Hemp - from zero to hero

There is no doubt that the cannabis industry is a very dynamically developing industry. According to Euromonitor forecasts, it will reach a global value of approximately USD 100 billion in the next decade. Globally, there is an uninterrupted wave of liberalization, fueled by growing acceptance and interest in cannabis products.

Despite little political commitment, everyone realizes that full commercialization would be economically beneficial. Hemp and marijuana are slowly becoming less taboo. Involved in the industry, myself included, are hopeful against adversity and marginal consumer awareness of the topic.

On the one hand, it is impossible to find an adult today who would not have heard the word "CBD", on the other - low social awareness of phytocannabinoids or the ECS system is worrying. For the industry to truly become mainstream, it will need to respond to the drivers of its expanding consumer base.

Cannabis businessmen need to fine-tune some product and quality management frameworks. They must ensure that cannabinoid products live up to their inherent promise of an offer that is tailored to our individual goals and improve our lives - sometimes to a small, sometimes to a great extent.

The industry must take into account sustainability and even elements of social justice in its proposals for customers. Not only because it is the right thing to do, but because in doing so, it will stand out from the consumer population increasingly concerned about the wider effects of mindless consumerism.

It will also be necessary to refine the pricing strategies: to make the products available and common, but at the same time, they should appreciate the producers' commitment and the quality of the product itself.

On the front of the retail market, casual Dutch coffee shops are a thing of the past, evolution requires the creation of even specialized mini-clinics with sales facilities. The product is very demanding and should be given more attention when sold than Coca Cola or carrots.

All studies even emphasize the - still simplified and primitive - nature of purchasing behaviour. In fact, all of us, who care about the development of the industry and social awareness, bear the responsibility and mission of communicating knowledge about the properties of cannabis and building a cannabis community, a community of environmentally educated and pro-social consumers.

In addition to the still visible, despite the adversities, media hype, the industry is slowly building its power, thanks to the sophistication of many interesting projects, evolving language and more and more interesting marketing activities. If we only add a package of system solutions within the framework of law, quality and purity of products and get rid of the cloak of "illegal" associations - we will shape a bright future for this industry, rediscovered today, but soon mature and drawing on centuries of history.