Request the programme! From 24 to 26 November 2026, the Hemp European Hub is organising the second edition of the World Hemp Forum. Three days at the Aube Congress Centre in Troyes to take stock of industrial hemp, built around a clear common thread: bringing the world’s major hemp value chains face to face, from seed production to international trade. Here is a closer look at the detailed programme for this unmissable event for everyone working in hemp.
Four round tables to cultivate industry dialogue
Here we go! The World Hemp Forum kicks off on Tuesday 24 November with an opening address by Benoit Savourat, chairman and co-founder of the Hemp European Hub, on the past, present and future of hemp cultivation.
This is followed by a first round table bringing together the world’s three major hemp value chains — French, Canadian and Chinese — which today account for most of the industrial hemp volumes produced and traded worldwide. How were they built, what drove their success, and how do they differ? This round table will help clarify today’s hemp landscape and outline prospects for the future.
Later that morning, a second round table tackles international hemp trade, which is held back by the lack of shared standards and a proliferation of classifications and quality labels. The goal: identify the main barriers to global trade and the levers to overcome them.
On Wednesday 25 November, two further round tables take over.
The event’s third round table focuses on the role of public policy in hemp development. From one country to another, financial support, regulations and public procurement policies chart very different paths, against the broader backdrop of a key question — is hemp a commercial commodity, or a tool for societal transition? Et en toile de fond une question plus large : le chanvre comme bien commercial, ou comme outil de transition sociétale ?
The fourth looks at seeds and variety selection Which hemp varieties are available, and which players are able to supply seed? What are the prospects for variety selection? An overview of the global hemp seed supply, the varieties available, and the challenges around their selection and access, with key industry players in attendance.
Sowing contacts: workshops and business meetings
Time to connect!
To carry forward the discussions started in the round tables, the afternoon of the first day features thematic workshops and business meetings. Two formats, two approaches: the workshops focus on the collective, bringing together participants with varied profiles around key industry issues to put collective intelligence to work for everyone’s projects.
The business meetings, meanwhile, focus on targeted encounters between professionals from different trades and backgrounds, designed to open up concrete opportunities for every organisation present.
Three workshops are on offer on the afternoon of Tuesday 24 November:
- First, a return to the basics of the cropping cycle, from variety selection to harvest.
- The next brings together producers around the key success factors for cultivation: organisation, establishment and mechanisation.
- Finally, a presentation of a hemp oil extraction process using a green solvent.
The business meetings, paired with a visit to the showroom, take place on Tuesday afternoon and again on Wednesday afternoon, offering two separate opportunities to make these targeted connections over the course of the World Hemp Forum.
Six tours to see the industry in action
Back to the source!
Six guided tours, requiring advance (paid) booking, are on offer during the World Hemp Forum. They provide an opportunity to discover four landmark sites.
- La Chanvrière opens the doors of its production facility to reveal the industrial process behind primary hemp processing. Coopérative agricole leader de la production et de la transformation du chanvre en Europe depuis 1973. A leading agricultural cooperative in hemp production and processing in Europe since 1973, it brings together 800 farmers working nearly 15,000 hectares within a 120 km radius of Troyes.
- The Buzio farm offers a picture of the hemp farmer’s job, often organised through cooperatives. The latter allow for a shared use of agricultural equipment — which pool machinery, labour and storage sheds among their members.
- The FRD-CODEM Technology Resource Centre opens its FRD-Lab technology hall, dedicated to solutions based on plant fibres — flax, hemp, miscanthus, straw — and their integration into the automotive, construction and textile industries.
- The tour dedicated to exemplary hemp buildings introduces visitors to construction and renovation projects using this bio-sourced material. Building experts on hand to explain its insulation properties, carbon impact, acoustics and fire resistance.
Be sure to book the tour or tours that interest you when you register! Places are limited.
Exhibitor pitches, scientific sessions and awards ceremony
Take the stage!
The mornings of the World Hemp Forum are punctuated by pitch sessions — first from exhibitors, then two sessions specifically devoted to emerging or re-emerging hemp-producing countries.
Science forum:
The afternoon of 24 November will also offer a dedicated space for researchers, who will present their scientific work on hemp — both fundamental and applied — as part of the Researchers’ Forum.
New this year: the Young Researchers Prize, funded by FRD-CODEM, will reward the best presentations from the new generation of scientific talent! The prize will be awarded in the evening, at the gala dinner held at Troyes City Hall.
Dès sa première édition, le World Hemp Forum est devenu le rendez-vous incontournable où se croisent tous les acteurs de l’écosystème chanvre et ses principaux acteurs internationaux. From its very first edition, the World Hemp Forum has become the must-attend event bringing together every player in the hemp ecosystem and its leading international figures, with direct access to the production sites that make Troyes the historic heartland of the industry in Europe. Three days in the heart of Champagne to take the pulse of a fast-growing sector — its momentum, its tensions, its blind spots and its international outlook. it would be hard to find a better vantage point at this time of the year. Don’t wait to book your place and reserve your tours and workshops!
