Australia’s Ecofibre can probably look forward to a boost in sales of its hemp face masks in the USA after endorsement from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Love him or otherwise, Senator McConnell is big supporter of hemp and attended an event at Ecofibre’s recently opened U.S. headquarters in Kentucky on Monday.
“The coronavirus is not gone,” he said in somewhat of an understatement given the situation in the USA. “And in the meantime, I recommend a hemp mask as one of the best.”
From homegrown hemp masks to distilleries making hand sanitizer, Kentuckians are leading by example. We’re going to keep working together to beat this virus. pic.twitter.com/ll44Cdk9k5
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) August 24, 2020
The hemp mask is manufactured by Ecofibre’s Hemp Black. Launched in May this year, the Hemp Black Fusion face mask proved to be pretty popular, with the company selling 67,000 units during that month.
An interesting aspect of the mask is it doesn’t contain hemp fiber (hemp fibre masks are available from other companies), but hemp flower extract that is used for neutralising odours. The fibre used in the mask is a copper/polyester blend for the exterior and a blend of rPET and the hemp flower extract for the interior. rPET is recycled polyethylene terephthalate, or recycled PET. PET is used to make containers such as plastic beverage bottles; so it’s a good use of materials that may otherwise wind up in landfill.
Hemp Black focuses on innovative hemp-based textile and composite material products, a venture that was previously occurring in partnership with TexInnovate. Ecofibre announced earlier this week that its acquisition of TexInnovate, a portfolio of five businesses, is now complete.
“The acquisition completes our first strategic priority, and the team is now focused on completing integration and growing the combined business,” said Ecofibre CEO Eric Wang.
In other news from EcoFibre, the company released its annual report last week. It indicates revenue growth across all business lines of 42% and a full year profit after tax of $13.2m in FY20, up from $6.0m in FY19.
“We made substantial progress across the business in FY20, and I’d like to thank my fellow directors, our management team and staff for their hard work and the results they’ve delivered for shareholders,” said Ecofibre Chairman, Barry Lambert.
The report states the major investments required to establish Ecofibre’s three businesses, Ananda Health, Ananda Hemp and Hemp Black, are now largely complete.
