Nutiva is the leading hemp foods and organic coconut oil brand in the U.S. The company’s average growth rate for the past five years is 78% under the leadership of its visionary eco-activist founder and author, John Roulac.

However, Nutiva was on the brink of extinction along with the entire fledgling hemp food and hemp skin care industry when, in 1999, the DEA seized a shipment of Canadian hemp seeds destined for a U.S. bird seed manufacturer as they crossed the border in Detroit. After the seizure, the DEA shut down import of legal hemp seed products. At the time, Nutiva was importing hemp seed bars and oil so the company’s business was seriously threatened. John fought back first by having Jack Anderson write a column on the seizure and the DEA’s absurd claim that hemp seeds were in the same category as heroin. The nationally syndicated column ran in hundreds of papers and caused the DEA to back off and again allow importation.

This victory was short lived however when in 2001 the DEA changed policies and published new guidelines in the Federal Register again claiming hemp seeds were a drug. In reaction, John joined with Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, Natures Path Cereals, the Hemp Industries Association and others in bringing a lawsuit against the DEA.

In 2004, the Federal Court in San Francisco ruled in favor of the hemp industry in a 3-0 decision and thus legalized the importation of hemp seeds and oil. This verdict opened the way for the rapid commercialization of hemp foods and today, Nutiiva’s twenty-five products are carried in over 5000 U.S., U.K. and Canadian retail outlets including Whole Foods, Vitamin Shoppe, and Wegmans supermarkets.

The future for Nutiva and the industry look bringht and John is actively developing new products and promoting the right of U.S. farmers to grow hemp as thirty other countries presently do. He is a suppoter of a Hemp Farm bill in the California Legislature that would authorize test plots in several counties.

John and Nutiva have been the subject of feature stories in the Wall Street Journal, LA and NY Times, on the NBC Today Show, ABC TV and most recently, in The Economist.

The company’s success can be traced to its customers desire to enjoy healthy organic foods, support Nutiva’s 1% giving program to sustainable agriculture organizations and their overall mission of nourishing people and the planet.