Supplements company Jeuneora looks to hemp for next stage of growth

Meg Falconer-Robinson and Monique Kaminski (right), founders of Jeuneora. Photo / Supplied

Christchurch supplements company Jeuneora took a huge bet on hemp, long before legislation passed permitting the consumption of the plant.

The company bought more than one tonne of hemp protein from an Ashburton farm in July last year - everything it had - in the hope New Zealand would follow America, Canada and the United States in permitting the consumption of hemp.

Legilsation passed in November and by January it had products on the market.

Now, Jeuneora, which creates collagen protein powders and various oil products, hopes the superfood will steer it through its next phase of growth.

Jeuneora has experienced exponential growth in the past two years. Between its first and second year it experienced growth of 750 per cent. From last year until now its has experienced growth of 340 per cent.

It took the company two years to reach its first $1 million in sales, then six months more to reach its second $1m - not bad for a company that started as founder Monique Kaminski's side project.

Kaminski says updated legislation opens an exciting new industry for the New Zealand, which can easily cultivate the plant for multiple uses.

She says Jeuneora was set on having a hemp protein powder so it could service the plant-based part of the market who can not consume its marine collagen products.

"People really have embraced it [but] there's still a bit of education needed," she says. "We saw what was happening overseas and knew it was a great product. Our customers were wanting a plant-based product and so we selected hemp because its a new and exciting industry for New Zealand - we were keen to be involved from the start."

Last week Kaminski was in Singapore, exploring opportunities for export.

The company has plans to expand throughout Asia but will use Singapore as an initial testing ground."We don't want to spread ourselves too thin all at once. We'll try Singapore and see how it goes," she says.

"We'll go back again this year to decide which way we go in terms of retail."

The company currently exports to the UK and around 15 per cent of its sales are global, sent from the company's Christchurch distribution centre.

Jeuneora has used social media influencers and smart marketing to market collagen products which were traditionally seen for an older market to a younger demographic. In the past 18 months it has gone from sending out 100 orders a week to around 200 per day.

Broadcaster Paul Holmes' daughter Millier Elder-Holmes was the first social media influencer it approached about the products and now the company uses a range including TV presenter Amber Peebles and fitness blogger Renée Stewart.

Elder-Holmes holds a two per cent stake in Jeuneora, Companies Office records show.

Kaminski puts the company's fast growth partly down to booming health, beauty and wellness industries. "People are becoming more responsible for their own health and wellness and we're just catering to what people need as we grow. We listen to what they want and need which is exactly how the hemp range came about - it's a growing industry for a good reason."