Ecuador’s hemp sector is projected to approach or surpass $20 million in 2026 as companies move beyond raw biomass into chocolates, cosmetics, supplements, veterinary products and other finished goods. With more than 700 companies operating across the supply chain, the industry is now looking to capture more value domestically while expanding finished-product exports into international markets.

When people talk about the hemp industry, it can be hard to picture what that actually means beyond a field of crops. In Ecuador, the answer is starting to show up in very tangible products: chocolates, gummies, herbal infusions, craft beer, kombucha, creams, serums, oils and pet products are all part of an increasingly diverse market for non-psychoactive cannabis—meaning cannabis that does not get you high and contains very low levels of THC.

That shift from raw plant material to finished goods is at the heart of a sector that, according to figures provided by industry representatives, grew from roughly $10 million in revenue in 2024 to $15 million in 2025 and is projected to approach or surpass $20 million in 2026, according to El Universo.

The ecosystem now includes more than 700 companies involved in everything from seeds and cultivation to processing, laboratories, retail and finished-product manufacturing.

But that number tells only part of the story. One of the industry’s biggest bets is moving beyond hemp as biomass or raw material and capturing more value by turning it into finished products inside Ecuador.

From Hemp to Chocolate: The Money’s in Finished Products

Ecuador’s Cannabis, Industrial and Medicinal Hemp Industries Cluster brings together roughly 30 small and midsize companies, with goals that include strengthening the production chain and developing finished goods rather than biomass alone.

That strategy is already visible on store shelves and in product catalogs. Forbes Ecuador identified chocolates, gummies, teas, herbal infusions, craft beer, kombucha, ointments, creams, oils, flower, anti-aging products, balms, lubricants, probiotics, prebiotics and oils for pets already on the market.

One company that helps illustrate that range is CBD Solutions, a family business that began taking shape in 2020 and later developed its own small lab as it moved from artisanal production toward manufacturing under more formal standards. Its portfolio includes sublingual oils, creams, ointments, lip balms, chocolates, craft beer, kombucha, herbal infusions, gummies, coffee with CBD kief, extract cartridges and flower.

Hemp Ecuador Labs represents another part of the production chain: research and formulation. The company has operated since 2021 and, according to Forbes, has developed close to 200 products across its own projects and work for third parties, while offering around 45 products under its own brands. Its manager, Eduardo Monge, said bringing a cosmetic or supplement to market can take roughly six months of research, formulation, testing and analysis.

Mayu Ecuador, meanwhile, sells supplements, oils, infusions, chocolates, gummies, creams and a cosmetic serum, along with products for the veterinary market. The company distributes its lines through more than 100 locations nationwide and also works with two compounding pharmacies in Quito and Cuenca.

As far back as 2021, data from Ecuador’s National Agency for Health Regulation, Control and Surveillance, known as ARCSA, showed that 144 CBD products had been authorized for sale in the country, with 95 of them in the cosmetics category.

Among the examples at the time was Laboratorios Beautik, which had developed a CBD hair-care line including shampoo, conditioner, leave-in cream and a hair mask.

What has changed is the scale. Industry sources now point to more than 2,000 products with health notifications or registrations, while other recent counts cite more than 2,500 products registered with ARCSA and more than 50 types of veterinary products registered with Agrocalidad.

Ecuador Has Drawn a Clear Line Between Psychoactive and Non-Psychoactive Cannabis

Ecuador’s growth is taking place within a defined regulatory boundary separating this industry from debates over psychoactive cannabis and adult use. In the country, non-psychoactive cannabis—containing less than 1% THC by dry weight—was removed from the country’s controlled-substances framework and placed under agricultural regulation.

For processed foods and supplements, the rules are even more specific. Resolution ARCSA-DE-2022-014-AKRG allows parts of non-psychoactive cannabis, hemp, or their derivatives to be used as ingredients, but requires the finished product to contain less than 0.3% THC.

Companies seeking health notification must submit testing showing that concentration, along with analyses for heavy metals and pesticides. The same regulation prohibits the use of psychoactive cannabis or its derivatives in those foods and supplements, as well as THC concentrations of 0.3% or higher.

That framework helps explain why the recent shelving of a broader cannabis proposal did not halt this industry. The bill shelved in August addressed issues including adult use, home cultivation and THC-containing products, while the non-psychoactive segment has been operating under its own regulations since 2020.

