farmers to get feedback from buyers and offer them digital rewards in exchange.
Since 2018, hemp, a species of cannabis that contains only trace amounts of the mind-altering substance THC, has been legal in the United States. It’s used to make everything from CBD to animal bedding, insulation, textiles, and biofuel, and the market is set to expand eightfold over the next five years.
The herd of companies stampeding to become a part of the rush has thinned, leaving the stronger companies in control of the field, said Jim Higdon, co-founder of Cornbread Hemp and the author of “The Cornbread Mafia” about the biggest domestic marijuana syndicate in American history.
“It’s a really good opportunity for investment because the market is almost certain to grow,” Higdon said. “And the players that have growth capacity within that market are fewer than they were two years ago.”
“It’s a really good opportunity for investment because the market is almost certain to grow,” Higdon said. “And the players that have growth capacity within that market are fewer than they were two years ago.”
GCAC is partnering with ThingBlu Inc., a Washington state-based software-as-a-service agricultural solution, and B&M Products and Services LLP, an Indiana company that contracts with industrial hemp growers and processors.
The CBD market is expected to grow from US$2.42 billion in 2021 to US$15.66 billion by 2028, according to a report by The Insight Partners.
GCAC and ThingBlu provide the app and the business solutions, and B&M connects them with growers.
To use an example in another agricultural industry, a coffee grower using the app can have a direct relationship with the end consumer. Via a QR code, the grower can provide a story about the product that’s available to anyone with the app and a smartphone — where it was grown, its genetic makeup, and feedback from other consumers. The consumer can share feedback and get rewards from the grower, like a non-fungible token (NFT).
The program records these things along the way, each step from genetics to planting, from harvesting to distribution.
“That coffee grower now has a direct relation with the end consumer,” GCAC Chief Executive Officer Brad Moore told Streetwise Reports. “You’ve given small-to-medium-sized companies a marketing tool they’ve never had access to. You’ve connected them directly with consumers.”
The Catalyst
Markets are opening as attitudes toward cannabis continue to shift. U.S. President Joe Biden recently pardoned thousands of people charged with simple marijuana possession on the federal level.
And another non-psychoactive substance in hemp, cannabidiol (CBD), is being used for skin care, anxiety, seizures, and pain management. The CBD market is expected to grow from US$2.42 billion in 2021 to US$15.66 billion by 2028, according to a report by The Insight Partners.
“The growth of the CBD oil market is majorly attributed to the increasing Legalization of CBD oil-based products, rising awareness about the medicinal use of CBD-based products, and growing preference toward cannabis oil extraction,” the report said. “However, stringent government regulations and the high price of commercially available CBD oil products are hampering the market.”
Some are predicting that by 2030, there will be 9 million acres of land growing industrial hemp, and the global industrial hemp market could grow to as much as US$36 billion by 2026.
Connecting Through the Blockchain
The blockchain that Efixii works on is an electronic distributed ledger system where no one entity, like a bank, has control. Blockchains are best known for their role in cryptocurrency systems, but they can be used for any database — such as agricultural records and customer interactions.
GCAC launched Efixii in 2020 with its own blockchain. It has the ability to create NFTs.
Moore thinks many everyday electronic items will be consolidated into the blockchain eventually, like all your rewards programs for stores and the other physical cards you might have in your wallet or dangling from your keychain right now.
“I guarantee in five to seven years everybody will have a single sign-on,” Moore said. “It is a simpler experience.”
For hemp growers and their customers, it will enable them to connect directly, even when there are other middlemen involved in the transactions.
“As a person who grew up farming, I know agriculture runs on very tight margins,” said Kevin Gorman, the chief executive officer of ThingBlu. “With the industrial hemp market ramping up, ThingBlu’s SaaS (software as a service) software analysis of collected workflow and sensor data can play a huge part in a hemp farmer’s viability. On the blockchain, it’s unbeatable.”
Ownership and Share Structure
GCAC’s top shareholders include Chief Financial Officer and Director Alexander Helmel with 2.57% or 5.29 million shares, CEO Moore with 2.54% or 5.25 million shares, Hanan Gelbendorf with 0.81% or 1.67 million shares, and Director Jeffrey Hayzlett with 0.08% or 0.16 million shares.
The company has a market cap of CA$3.99 million, with 206.2 million shares outstanding, 193.9 million of them free-floating. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.075 and CA$0.02.
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Disclosures:
1) Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC. He or members of his household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. He or members of his household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.
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