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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 in southern Styria delivers CBD products from its own hand. Currently mainly for animals, but that could change soon.

The commercial hemp grown on 185,000 square metres of glasshouse space is processed into CBD products

ThisArticle was originally published in the Kleine Zeitung

by Robert Lenhard

From the outside, it is not immediately obvious what is hidden behind the façade of the former factory hall in the industrial quarter of Lebring-St. Margarethen. Even the company logo above the entrance emblazoned with the inscription “HEROSAN” provides little information. Pet owners are the ones who are most likely to know. HEROSAN healthcare gmbh”, as the start-up is called in full, has specialised in the production and trade of CBD products for animals.

The cannabidiol obtained from home-grown hemp plants is used, for example, in the production of insect-based animal feed and grooming products (oils, creams). Their use is supposed to contribute to increasing the well-being of animals suffering from anxiety and stress or pain. And it does so without any intoxicating effect, as HEROSAN managing directors Conny Pint and Daniel Taurer emphasise: “CBD is not psychoactive. Intoxicating substances like THC have to be extracted by us, which is very strictly controlled internally and externally.” The idea to develop special CBD products for animals came from the couple’s own needs. Thanks to relevant professional experience in the veterinary field and self-acquired knowledge about hemp, the two began product development in 2017. Two years later, they really took off with the Graz-based horticulturalist Günter Herneth (Hanfama GmbH) as their business partner.

Conny Pint & Daniel Taurer
CEOs HEROSAN healthcare

In his glass houses in Graz, 185,000 square metres are used for the cultivation of organic hemp. 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 further steps – from de-toxification and CBD extraction to final processing – also take place on site. Afterwards, the finished products are sent to the headquarters in Lebring, from where distribution takes place.

However, these are not available freely in stores. “We intentionally rely on experts such as veterinarians. They know best which product is most suitable for which animal and how to dose it,” explains Taurer.

Due to the steadily increasing popularity, all signs are pointing towards expansion. There are also plans to expand the still small humane line of CBD products. The current debate on the legalisation of cannabis in Germany is being watched with excitement. Critical voices that fear an increase in abuse are countered by them: “We believe it is better to give away high quality products under strictly controlled conditions than people pick up low-quality stuff on the black market.”