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Styrian start-up for CBD products sees debate as an opportunity

From the hemp plant to the finished product, the company "HEROSAN" in Lebring, southern Styria, supplies CBD products directly from its own factory. Currently, they primarily supply products for animals, but this could soon change.

The industrial hemp grown on 185.000 square meters of greenhouse space is processed into CBD products

This article originally appeared in the Kleine Zeitung.

By Robert Lenhard

From the outside, it's impossible to tell what lies behind the facade of the former factory building in the Lebring-St. Margarethen industrial area. Even the company logo above the entrance, bearing the inscription "HEROSAN," offers little clue. The penny is most likely to drop for pet owners. "HEROSAN healthcare gmbh," as the start-up is officially called, specializes in the production and sale of CBD products for animals.

The cannabidiol (CBD), extracted from homegrown hemp plants, is used, for example, in the production of insect-based animal feed and grooming products (oils, creams). These products are intended to improve the well-being of animals suffering from anxiety, stress, or pain. And all this without any intoxicating effects, as HEROSAN managing directors Conny Pint and Daniel Taurer emphasize: "CBD is not psychoactive. Intoxicating substances like THC must be extracted by us; this process is very strictly controlled both internally and externally." The couple came up with the idea of ​​developing special CBD products for animals out of their own need. Thanks to relevant professional experience in the veterinary field and self-acquired knowledge about hemp, they began product development in 2017. Two years later, they really took off with the Graz-based horticultural entrepreneur Günter Herneth (Hanfama GmbH) as a business partner.

Conny Pint & Daniel Taurer
CEOs HEROSAN healthcare

In its 185.000 square meters of greenhouses in Graz, organic industrial hemp is cultivated. From the end of February to the end of October, a total of around one million plants are cultivated and harvested in three cycles. The subsequent steps—from detoxification and CBD extraction to final processing—also take place on-site. The finished products are then transported to the headquarters in Lebring, from where they are distributed.

However, these products are not available on the open market. "We deliberately rely on experts such as veterinarians. They know best which product is most suitable for which animal and how it should be dosed," explains Taurer.

Due to steadily increasing demand, expansion is on the horizon. The still-small, human-focused CBD product line is also slated for expansion. The current debate surrounding the legalization of cannabis in Germany is being watched with great interest. Critics who fear an increase in abuse are countered by the two founders: "We believe it's better to distribute high-quality products under strictly controlled conditions than to have people buying inferior products on the black market."