This also puts another figure highlighted by the industry Cluster into context. According to its president, Lizbeth Fajardo, no health alerts have been reported in connection with the sale of registered products in this market.

The Next Step Is About Much More Than Exporting Biomass

Ecuador’s industry already exports raw material and biomass to other markets, including the United States, Switzerland and Germany, according to sector representatives. The next challenge is increasing exports of finished products, allowing more of the formulation work, technical know-how, intellectual property and commercial value to remain in Ecuador.

Hemp Ecuador Labs, for example, has already tested products in Colombia, Paraguay and the United States and is now working toward meeting the volumes required by those markets. 

Mayu, meanwhile, is working to enter the markets of the United States, Spain, Iceland, France and Costa Rica. One of its CBD chocolates was selected as a semifinalist in the II Ecuadorian Cacao Innovation Award, earning the company the opportunity to present it at the Salon du Chocolat in Paris.

That example captures where the industry wants to go. Ecuador can produce flower and biomass, but the business strategy behind that projected $20 million market goes much further: turning raw material into something recognizable, regulated, and marketable, whether that means a gummy, a cosmetic, or a veterinary product.

In that sense, the clearest way to understand what Ecuador’s “hemp industry” looks like today may be to stop looking only at the plant and start looking at everything companies are making from it.

Cover photo created with AI.

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Illinois officials have proposed changing the state’s cannabis cultivation rules in a major policy reversal to allow for outdoor grows, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Under the proposed rule change, outdoor cannabis flower would only be allowed to be used for extraction purposes — cannabis flower products would remain indoor-only.

Previously, the Illinois Department of Agriculture said the state’s requirement that cannabis needs to be grown in an “enclosed, locked” facility prohibited outdoor cultivation. But the agency is changing its tune following multiple legal challenges from licensed cultivators.

The new rule would allow licensed operators to grow outside of their existing facilities, although outdoor crops would need to be sectioned off with a chain-link fence and additional security measures.

Scott Redman, founder of the Illinois Independent Craft Growers Association, told the Tribune that the change would be a “game changer” for small growers.

“For those operating, it allows a faster and more economical route to expanding to the full (state limit of) 14,000-square-foot canopy. For the projects still in design, it can mean that one need not spend millions on lighting and HVAC (heating, ventilation and cooling) if it is outside the budget … This is a significant step forward for the industry as far as I am concerned.” — Redman, via the Tribune

In Illinois, only registered medical cannabis patients can grow their own cannabis at home.

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A powerhouse partnership is taking shape in California’s Coachella Valley, where cannabis operator Green Horizons has signed a five-year master service agreement with FOHSE, a leader in high-performance cultivation lighting and technology. The strategic alliance signals a major step forward for scalable cannabis production, merging advanced engineering with a vision for industry-leading efficiency.

Under the agreement, FOHSE will become the exclusive lighting and technology provider for Green Horizons’ sprawling one-million-square-foot cannabis campus in Coachella. The deal kicks off with installation at the company’s 101,787-square-foot Phase I cultivation facility, where perimeter and under-canopy lighting will be implemented in Q3 2025.

Lighting the Way Forward

FOHSE—short for Future of Horticultural Science + Engineering—has earned a global reputation for innovation in LED technology tailored specifically for cannabis. With this new partnership, the company solidifies its role as a technology-first provider in a sector increasingly driven by precision and scale.

“We are very excited about our agreement with Green Horizons and being able to work so closely with them on the cultivation side,” said Ben Arnet, Co-Founder and President of FOHSE. “Our main goal is to increase yields, decrease cost per pound, and introduce more efficient technology specifically designed for cannabis cultivation.”

That technology is already being put to use. The current deployment at Green Horizons’ Phase I facility will help optimize growing conditions and drive operational efficiency, setting the stage for what both companies see as a transformative evolution in cannabis agriculture.

An Enterprise Vision Beyond the Plant

While plenty of lighting companies sought a piece of Green Horizons’ attention following the success of its Phase I rollout, FOHSE distinguished itself with its long-term, systems-based approach to cultivation.

“FOHSE is more than a lighting company. They are a technology company,” said Michael Meade, Co-Founder of Green Horizons. “Los and I see Green Horizons the same way. We’re elated at the partnership and the innovation to come.”

For Green Horizons CEO Carlos “Los” Arias, the partnership is about more than infrastructure—it’s a blueprint for the cannabis industry’s future. “Brett, Ben, and the entire FOHSE team are dream partners,” Arias said. “They have a global vision and understand what creates enterprise value beyond merely producing flower and selling it. This is a moment for the industry and we’re ready to rock this.”

