AACE INTERVIEW: Howard Hoffman of Omnium Canna
Howard Hoffman of Omnium Canna
“Focus on exactly what you want to do, life is like navigation, if you don’t know the exact address where are you going.”
I first met Howard Hoffman on a Curaleaf AAPI Heritage Month panel moderated by Al Ochosa, my circle has expanded beyond meeting fellow AAPIs in person to meeting so many stellar cannabis industry movers and shakers online. When I first started AACE in 2015, I had a hard time finding AAPIs willing to speak about their work in cannabis, fast forward to 2022, where it is now a badge of honor to highlight cannabis advocacy and businesses. I am so proud of our community and how we have stepped into and up in the cannabis community, we are making huge strides to further better cultivation manufacturing, distribution, retail, and most important innovation. I have the honor today to feature Howard Hoffman, a proud Filipino in the cannabis industry. - Ophelia Chong
Omnium Group was founded back in 2014 – and has been long providing high-quality private label manufacturing, co-packing, and bulk ingredient supply services to established business owners and startup companies in the dietary, supplement, nutraceutical, HPP beverage, cosmetics, OTC, and hair, body, and skin care industries.
Howard is also the current CEO of the award-winning hemp brand that he co-founded in New York – Complete Hemp was founded back in 2018 – which has bagged the UNFI CBD Pitch Slam Award for developing the highest quality and most effective CBD brand within UNFI’s distribution. This makes him the first Filipino CEO of a Cannabis Company.
Howard, you are a serial entrepreneur that has a gift for seeing trends before they become mainstream, where do you think you developed this sense of creating businesses? (Family? Environmental ?)
I developed my business sense at a young out of necessity, I had no other choice but to become accountable. I didn’t focus on my circumstances but, created opportunities. I was born in the Philippines and came to America with just my mom; we struggled to make ends meet. The majority of the time we only had access to the most affordable food like canned foods as every Filipino knows we turned to canned Spam and Sardines. I knew taking accountability was the only way I can help our situation, this set me on the path to having multi-business later on in life.
With your company Personal Health Product Development and then Omnium Group, you made eating vegetables and fruit an enjoyable and portable experience, what was your inspiration to create this consumer product?
Watching so many people get sick from their poor diets inspired me to create something that would help people to take a proactive approach to their health. I noticed that no one was eating their veggies. After doing all my own independent research on holistic, alternative medicine and nutrition, I found that dark leafy vegetables contain the most alkalizing minerals for the body and the majority of us are acidic… and lacking that exactly. So alkalinity was the key! Research shows that over 288 million Americans aren’t getting their recommended daily serving of vegetables; especially organic and raw. That’s a problem. The “Standard American Diet” or “SAD” is so bad. So with that in mind, I had to share my finding with as many people as I could and create simple solutions, and developed products that are specifically formulated to help you get your servings of vegetables.
How has that early entry into consumer products helped you with founding the award-winning company Complete Hemp?
Great question; Before winning UNFI CBD Pitch Slam Award for best CBD products in distribution. All we did is listen to our customers. Everyone wants a clean and effective product that works, so we kept it closest to nature as possible! Our mission is to provide our customers with the cleanest, safest, and most effective hemp products on the market. At Complete Hemp, we are devoted to quality without compromise, we are vertically integrated from our farms to our customers, effectiveness backed with integrity and ingredients you can trust. All of our products are Paraben-Free, Gluten-Free, and Vegan, and do not contain any Synthetic Compounds, or Dyes. Lastly, always have a bigger purpose in mind and give back to your community! This being said our ethos resonated with all those who voted.
Most of the world sees Asians as a monolith, however, we are culturally different in many ways, how has being a Filipino shaped your early views about cannabis?
Being Filippino has definitely shaped my thoughts around Cannabis. Let me first give you a little education on how the Philippine government looks at Cannabis. First, we have been indoctrinated that Cannabis is a horrible drug with no health benefits. Thus, the Philippine government has some of the harshes laws around. For example, with a small number of cannabis products, let’s say 5 grams you will end up in jail for 20 years. If they find that you had the intention to sell or distribute, you could be executed on the spot. So imagine me telling my mom I was going into the Cannabis business. I had to run as fast as I could lol. But, as well all know, there are significant health benefits to cannabinoids, including THC.
Anti-Asian hate in California has jumped 339% in the last year ). We can't always rely on our non-Asian supporters to always speak out for us, how as AAPI can we help stem the hate?
We can help educate, inspire and be an example. With that in mind, we all must realize that our community is our family. Together, we can help save lives and help make the world a safer, happier, and loving place.
New York is the most recent state to open up for cannabis licensing, how has the application process been for Omnium Cana?
So far, so good we have been blessed to have the Cannabinoid Hemp Processor License prior to the Legalization of Adult-Use Cannabis in New York; on top of that, we are an FDA Registered and NSF/ANSI Certified GMP 455-2 standard facility. Unfortunately, it's been a long, tough road to navigate, but New York's OCM (Office Of Cannabis Management) is about to release the processing application. Once we retain our license, we are excited to partner with Cannabis Brands wanting to enter the NY Cannabis Space as we have many in our pipeline already. We will be creating the highest quality edibles to packaging award-winning cannabis strains. Our mantra focuses on our purpose and mission for Social Equity & Justice, Economic Impact, Sustainability & Environmental Conservation while giving back to our New York Community.
Mentoring is essential in supporting others to enter the cannabis industry, what would be your advice to a fellow AAPI?
Focus on exactly what you want to do, life is like navigation, if you don't know the exact address where are you going.
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