A new hemp framework, favorable THC limits, and growing interest in alcohol alternatives are creating fresh opportunities in Latin America.

Peru’s medical cannabis market has been around since 2017, when Law 30681 legalized cannabis for medicinal use, scientific research, and pharmaceutical production; patient associations later gained cultivation rights in 2021. Even so, the market stayed fairly limited for years, and by mid-2025, official records reportedly showed 27 cannabis-related marketing authorizations, most of them for natural products rather than medicines.

The new hemp regime is now moving into implementation after Law No. 32195 in December 2024 created the legal basis for industrial hemp below 1% THC. The draft regulation has been published and specifically addresses hemp derivatives in processed foods, beverages, supplements, and additives, provided the required sanitary authorization, traceability, safety controls, and THC verification accompany them. Hemp edibles and beverages are expected to be allowed as regulated food products.

That 1% THC threshold is notable. It is significantly higher than the limits used in the United States and most European markets, potentially giving manufacturers greater flexibility when developing hemp-derived products. For hemp beverage brands considering an international play, Peru’s combination of an established medical cannabis infrastructure, a permissive THC threshold, and an explicit regulatory pathway for hemp-derived beverages puts it in a different category than many emerging markets in the region.

With a population of more than 34 million people, a growing middle class, and one of Latin America’s strongest agricultural export sectors, Peru already serves as a major supplier of food products to international markets. Compared to countries such as Mexico, where cannabis regulations remain uncertain, or Brazil, where access remains tightly controlled.

Telehealth Platform Sees Opening for US Brands

Jose Escalante, founder of Organnical Telehealth in Peru, thinks the timing may be right for US and Peruvian hemp operators to start doing business together. As rescheduling and hemp regulations continue to evolve in the US and Peru’s new hemp framework moves toward implementation, he sees the conditions converging.

Currently, vapes account for roughly 80% of the legal market, with tinctures and gummies rounding out the rest. Flower products remain largely unavailable because cultivation and distribution rules make them economically and logistically impractical.

Cultivation falls under restrictive pharmaceutical regulations, making it too costly and operationally burdensome for most Peruvian operators. Importing is cheaper, even with the headaches.

Because imported products can sit in customs for two to four weeks without environmental controls, Peruvian operators largely rely on cannabis distillate imports from Colombia. Distillate remains stable during transit, while flower products often do not. Flower is not illegal, but it is largely impractical under current conditions. Not surprisingly, a significant black market for flower still exists.

Escalante runs Organnical as an end-to-end ecosystem connecting patients, doctors, and pharmacies. Patients complete a brief telehealth consultation to get a prescription, then purchase through partnered pharmacies.

And the market is growing.

Demand has accelerated significantly. Imports of THC distillate that once lasted nearly a year are now depleted within two months. “We run out of THC,” he says. “It’s a very nice not-good.”

Of the operators who entered the market over the past seven years, most have exited. About five players remain, and they all know each other.

Escalante sees Colombia remaining the region’s primary producer and exporter, while Peru will likely expand production primarily for its own citizens. A partner like Organnical, with an established patient base, prescription infrastructure, and knowledge of import logistics, could offer the local infrastructure and market knowledge needed to help international operators navigate the market.

A Long-Term Vision: Grow It Here, Ship It There

Escalante’s longer play isn’t just about supplying Peru’s domestic market. He sees a future in which US hemp brands and Peruvian operators become agricultural partners, with Peru handling cultivation at a fraction of the cost of producing in the United States.

Peru is already a major agricultural exporter with the infrastructure, climate, and expertise to scale production. The country is one of the world’s largest exporters of blueberries and is a major supplier of grapes, avocados, asparagus, and other crops to North American markets. Cannabis, he argues, is simply another crop to master.

Escalante encourages American cultivation experts to come to Peru and share their operational expertise, helping local operators compress the learning curve from five years to five months and produce at Peruvian costs.

No meaningful commercial cultivation exists in Peru right now, not because it’s impossible, but because there has not yet been a compelling business model behind it. The country has favorable growing conditions and a supportive regulatory environment. What it lacks is operational experience and investment.

He’s not chasing the European market. Germany has too many players and too much complexity for the return. The US is the relationship Peru already has on both the pharmaceutical and agricultural sides. Building to US standards from the start, he says, is something Peruvian operators can do.

A Small but Steady Market That Needs a Spark

Organnical has been operating for a few years and has signed up roughly 5,000 patients through its platform. That’s about 10% of the total registered users in Peru’s national cannabis patient registry, RENPUC, which sits at 50,000 to 60,000 people. Active monthly patients on Organnical range from 300 to 400. The legal market, he acknowledges, is still dwarfed by the black market.

Organnical’s model is built around helping patients become comfortable with purchasing cannabis through telehealth. Rather than operate its own pharmacies, which come with extensive regulatory oversight and manufacturing requirements, the company connects patients with partner pharmacies that fulfill prescriptions and produce the cannabis products. Organnical handles the telehealth consultations, patient support, and ordering process, while the pharmacies handle compounding and compliance.

Patients get a short telehealth consultation, receive a prescription, and can pick up or have products delivered. Shipping THC products involves a regulatory workaround, but it’s manageable.

The Beverage Opportunity in Peru

Escalante sees the hemp beverage opportunity landing in Peru at exactly the right moment. The sober-curious shift that has reshaped the global beverage market is now playing out in Lima. Every major beer brand, Corona, Cusqueña, all of them, now has a zero-alcohol version. Wellness beverages are proliferating. Young Peruvians are increasingly embracing alternatives to traditional alcohol consumption.

“Whatever happens in the U.S. happens in Peru five to ten years later,” he says. He’s watched it across categories, and he sees the same arc setting up here.

The market is primed. Bodegas, restaurants, grocery stores, and other retail channels could eventually sell hemp beverages anywhere beverages are sold, assuming the final regulations align with the current draft framework.

Escalante is eager for American operators to bring their expertise to the Peruvian market and is confident the regulations are close to being finalized.

For hemp beverage companies looking beyond the United States, Peru may be worth watching. The market remains small today, but a favorable THC threshold, a developing regulatory framework, and growing consumer interest in alcohol alternatives could make it one of the more interesting emerging opportunities in Latin America.