Konopko 2017 open lectures on the subject of hemp

As it was in the previous years, Konopko Coop continues to provide open lectures on the subject of hemp. Our target audience are current and future hemp producers, customers, entrepreneurs, students, researchers, fascilitators at a local and national level,...in short, everyone who is interested in learning about all three sides of the medal and who is willing to open their minds to all of the vast possibilities that lie in the usage of hemp.

Dates and locations are as following:
Tuesday 7th of February 2017 – 17:00 at the Faculty for Agriculture and Biosystemic sciences in Hoče, Slovenia;
Saturday, 11th of March 2017 from 14:00-16:30 at the Altermed fair in Celje, Slovenia (in cooperation with ICANNA Institute – the main subject of the lecture being cannabinoids);
Thrusday, 23rd of March 2017, 17:00, GRM Novo mesto, Slovenia;
Saturday, 29th of April 2017, 10:00, The Municipality (main building) of Rogatec, Slovenia;

So far unconfirmed locations:
Biotechnical Center Naklo, Slovenia;
Municipality Hrpelje-Kozina, Slovenia;

...you can always invite us to come to your town :)

PROGRAMME OUTLINE
The main stress is put on 4-5 subject matters, followed by brief debates taking place within smaller groups. Supporting programme includes tastings and a showcase of practical solutions, products and innovations concerning hemp.

1. The potential of hemp, its multipurpose usage and innovative products;
2. Hemp – from sowing to harvesting & and overall look at hemp varieties;
3. The process of acquiring all needed documentation for growing hemp & subsidies;
4. A presentation of Konopko Coop, the advantages of becoming a member, purchase of produce, trade mark and sales.

ADDITIONAL EXPERT SUBJECTS (depending on the location of a particular lecture)

• Farmacological and therapeutic potential of cannabinoids + use in medicine
• The significance of quality and safety control when speaking of hemp food products
• The endocannabinoid system and active ingridients in hemp
• Risks involved in the production and processing of hemp
• Hemp and food

The second part of each event is in the form of round tables, a showcase of products and different tastings (groups are usually formed as food, textile, cosmetics, construction and farming).
Registrations are required for each of the events. Each of the attendees receives, alongside a vast array of knowledge and useful information, a package of hemp tea. For all of this we hope that a contribution of 5 EUR does not seem too high. Also, for all Konopko Coop members, students and professors (those that teach at the school where the lecture takes place) the lectures are free of charge.

Posted on: 10.02.2017

KonopKo's first hemp crops purchase

KonopKo has made the cruical step »from words to action« - first purchase of crops successfully concluded. In this round we were looking for top quality hemp seeds and hemp tea grown exclusively in Slovenia. The event took place on the 19th of November 2015 on the farm of Marjan Križman, Coop member. On his farm KonopKo Coop has established the very first manufacturing unit with warehouse, processing and packaging facilities.

Our quality control specialists were very busy as the seeds and tea were assesed according to a multitude of factors (moisture of seeds, purity, colour...). Final decision was made after the results for aflatoxins came in. These assesment factors are crucial if KonopKo is to ensure a high quality of hemp food products and that is one of our aims, to give our costumers a hemp line of the highest premium quality. Made and processed 100% in Slovenia.

Further purchase dates will be publicly published on our website, our Facebook page, growers who will express special interest will be specifically informed via email of telephone.

To be continued..

Hemp is the future!
Konopko

Posted on: 19.11.2015

ClimateLaunchPad Finals, Amsterdam

In June 2015 we have reported on the wonderful achievement of Konopko at the ClimateLauncPad nationals where the idea of »Hemp plastic biogranulate« stole the 1st prize. Winning in the preliminaries enabled us to move ahead in the competiton to the international podium.

Placing to the international part of the competition in Amsterdam gave Konopko and the team (Plastika Skaza d.o.o., Polymer Technology College Slovenj Gradec) even more motivation to further engage in research activities in the field of hemp innovation. Although the competition itself offers the final challenge winners some financial support, we in Konopko Coop realise that by participating in such events we increase our chances of realizing certain business ideas and by competing we open ourselves to potential business partners and investors.

And so came September 4th 2015 when representatives of Konopko, along with 82 other teams, were given the unique chance of presenting the project we so believe in to a panel of judges. The judging took place in larger clusters of teams and had many steps – short presentations of the projects. The Konopko team, who had the misfortune of being in one of the strongest groups of the competition (the main judge's words, not ours :) ) were represented by: David Geršak (president of Konopko & engineer), Alenka Zapušek, M.Sc. and Tadej Smrdel (engineer).

Although the project »Hemp plastic biogranulate« did not make it to the Grand Finale (consisting of 15 top ideas) we are more than proud of our accomplishments thus far. The winning idea »Desert Control« is a product of eight years of development which is more than 16 times of how long our idea has been in the making. So we take a good load of courage along with us from this experience and we will continue to develop the idea further.

By participating in the European finals we believe we have exposed Konopko Coop as a business with potential in scientific research. More info on the hemp biogranulate product available here.

Posted on: 07.09.2015

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