Paraguayan company exports South America’s first shipment of hemp foods to US

A company in Paraguay says it has shipped organic hempseed products to the United States, claiming to be the first Paraguayan and Latin American company to export foods derived from hemp to North America.

Healthy Grains S.A., a hemp production and consulting firm based in Luque, outside of the capital Asunción, announced the shipment of 150 kilograms of hempseed oil, 500 kilograms of hulled hempseed and 350 kilograms of hemp powder on Tuesday.

The company marked the occasion with an event at its Luque production facility attended Senator Fernando Silva Facetti, president of the Commission to Combat Drug Trafficking.

The products, all organic, were sold to a company in California, said Pablo Moreira, president of Paraguayan Industrial Hemp Chamber, which includes Healthy Grains.

The products were packed in a container alongside 18 tons of organic chia seed and are expected to arrive in the United States in mid-October, Moreira said.

Last year, Paraguay enacted legislation allowing families to cultivate up to 2 hectares (4.9 acres) of industrial hemp. Moreira estimated that around 300 hectares (741 acres) of hemp were grown in Paraguay this year, and that more will be planted this October.

“Our government is very focused on social impact, and industrial hemp production is being focused on small family farmers,” he said.