Inside Europe’s Hemp Challenge

Europe’s hemp story has shifted from policy to performance. Farmers can now grow and process fibre, yet consistent buyers remain scarce. Between luxury weavers, mass-market converters and new industrial users, the market is searching for direction. Its future will depend on whether certification and diversification can turn enthusiasm into genuine, recurring demand.

Europe’s hemp boom has filled fields but left factories waiting. The region now grows tens of thousands of hectares of fibre crops, yet only a handful of facilities can refine them for textiles. Hemp’s challenge is no longer agronomy but engineering — how to build the machinery, skills, and scale that make a crop an industry.

Across Western Europe, fields of hemp are re-appearing beside the region’s long-trusted flax, but technical familiarity has yet to catch up with acreage. Farmers possess the land, machinery, and ambition—yet remain unsure how to turn stalks into stable income. For now, cultivation outpaces coordination, leaving Europe’s textile revival rooted more in hope than experience.