How to Make Money with a Hemp Extractor

The legal CBD market is booming right now. There is no arguing that. Things are so good that it seems like anyone with a hemp extractor could make money. Technically, that is probably true. But practically speaking, making good money by establishing a serious business takes more than just a piece of extraction equipment. Indeed, it takes a lot more.

CedarStoneIndustry, based in Houston, describes the hemp extractor as a piece of equipment that extracts cannabinoids, terpenes, and other substances from cannabis plant material. In this particular case, we are talking about industrial hemp extraction. But extraction is only the first step in producing CBD products.

Transforming industrial hemp into retail CBD products involves a rather complex process with multiple steps. It requires knowledge and experience. It also requires a certain amount of business savvy to do it profitably. Buying a used hemp extractor might be enough to get an entrepreneur started, but it is not enough to run a viable long-term business.

The Purpose of Extraction

Processors go through the hassle of extracting CBD because the substance is very valuable at retail. It is no different than oil companies going through all the effort to extract petroleum from the ground. If there is a market, someone will do it. That’s the case with CBD.

CBD is extracted from plant material because it has no usable value otherwise. There is no value in eating hemp plants, even if people were willing to do it. There is no value in smoking hemp either. So if you want the benefits of the cannabinoids within, you need to extract those cannabinoids.

Among the many challenges of doing so is the reality that cannabis plants contain hundreds of cannabinoids and terpenes. During the initial extraction process, you are taking everything the plant material has to offer. In the industry, that initial extract is known as crude oil. Processors need to work with that crude oil to produce usable CBD.

Distilling the Crude Oil

Separating the many components in crude oil can be accomplished through distillation. Distillation is a time-honored process humans have been utilizing for millennia. It is based on our understanding that different compounds have different boiling points.

To distill CBD crude oil, you place the oil in a sealed tank and apply heat and pressure. As heat and pressure build, different substances in the oil gradually reach boiling temperature and evaporate. The vapor is captured as it escapes the tank, then immediately cooled to force condensation. The condensed material contains water and the distilled component.

Distillation is a highly scientific process in the CBD arena. There are so many compounds to deal with that it takes a skilled technician to get it right. And even at that, it is hard to extract and distill perfectly with every batch. Yet it’s definitely worth trying. The global CBD market is worth tens of billions annually.

No End in Sight

To say the current CBD market is booming is to state the obvious. And it is not just booming here in the U.S. CBD has been legalized in jurisdictions around the world. Millions of people use it as a health supplement or a treatment for things like anxiety and insomnia. The strength and growth of the current market suggests there is no end in sight.

And now you know how to make money with a hemp extractor. You will need to invest in a ton of additional equipment and bring the right staff on board, but there is money to be made if you’re willing to put in the effort. Your piece of the pie is waiting.