Ladurée Launches Hemp Macaron In LA; Now That Industrial Hemp Is Finally A Legal US Crop, Can We Make Fabrics?

Ladurée Launches Hemp Macaron In LA; Now That Industrial Hemp Is Finally A Legal US Crop, Can We Make Fabrics?

Famed Parisian patisserie Ladurée is known worldwide for its divinely delicious. sweet French sensual treats made in vibrant, intoxicating colors. Simply stated, these macarons are a feast for the eyes, tongue and amygdalae. 

On Thursday, Ladurée in will lauch a new exclusive-to-Los-Angeles macaron flavor containing hemp.

Elisabeth Holder Raberin, co-president of Ladurée USA, describes the flavor of the new L.A. macaron, a blend of white chocolate and hemp, as “a bit like hazelnut.” She says: “I love challenging my taste and I’m very curious about what people eat everywhere. L.A. is a huge market that’s very important and I see many trends here. You can find hemp ice cream and I buy hemp seeds to put on my yogurt or to use in tea. It’s healthy! When I said in Paris that I wanted to have a hemp macaron, they looked at me like, ‘What?’ They thought it was super-funny, but in the end they came up with a flavor and color that are really amazing.”

Let no one crack any hemp jokes. In fact, I have hemp protein powder in the cupboard and once had a love affair with hemp waffles. 

To clarify, writes THRsince marijuana bias has caused a lot of confusion, hemp is a variety of the cannabis plant with trace levels of THC, the main psychoactive element in marijuana, that’s been touted in some circles as a superfood rich in protein, magnesium and omega-3 and -6. And no, it won’t make you high. But at this week’s private launch party for influencers, Ladurée will serve tastings of the new L.A. hemp macaron at a “high tea” in its Beverly Hills salon, where tea will be infused with CBD oil from design-wise L.A. cannabis dispensary The Pottery.

The American government has been obsessed with controlling hemp as a crop, as Canadian farmers get wealthy. George Washington grew it at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson at Monticello for industrial purposes. Yet, as a 2005 report from the Congressional Research Service noted, the U.S. “is the only developed nation in which industrial hemp is not an established crop.”

Canada has been growing hemp for 20 years. Great Britain legalized industrial hemp in 1993, Germany in 1996. And now -- let the trumpets blare -- the US government finally legalized industrial hemp in June 2018. 

Many believe that hemp has a a key role in the topic of sustainability in the fashion industry. Take a read of this 2017 article: A Guide To Hemp: The Miracle Crop that Could Be the Future of Fashion