September 11th, 2020
Alex Khourdaji
How did Newell Sciences originate? How far has the organisation come since then?
Newell Sciences Inc. was founded in 2018 by Steven and John Newell of Windset Farms®, a multi-award winning, premium greenhouse grown vegetable producer in North America. The company was established as a dedicated cannabinoid business to enable us to focus our decades of cultivation experience to create a consistent, premium quality product for our global partners. During 2019 we harvested 640 acres of hemp, from our farm in Arizona, and processed into our range of wholesale offerings. We are extremely proud of the resulting product, in particular, with our broad spectrum non-detect THC distillate consistently testing above 90% CBD.
Newell Sciences has established itself as a fully integrated cannabinoid producer, what are the primary drivers to a successful supply chain in the industry?
Without any doubt the primary drivers of a successful supply chain in this industry are transparency and traceability from seed to shelf. During cultivation we engage in a rigourous programme of careful analytical monitoring and quality control. It is also of fundamental importance to ensure that, beyond creating comfort for the customer, we adhere to EU-GMP & EU-GDP standards covering transport, packaging and storage of our products. Whether that be the placing of our biomass into nitrogen-sealed containers ahead of extraction or environmentally controlled storage for our distillates and isolates in their finished form. This not only enables a wider reach, but also more crucially safeguards the quality, stability, and safety of the products being delivered.
With an increase in competition, how does Newell Sciences excel in having an advantage over competitors?
From a purely macroeconomic perspective, a key pillar of any successful industry is healthy competition aimed at achieving a fair market price for consumers and consistent supply to meet growing demand. Assuming strict regulatory compliance is being adhered to by all stakeholders across the value chain we are confident that competition can lead to comprehensive product safety and the long-term success of the market. From a commercial perspective, Newell Sciences has three main areas of competitive advantage that enable us to meet these challenges and further develop our leadership position in the industry. Our team has 25 years of unrivalled expertise in large-scale, high-tech agriculture, alongside continuing investments into research, development, and innovation, and immediate scalability of our operations. As mentioned, we harvested 640 acres of field-grown hemp during 2019, but have capacity at our farm to increase to up to 11,000 acres as required.
Strong partnerships are the key to success in any industry. What set of expertise do you offer to your partners to ensure a stable commercial arrangement?
We are a partnership minded business, always seeking to develop relationships founded on trust and where we can deliver value over the long-term. Apart from the areas already outlined in the previous responses, our proven leadership team and expertise empower our partners to rest assured they are in a safe pair of hands. Our scalable operations and customised approach to product development gives us great flexibility to meet changing or increased demand in a smooth and efficient manner. Our policy is to partner where we can and stand apart when we should.
Due to the ever-changing regulatory environment, how does Newell Sciences manage and adapt to overcome regulatory hurdles?
By having existing structures in place in our day-to-day operations and a dedicated compliance team we look at each market individually based on its requirements. Adapting to new or changing regulatory environments, such as Novel Foods, always presents a challenge. However, we have the resources and partners to be able to pivot and maintain full compliance of our products. We have developed our standard operating procedures based on decades of experience and all of our good practices covering agriculture, manufacturing, and distribution are constantly being monitored and improved to certify compliance across the various jurisdictions in which we operate.
From your point of view, what are the most exciting developments in the cannabinoid market?
We are witnessing a period of continued and, in my opinion, exponential innovation across the value chain beyond 2.0, that is very exciting. The continued discovery and understanding of the lesser known cannabinoids, and other constituents, for example the various terpenoids and phenylpropanoids, offer huge opportunity and diversity both in the production pathway and the end consumer product offering. It almost seems at this stage that the possibilities are endless. As primarily a raw material supplier we are focused on optimization of our processes, and new innovative forms of extraction are something we are watching closely. There is huge potential in the development of extraction techniques such as vacuum, ultrasonic and water vapour methods. Similarly, utilizing high-potency, odourless, tasteless, and fully-activated concentrates will be extremely beneficial for future product development. On CPG’s there is a lot of buzz right now around the beverage opportunity and how technologies, including nano-emulsification, can help that sector of the industry continue to gather momentum.
How does Newell Sciences’ slogan, Health From Hemp™, reflect the company’s attitude towards the beneficial properties of Hemp?
As an organization we have a deep foundational background and belief in the power of plants whether as a source of nourishment or providing other therapeutic remedies, in the case of hemp. We are constantly investing time and resources into growing our understanding of the biosynthesis and pharmacology of the phytocannabinoids and related chemical constituents. There exists an ever-increasing plethora of scientific literature going back to Dr Mechoulam in the 1960s, which cover the potential benefits of the various constituents, and perhaps most interestingly how they work together through the Entourage Effect. We are inspired by the significant progress over the last decade and look forward to playing our role in the continued journey of discovery into how we can improve our own Health from Hemp™.
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