Mr. Yash Kotak, Co-Founder & Director, Business Development, Communication, BOHECO & BOHECO Life, speaks about Hemp and the products with GlobalSpa
A brand that brings to your table a treasured seed of health and nutrition from the Himalayas – Hemp Hearts, Hemp Seed Oil and Hemp Powder, BOHECO, a premier global company in the organized hemp and medicinal cannabis industry, Bombay Hemp Company has launched a range of wholesome consumables with the wonder crop of the Himalayas, under the title BOHECO Life, to foster healthier lifestyles keeping the unique nutritional profile of hemp at the heart of it all.
With a mission to reimagine the future of Indian agriculture and sustainable living, Yash Kotak, along with his college mates co-founded BOHECO, taking the nine-thousand-year-old wonder crop of the Himalayas, Cannabis, and transforming it into a channel that powers the future. Yash Kotak speaks with GlobalSpa over tête-à-tête and shares his journey of making of the brand and what exactly BOHECO is.
1- Let’s start with your source of inspiration, what inspired you to establish a business with ‘Hemp’ as its lens?
Hemp’s uses are kaleidoscopic. Pull its Fibre out and it’ll give you Yarn; chop it into Softwood, it’ll give you material to build Shelter; study its Genetics, and you’ll find Medicine. As a co-founder of BOHECO, at the onset itself we realized that we were creating a new industry for hemp & cannabis in India due to the lack of precedence in the space. This required us to develop and align each and every member/s of the hemp ecosystem in India from scientists to farmers to policy makers to industry partners and the consumers. It’s been approximately seven years now and BOHECO stands at the forefront of the industry as the premier players.
2- What is BOHECO life?
It is a range of healthful consumables made from hemp, to foster healthier lifestyles keeping the unique nutritional profile of hemp at the heart of it all. BOHECO Life’s high-fiber set of products are GMP Certified, Non-GMO and 100% Vegan; which not only assist in weight loss, but also in boosting energy levels and building immunity. Our lives have evolved and with it so must our habits, hence, we bring to you a plant-based source of wholesome nutrition that will take care of all your dietary requirements.
3- How has the journey been from college, (when you identified the various benefits of hemp) to now, (after providing these benefits to people)?
The idea behind BOHECO was born during our collegiate days, when all seven of us co-founders used to be a part of a larger team working on social enterprise projects across India. During our expeditions to the rural countryside during some of our projects (focused around solar rural electrification), we happened to notice the growth & utility of Cannabis was ubiquitous regardless of which part of India we were in. In the same time frame, one of the co-founders happened to be in West Australia visiting family, when he was exposed to the rapid rise of Hemp as a base commodity all over the country.
During our college days we also realized that most people from our generation were focusing towards the technology sector where India saw a rise of multiple social media agencies, Mobile Apps, etc. is when we were struck with the thought that agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy, where it employed ~55% of India’s workforce but contributed only ~14% to the country’s GDP, this made no sense. Through our college expedition we became more aware about the myriad problems that the agriculture sector is plagued with, which led to a realization that there’s a lot of opportunity for radical change in the industry and the need for a new tool for development became more prevalent. The reason we identified for most our peers not getting into agriculture. What better crop to establish than Cannabis!
These above reasons combined to create a larger Eureka moment, where we began to ask the right questions about why similar endeavors haven’t happened before in India & what could we do to kick-start the nascent domestic Hemp & Cannabis industry from scratch. For us, agriculture has always been the end and Hemp & cannabis was the means to that end.
While Hemp is a work in progress, the response that we have received has been phenomenal so far. A lot more people want to make conscious choices while buying goods, and it is gratifying to experience all the people who interact with BOHECO and welcome Hemp into their lives. We wish to reimagine the future of Indian agriculture and sustainable living with hemp as our lens. Our Formula to take the nine-thousand-year-old Wonder Crop of the Himalayas, Cannabis, and transform it into a channel that Powers the Future. Our design fuses this very potential with the existing industries of Agriculture, Technology, Textiles, Food and Medicine, to bring together Community, Impact, and Value.
4- What’s the range of products?
BOHECO Life offers versatile products, such as Hemp Seed Powder, with 100% plant-based protein from Edestin; Hemp Seed Oil, non-comedogenic and rich in omegas; and Hemp Hearts, shelled seeds with a nut-like flavour to aid cardiovascular health.
5- There are people who are still reluctant to try hemp-based products, how are you encouraging them?
We have actively engaged with people in an effort to educate. When we meet someone new, we start with the very basic, “Do you know what Hemp is?” then we tell you everything about this ancient wonder and start busting myths that surround it. Our aim has never been to ask people to purchase Hemp, we first tell you the story of Hemp and then we leave you to decide. Telling the Hemp story always makes us happy, the thrill of watching someone purchase a Hemp product because they believe in it, never gets old!
Our aim is to keep telling the Hemp story.
