Hemp
La Chanvrière, the French cooperative leading hemp processing in Europe
It works 11 months a year, 24 hours a day. This year, it made a profit of more than 25 million euros and is the European center for hemp processing. Straw, fibers and seeds found throughout Europe come from this cooperative in France, which is older than Portuguese democracy. La Chanvrière aggregate mmore than 2000 farmers and about 20.000 hectares. On the website of CannaReporter® Patreon A video was published showing the visit to the cooperative, with exclusive access for our patrons.
La Chanvrière, a cooperative dedicated exclusively to hemp for over 50 years, is the largest organisation in Europe when it comes to production and processing. This cooperative makes France the second largest producer of hemp in the world, absorbing the raw material from over 2000 farmers. Hemp is processed at a rate of 300 bales per day.
There are two lines dedicated to receiving bales of hemp 24 hours a day. The reader should not think that it is an easy task to report on the visit to this unique and singular operation. It is the dazzling impetus of its existence, the sounds, the smells and the dust that confirm to us that this is no ordinary place. We feel small for being next to the person largely responsible for maintaining this culture, this industry to this day.
See to believe
It’s no wonder that France is becoming isolated in the world of industrial hemp. This is easy to see as we watch the freighter ‘dumping’ two bales onto the feeding belts. It seems easy. All over Europe, solutions are being sought for decortication, which can be described as the Achilles heel of the sector. Decortication is, in practice, separating two components found in the stems of the plants – the fibre and the woody core known to those in the sector as shiv. It is precisely 25 minutes from Troyes where the fibres are separated from the stems of much of the French hemp.
The complexity of the steps that would follow, the scale and size of this factory, could only be understood through the successive explanations given by the person in charge of the factory’s operations, as he guided the crowd through the intricacies of the machine. We could feel those rolls of hemp making a circuit above our heads, until we climbed up to the decorticator feeding section. It is a raised platform between the two parallel production lines, where guillotines slice the bale of hemp, supervised from a control room in the center. The hospitality of the visit meant that it included a visit to the control room, an area that the visitors observed attentively. This is where everything is controlled.
We visited La Chanvrière during the World Hemp Forum in November 2024 in France
We got out and followed the guide, who continued to show us the raw material’s path, explaining the different stages and what happens on each side. If the noise made communication difficult, the size of the lines, which stretched for dozens of meters, also had an effect. But ahead, a section of the machine spit out balls of hair that were actually hemp fibers, sucked up as they fell into a complex network of tubes. Later, he would explain to us that the shiv was, at this stage of the transformation, sent for storage.
After passing through the large warehouse where the fiber cubes are piled up, the guide takes us to the warehouse and product processing area. La Chanvriere’s wide range of products was packaged and stored there, ready to be sent to all over Europe, and even beyond. When we leave the packaging area, the guide gives us a view of the 8 storage silos for the shiv and hemp dust. Giant structures that store the materials separated by size and color.
About La Chanvrière
La Chanvrière, founded in 1973, is one of the oldest and most respected hemp processing companies in Europe. Located in Bar-sur-Aube, France, the company was born out of the need to organize and structure hemp production in the region, which has a centuries-old tradition of growing this plant. From the beginning, La Chanvrière has distinguished itself through its innovative approach, establishing an integrated value chain involving local farmers, cutting-edge industrial processes and a commitment to sustainability. This model has enabled the company to not only transform hemp into high-quality fibers, but also into diversified products, such as seeds for food, biomaterials and components for the construction industry.
Over the decades, La Chanvrière has adapted to changes in the global market, investing in technology and research to improve transformation processes and expand the applications of hemp. In recent years, the company has led initiatives to reposition hemp as an essential raw material in the textile sector, responding to the growing demand for more sustainable solutions in fashion and industrial design. With over 50 years of history, La Chanvrière continues to be an example of how tradition and innovation can go hand in hand, promoting the revitalization of hemp as a valuable resource for the future of the circular economy.
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[Disclaimer: Please note that this text was originally written in Portuguese and is translated into English and other languages using an automatic translator. Some words may differ from the original and typos or errors may occur in other languages.]____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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I am one of the directors of CannaReporter, which I founded together with Laura Ramos. I am from the unique Island of Madeira, where I currently reside. While I was in Lisbon at FCUL studying Physical Engineering, I became involved in the national hemp and cannabis scene and participated in several associations, some of which I am still a member of. I follow the global industry and especially legislative advances regarding the different uses of cannabis.
I can be contacted by email at joao.costa@cannareporter.eu
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