Dynamics of the market for hemp products used for industrial purposes in the USA

The findings for 2020 show that throughout the year, sales of hemp-based nutraceuticals grew 60% from $ 767 million in 2019 to $ 1.23 billion in 2020.  

In 2020, sales of cannabis food products across the country skyrocketed as consumers shunned inhaled uses of the plant's therapeutic properties during the COVID-19 pandemic in favor of more conservative uses. This surge in sales of hemp nutraceuticals is prompting food manufacturers to invest in research and development to bring new product lines to market.

The 2020 data shows that in only seven monitored states (California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon and Washington), sales of hemp-based nutraceuticals grew 60% during the year from $ 767 million in 2019. to $ 1.23 billion in 2020. This means that the growth of the market for food products made using therapeutically active constituents of hemp (leaves and flowers, as well as their derivatives) has surpassed the overall growth of the market for therapeutically active products made from the hemp plant, which amounted to about 54%. 

According to another consulting company, the total food market share also increased in the US market from 10.65% in 2019 to 11.07% in 2020. This kind of growth dynamics prompts the management of companies producing therapeutically active cannabis plants to invest resources in development new types of nutraceuticals, as well as various forms of their use.

According to food manufacturers using cannabis leaves and flowers, which have significant therapeutic properties, a number of factors are behind the increase in overall market share, in particular:

• consumers who regularly use hemp nutraceuticals, as well as new buyers who are just exploring this market, are determined by their preferences, which implies experimentation and the search for new foods with significant therapeutic effect that would suit their taste;

• people interested in purchasing hemp nutraceuticals avoid inhalation products and are looking for more discrete options for the ingestion of therapeutically active elements of hemp in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. 

In particular, according to Joe Byerne, CEO of hemp nutraceutical company Curaleaf, "We are seeing a constant market movement towards edible and non-inhalation forms of consumption of hemp flowers and leaves."