Canadian hemp processor planting the seeds of superfood innovation
Canadian Packaging
Design & Innovation Food Safety Sustainability Design Hemp Yeah! Blueberry Hemp Yeah! Dark Chocolate Hemp Yeah! Honey & Oats Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods PTMKManitoba Harvest is the world’s largest manufacturer to grow, make and sell its own lone of hemp food products
Despite being one of the modern society’s most wrongly maligned plants, industrial help was actually one the world’s first plants to be spun into usable fabric by early humans 10,000 years ago, and today can be
refined into a plethora of useful commercial products such as paper, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, animal feeds, insulation, biofuel and food.
And thanks to a hearty new line of hemp-based granola mix developed by Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods, mainstream Canadian consumers can enjoy the natural ‘superfood’ goodness of shelled hemp seeds
as part of a healthy breakfast or nourishing one-the-go snacking.
Packaged in elegant resealable standup pouches designed by Austin, Tex.-based graphic design agency PTMK, the 283-gram packs of Hemp Yeah! Honey & Oats, Hemp Yeah! Blueberry and Hemp Yeah! Dark Chocolate granola blends offer a crunchy, chewy and tasty snack densely packed with protein and nutrients, including:
- Ten grams of plant-based, non-soy protein with 10 grams of sugar or less;
- A healthy helping of Omega 3, Omega 6, iron, zinc, fiber, magnesium and other essential nutrients in a 55-gram serving.
- High-quality, organic, non-GMO ingredients like shelled hemp seeds, quinoa, chia and natural sweeteners.
According to company founder Mike Fata, the hemp seed is an overlooked “nutritional powerhouse” that contains twice the protein, 10 times the amino acids, 25 per cent more Omega 3 and Omega 6, and 70 per cent more iron than chia or flax seed per 30-gram serving.
Although hemp comes from the same Cannabis Stevia plant species as its more notorious distant cousin marijuana, it contains only negligible traces of the psychoactive ingredient THC (less than 0.003 per cent), so there is no chance whatsoever of getting high from the product.
According to Fata, a long-time user of different hemp products for health and nutritional reasons, Manitoba Harvest is the world’s largest manufacturer to grow, make and sell its own lone of hemp food products.
“At Manitoba Harvest we take a seed-to-shelf approach,” he states.
“We are pat of an entire process that includes working with Canadian farmers on what hemp seeds get planted, to controlling how the products are manufactured, packaged and distributed in store.
“By manufacturing the highest-quality hemp foods, we aim to educate consumers on the nutritional and environmental benefits of hemp.”
Providing one-year product shelf-life, the Hemp Yeah! pouches incorporate a sturdy, user-friend PTC “press-to-close” releasable closures to keep the product fresh after opening.
“The resealable closure is important to us because it maintains our product freshness and integrity,” Fata states.
“Since more than 10 per cent of our product is hemp, and since we don’t use any preservatives, it’s important that we limit the amount of oxygen that goes into the bag to maintain the freshness.”
Fata notes he is very happy with PTMK designers for creating outstanding package design that incorporates a generous see-through window in the front panel of the pouch to let consumers examine the product up-close, along with the “different bright, bold colors that tell what flavor the product is to evaluate.”
Adds Fata: “Our consumer will also appreciate seeing the ingredients highlighted on the back panel to show why ingredients were chosen and what nutritional value they brought.”
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