Cornell University And Thai Leaf Collaborate To Design New Hemp And CBD Strains In Thailand

Thai Leaf Biotechnology, a private company in the hemp industry, and Cornell University will collaborate in the design and development of new hemp strains that are high in CBD and adapted to Thailand’s weather. The initiative seeks to “upgrade the Thai hemp market,” reported The Bangkok Post.

Regional Markets On Sight

Thai Leaf is working on three market segments: beverages, food supplements, and cosmetics. Yingyos Charubusapayon, CEO of Thai Leaf said the company plans to become “the leader of the Asian hemp-based pharmaceutical market,” reaching a market share of 10% in the future. Yingyos foresees a larger market beyond Thailand, within the country’s region.

Thailand has opened the door to free hemp trade and Yingyos is looking forward to dealing with Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam.

“If the government passes legislation in 2023 to support CBD derived from hemp (...) it will increase the likelihood of the Thai hemp market growing faster in the next three years," Yingyos said. He described Thai Leaf's business development as a “one-stop service model ready to develop the hemp market from upstream to downstream.”

"Thai Leaf is the only company in Asia that has collaborated with Cornell University, one of the top three American universities, which has intensively researched hemp strains and seeds for more than 30 years with government funding," Yingyos said. "The hemp seeds developed and imported by Thai Leaf are distinguished by a very high CBD value of 25-26% (...) This contrasts with hemp species grown in Thailand, (...) which have a low CBD content of just 4%. As a result, it is fiber-producing hemp that is better suited to clothing and textile than medical use.

"In Thailand, the value of production in the first year is estimated to be around 3.8-7.2 billion baht [~$110,961,898.18 - $194,183,321.82], especially if the government participates in building knowledge and (...) highlighting the benefits of hemp to the public sector," Yingyos said.

Thailand's hemp market is expected to grow by 7.2 billion baht this year, with Thai leaf accounting for a 10 percent share, Ying noted.

"The company has a five-year business plan (2022-2026) aimed at driving Thailand to become a regional leader in CBD-infused hemp products," reported Nation Thailand on August 16. "These include its ambition to become an Asean region medical hub generating enormous economic growth.

Chalerm Traill, Thai Leaf's president said hemp has high economic value as components of the plant can be developed into a variety of products, including food, medicine, textiles, and appliances. The global hemp-products market is expected to grow to $18.6 billion by 2027." 

Photo By Florian Wehde On Unsplash.