Botanical Supply Chain
The Journey Herbs Take
Plants are shaped by their environment. The soil they grow in, the weather they experience, and the altitude they thrive at all influence their unique combination of constituents.
Change the growing location and you change the plant. Different conditions create different qualities and medicinal properties. This is why where your herbs come from matters.
Harvesting and Processing Matter
Quality herbs require knowledge and care at every step. Each species has its own needs:
- Specific harvest times throughout the year.
- Precise drying temperatures.
- Unique processing methods to preserve potency.
People and Plants
Get any of these wrong, and you lose the plant’s therapeutic value. Getting them right depends on ensuring that people each step along the way are paying attention. They are more likely to pay attention if they believe they are receiving a wage that allows them to take care of themselves and their families.
Read more about the people behind finished herbal products.
To better understand the steps your herbs have gone through before they reach you, follow the links below.
Explore the Steps from Seed to Shelf
Best practices for developing new products and finding the raw materials needed to produce them.
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Primary Production
Primary production includes both cultivating and wild harvesting herbs.
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Processing
This stage makes or break quality. Drying, cutting and sifting, extraction, and storing herbs. It takes work and attention to manage large amounts of herbs while retaining the quality of the raw material.
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Secondary Processing
Extraction is the process of teasing the compounds out of the plants so they are available in finished herbal products.
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Quality Control
All reputable companies have rigorous quality control and testing procedures in places.
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Marketing and Storytelling
Many brands primarily focus on marketing their products. Mission driven companies do more.