Eric Hughes has worked in Canada's hemp industry since its modern beginnings. He founded Chi Hemp Industries in 1998, built it into a full hemp-food operation over the next sixteen years, and created one of the earliest hemp-seed protein bars. He writes for the Hemp Network from Victoria, British Columbia.
Eric Hughes founded Zima Enterprises Inc. in 1996 and, in May 1998, incorporated Chi Hemp Industries Inc. (CHII) in Victoria, British Columbia — one of the first companies to grow, process and sell hemp foods after Canada legalized industrial hemp cultivation that same year.
Over the following sixteen years he built CHII into a full hemp-food operation: contracted seed production, cold-pressed hemp oil, hulled hemp seed (hemp hearts), hemp protein and hemp flour, sold to retail and wholesale customers across Canada and the United States. Along the way he created the Zima Crisp, an early hemp-seed protein bar sold through health-food and natural-product stores.
His work went well beyond the warehouse. He served as President of the BC Industrial Hemp Growers' Association, and was among the industry stakeholders consulted on Canada's first Industrial Hemp Regulations in 1998. Much of that early, grassroots advocacy — speaking one-on-one with tens of thousands of people at events across the country — predates the indexed web.
Eric led Chi Hemp Industries until 2014; the company was later acquired by Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd. Today he writes and publishes practical, independent hemp information through the Hemp Network — the same plant, the same honesty about what it can and can't do, and more than twenty-five years of hands-on experience behind every page.
Experience & credentials
- Founder & President, Chi Hemp Industries Inc. (CHII), Victoria BC — 1998–2014
- Founder, Zima Enterprises Inc. (1996)
- Creator of the Zima Crisp hemp-seed protein bar
- Past President, BC Industrial Hemp Growers' Association
- Member, Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA) — and built its first website (2003)
- Consulted on Canada's first Industrial Hemp Regulations (1998)
- More than 25 years growing, processing and selling hemp foods
Areas of expertise
Writes for
Have a correction or a question about hemp? The contact page reaches the editorial team directly.