Dutch Harvest was born out of passion and amazement.

In my work as a sustainability consultant with my company Bureau DaadWerk, I increasingly came across hemp as a sustainable raw material for, building materials, textiles and food. The more I learned about it, the more it fascinated me… I travelled to various hemp companies and congresses with the question: how can we get this beautiful crop back in business?

In 2014, during a hemp harvest, I took some leaves with me that were left in the field. Being a real tea lover, I dried them and made tea of them. It turned out to be a nicely mild yet tantalizing tea and friends who I served it were enthusiastic. It also fits in completely with everything I’m doing in the field of sustainability: a local product, completely unsprayed and from a crop that is so good for the earth. That’s how the idea was born: hemp tea as a tasty rediscovery of this beautiful crop in the Netherlands.

Ernie van Dalen is an energy expert. Professionally, he came into contact with Hemp during a research in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility. And has since been captured by the possibilities of this crop and the enthusiasm and passion of the people who work with it. At Dutch Harvest, Ernie is involved in the harvesting process and in the mixing of the blends. Also, you will meet him on our booth at trade shows, where he will surely capture you with the story of hemp!

As it turned out, the innovative fibre hemp grower and processor Dun Agro hemp group had already discovered the value of the hemp leaves and flowers. Albert Dun has been cultivating fibre hemp for more than 20 years, for applications in among others the automotive and construction industries.

In recent years he saw an increasing interest in the medicinal value of the hemp leaf, and in 2013 he developed a machine that can harvest the hemp leaves and flowers separately from the plant. When Esther approached him with the idea of making hemp tea, Albert was in for it. Together with the farmer and his team at Dun Agro, we developed a method to cut, dry and sieve the hemp leaves and flowers after harvesting.

Annemarie is one of our first crowdfunders. When she saw our crowdfunding movie she was captured: a unique product, sustainably grown in the Netherlands. Her enthusiasm was also fuelled by the fact that she was already a big fan of the other products made from fibre hemp. In addition, sustainability is of great importance to her under the motto: it’s not about what you say, but what you do! It has become a mission to her to bring the tea to the attention of others. Now that family and friends have been provided, it is time to bring the tea to the attention of a larger audience. So she started working with Dutch Harvest! With great enthusiasm Annemarie organises tastings in shops and at fairs.

Tanja Hilgers is a designer and herbalist. She gives her herbal walks on edible and medicinal herbs. Already during her training in herbal medicine she developed a great love for indigenous herbs. Vital and useful plants that grow abundantly in our environment. She thought it was a shame that we normally overlook these green treasures like weeds! She illustrates and writes cards and booklets with wild herbs recipes to make these powerful plants accessible to everyone. Tanja is a big fan of the versatile, healing and powerful hemp, what an impressive plant! She represents Dutch Harvest at demos and trade shows and she conquers the German market with our Dutch hemp tea.

Amrei started at Dutch Harvest as a translator. In 2008 she came from Berlin to Groningen. Quickly at home in both languages and cultures, the Germanist and German teacher now supports people who want to do business, work or study abroad with her company GrensContact. At the same time, sustainability is always at the heart of her life. At Dutch Harvest, she can combine both: her ambition to professionally promote relations between the Netherlands and Germany and her desire to make the world a more sustainable place. Together with Tanja, she takes on the challenge of making Dutch Harvest grow in Germany!

Besides being a conscious consumer, Martha Visser is also a sustainable vegan entrepreneur. With her vegan store ‘Big V Store‘, she sells an range of purely vegan products. In her search for products that are truly sustainable from A to Z, she came across Dutch Harvest. She was so enthusiastic that she immediately included the brand in the assortment. When Esther later asked her if she wanted to become Dutch Harvest ambassador for South Holland, she did not hesitate for a moment.

“I love to introduce people to Dutch Harvest tea, but also to let them taste a heart warming cup of Dutch Harvest tea. See you soon at one of the Dutch Harvest demos!”