Hemp in a box

As an arable farmer, Mathieu works around 70 hectares. Of this, 27 hectares of grass is organic, which he sells to a neighbouring organic goat farmer; 8 hectares are dedicated to peas production and 16 hectares to grain. Mathieu is also a recognized straw supplier, selling certified straw bales to the construction sector.

With the decision to enter a new market with the Hemp in box brand, Mathieu devoted 10 ha of its land to hemp production (Cannabis Sativa).

The number of hectares for this culture can shift from year to year, depending on the hemp seed prices.

In the past, hemp was a common agricultural crop. It was mainly grown to make ship ropes. Mathieu Hendricks again engaged in the cultivation of hemp and came up with Hemp in a box, an ecological building system with hemp lime. Their building materials are based on hemp lime and can be used for new construction, renovation and insulation. Both for the professional and the do-it-yourself. The old hemp lime process was way too labour-intensive. The conventional operation requires around 3 hours to build 1 m² of building materials, the process created by Mathieu and Co. produces prefab materials and takes 1 week to build a complete house.

Hemp in a box is not a contractor or builder, but a supplier of natural building materials. The company needs to buy extra hemp shives from France and the Netherlands with no big difference in price from the one produced by Mathieu.

The company also applied for a patent for the production process of the lime hemp, as it is unique and much more efficient than the old known process. In the future, if the patent is granted, they aim to apply their process abroad and sell their product to make extra income.