India Hemp Organics, the medical cannabis and hemp health brand is a labour of love and compassion, co-founded by Loveena Sirohi and her husband Rohit Kamath. When you hear the word ‘cannabis’, many people have an alarm going off in their heads, connecting it with something that is often, illegally used for recreation. Hemp is, however, far off from this notion, which stems from a lack of awareness. How is establishing an organic, sustainable brand in this industry while setting on a path to make medical cannabis more accessible to the masses? Loveena Sirohi, in a conversation with Her Circle, revealed all about it.
“It started from a very, very personal space of healing. In 2017 I had met with a chronic road accident, which left my face practically unrecognisable,” Sirohi revealed. While she was on medications, she felt that it was taking a huge toll on her and Cannabidiol (CBD) oil seemed to offer a positive solution for pain relief. “We found a lot of global literature available around medical cannabis. Ironically, the first time I got to test it out was in the hospital. And from there on, everything changed,” Sirohi expressed. She revealed how she started healing better, without side effects with the help of CBD.
Indeed, it was a difficult phase for Sirohi, her husband and their loved ones. And experiencing that motivated them to make medical cannabis accessible to people, so they too can benefit from it.
The duo spent a lot of time researching and trying to understand the laws and the uses of the plant. They found out that while India hasn’t legalised cannabis resin and flowers, the use of seeds and leaves of the same plant is not prohibited.
“In 2020, just when the pandemic hit, we went live into the market, but we also understood that at that point, India was probably not ready to suddenly have a range of medical cannabis oils to be presented to it, because the category and the industry awareness was still coming into existence,” Sirohi pointed out. This is why they went live with a range of nutrition products first. “When we went live with the nutrition range of products, people were able to see how these are safe. They are rich in protein. They've got all amino acids, rich in fibre,” she added.
Today, India Hemp Organics’ products range across health, personal care, and nutrition. The brand has reached more than 20,000 customers and is expanding internationally. They have a board of doctors, who diagnose and advise on health ailments and offer solutions accordingly.
Sirohi believes that as a woman entrepreneur in an industry that hasn’t been very explored, it has several pros. She said that building a new category requires all stakeholders and brands in that space to work in a supportive system, to drive awareness of the need for a product type. “You have the support of everybody that is participating and everybody is trying to set standards that would help new people that join,” Sirohi explained.
“We in India, have conducive weather conditions as well as the farmer community…and I think we can well become like I said, the global leaders, and that's the goal. Of course, it's a long journey, but we're all working towards it,” Sirohi concluded.