iHemp Summit

Brad Lake

Co-founder of The Brothers Green

Starting off as a rural banker in North Canterbury, Brad became frustrated at the lack of alternative options for farmers in his region. Hemp presented itself as a solution to many of the regulatory, economic, climatic and social challenges facing New Zealand farmers, as well as a solution to the nutritional and health challenges of the New Zealand population.

Brad is co-founder and managing director of six hemp based companies including The Brothers Green, Original Canvas and Kōaka , Ritual & Rise as well as a shareholder in Mainland Hemp, a Hurunui based hemp processing company. The Tāpapa group has also recently opened up the Tāpapa Store (retail and education store) in Christchurch to showcase their brands ands provide an education space for hemp. Brad’s vision to create a vertically integrated supply chain, from paddock to plate is also now up and running in Canterbury.

All the businesses are founded on developing a sustainable business platform for social change in agriculture and nutrition. With his co-founders and hemp whānau, Brad has spent the past four years developing a range of retail brands using New Zealand hemp seed ingredients as their foundation. These businesses have been focused on educating the New Zealand and International markets around the benefits of New Zealand hemp and delivering a range of high quality, value added New Zealand hemp based products.