In Germany, chocolate maker Ritter Sport recently release the limited edition Schoko & Gras, or Chocolate and Grass, chocolate bars in Germany and said they plan on launching it in the U.S. on April 20th, 2019 which is Weed Day, if approved. The bars contain 30% milk chocolate and 7.5% hemp seeds per serving.
Beth Forman, Ritter Sport’s brand manager, told Confectionary News that “there isn’t marijuana added to the chocolate and the roasted organic hemp seeds do not give a psychoactive effect to the consumer. You are not going to get a buzz. Hemp has its own nutritional profile and it has been used in other edible products. It is a fun and health dessert option.”
The U.S. market is now an option for Ritter Sport because of recent states like Kentucky that are removing non-psychoactive cannabis varieties like hemp from the government’s Controlled Substances Act.