Looking Ahead to “Black Label” Breakthroughs

With Phase I lighting installation underway, the partnership will expand in 2026 to Green Horizons’ Phase II facility—a high-tech “black label” greenhouse designed from the ground up. The new build will incorporate FOHSE’s next-gen lighting fixtures and Green Horizons’ proprietary evaporative cooling systems, aiming to achieve indoor-quality cannabis at a disruptive cost model.

This convergence of LED precision and climate control will further blur the lines between greenhouse and indoor cultivation, a critical advancement in a market increasingly focused on sustainability and ROI.

Scaling with Purpose

Green Horizons’ Coachella campus is among the most ambitious cultivation projects in North America, a purpose-built complex designed to address the growing demand for high-quality cannabis at scale. With an eye on compliance, environmental stewardship, and technological adoption, the company is crafting a model that could set the tone for the next decade of cannabis cultivation.

Meanwhile, FOHSE continues to dominate the horticultural lighting space, supplying some of the largest licensed cultivators in the world. The company’s emphasis on tailored engineering, energy efficiency, and performance-based solutions makes it a natural fit for operators seeking to scale responsibly.

As the industry braces for further consolidation and increased competition, the Green Horizons-FOHSE partnership offers a case study in what the future of cannabis production may look like: smart, efficient, and built to scale.

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At CannMed 2025, our conversation with Michael “Big Mike” Straumietis of Advanced Nutrients opened with laughter and camaraderie. He was fresh off a transformation—“Lost 20 pounds,” he noted casually—but it was his scientific passion that shone. “We believe in science. Science reveals the truth, and this is the brain trust of cannabis,” he said, underscoring why Advanced Nutrients continues to sponsor the event year after year as a forum for serious research and innovation.

Big Mike’s eyes lit up when he spoke of genetics seminars and new discoveries. His team—people like Carl Rabbit and Michael Peterson—are mining the cannabis genome for traits lost through feminization. “Bring them back … We’ve been discriminated against,” he quipped about male plants, spotlighting how ancient male genetics are being reintegrated to reclaim diversity and resilience in modern strains.

Nutrients: The Final Piece of the Puzzle

Despite decades of evolution in cultivation technology, Big Mike framed nutrients as the amplifier, not the initiator. “Genetics first… then environment, cultivators, and then nutrients,” he explained. When cues hit that nutrient system, yield and quality depend on precision, not guesswork. It’s a credo born of decades of underground and legal cultivation experience.

The countdown is on for Advanced Nutrients’ 8th-generation nutrient line—an innovation three years in the making and launching in early 2025. Big Mike called it: “a totally different beast … we’re already working on our ninth generation.” The two‑part powdered system (Prime & Push) simplifies feeding while driving fuller cycles—up to six per year—and dramatically boosting terpene output thanks to SB1, their new biostimulant. Field trials report terpene increases from ~1.5% to as high as 6%.

Advanced Nutrients now supports growers globally with translated feeding charts and regional guidance—recently launching Mandarin and Vietnamese versions of its website to reach wider audiences. The updated Cultivator Series Base also includes pharmaceutical-grade micronutrients like premium chelated iron, reflecting their insistence on lab-quality inputs at scale.

AI as a Cultivation Catalyst

When asked about tech at CMB New York, Big Mike referenced tools like AlphaFold: software revolutionizing plant genomics and redesigning nutritional approaches through AI. “What was taking years? Now they take minutes,” he said. He sees AI’s pace outpacing Moore’s Law—doubling computing power every seven months, steadily compressing innovation timelines.

Speaking to Growers Without the Jargon

Big Mike strikes a rare balance between science and storytelling. Simple observations—“lost 20 pounds,” “clothes fit better”—humanize the high-stakes world of industrial cannabis farming. Sponsorships, seminars, and media partnerships are vehicles for putting science front and center. “If someone claims to be a master grower, we’ll have a test that tells you exactly where they stand,” he remarked, describing upcoming certification tools aimed at raising industry standards.

For Big Mike, success is ultimately about maximizing outcomes. He often warns of the hidden costs in choosing low‑quality nutrients over premium formulas—emphasizing ROI and Total Cost of Ownership over short‑term savings. His advice to growers is clear: choose nutrition backed by data or pay for it later.

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