Then we grow it ourselves.

Topp Textil has long been involved in the processing of bast fibers and has been weaving linen tubes there for many years. The significantly better eco-balance of hemp compared to linen was an important reason for the company, which has been climate-neutral since 2019, to switch to hemp.

Hemp - the green fiber
Due to its large leaves, hemp quickly shades the soil and makes it much harder for weeds to grow. This means that the use of pesticides and herbicides can be completely dispensed with. Hemp also yields twice as much per unit area as linen and also hardly leaches the soil. Artificial irrigation, as with cotton, is not necessary. This makes hemp the most sustainable fiber on the market. But the supply of high-quality textile hemp is rare.

Where can you get good hemp?
The highest quality hemp currently comes from China. Unfortunately, the great sustainability advantage is cancelled out by the cultivation and processing methods there. Furthermore, the purity of the variety is often not given and the fibers are damaged in their strength by chemical treatments. In Europe, on the other hand, the cultivation of textile hemp is still in its infancy. Although the areas under hemp cultivation have increased steadily in recent years, it is mostly hemp for use for seeds and less high-quality short fibers - an unsatisfactory state of affairs for Topp Textil. So the company decided to become active itself.

Growing its own hemp in Hungary
Through various networking meetings, a group of hemp and textile experts came together, all with the same vision: to revive high-quality, European textile hemp. Thus, in 2022, a separate company was founded, headquartered in a historic hemp region in Hungary. There, old textile hemp varieties were reseeded and processing machines were built from Eastern European stocks.

From vision to reality
The first step to cultivation is initially to grow more seeds, as only small quantities are available in the market. Nevertheless, small test quantities of stalks could already be harvested in 2022. For high-quality textile hemp, parallel harvesting and processing of the stalks is crucial for obtaining the long fibers that can be used to spin the highest-quality yarns. Equally important for quality is the control of roasting, a microbial degradation of plant adhesives that glue the individual fibers together. Only rudimentary knowledge and technology is available for both steps. The processing companies must do pioneering work here.

 

The business is growing

The first cultivation and processing trials were already very promising. The first yarns were successfully spun externally. It will still take a little time before industrial production is possible, but Topp has already been contacted by many interested parties with demanding applications. From the use of the fibers in high-quality natural fiber composites to automotive visual applications as woven or knitted fabrics, exciting developments have already been initiated for the Hungarian textile hemp. And the number is constantly growing.

Contact:
Alexander Bachmann
Head of Business Development

alexander.bachmann@topp-textil.de
www.topp-textil.de

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