Sustainable Sourcing Partners
From the Corners of the Earth to the Bottom of Your Tea Cup
Working with sustainable herb sources around the world...It is our great pleasure to share the stories of our network of herb growers, collectors, cooperatives, farms and estates from around the world. We offer you a few of their stories as a way of acknowledging the tremendous work these people do.
Not only do they provide excellent quality herbs and teas, they work in ways that preserve and enhance their environments and communities, with commitments to sustainable farming (and wild collecting methods), community development and caring for the earth for the generations to come. Without them we could never fulfill our company mission.
Please take a moment to learn more about our partners...
Martin Bauer
The Ambootia Estate
Guayaki
ForesTrade
Martin Bauer and Traditional Medicinals®
Herbs vary in quality from the lower commercial grades to the highest quality pharmacopoeial grade. In the European Union (EU), medicinal tea companies are required to use herbs that meet pharmacopoeial standards for the quality of medicines.In the United States (US), where herbal teas are regulated either as foods or dietary supplements, tea companies have a choice of which grades of herbs to use and may choose the more economical food-grades. Traditional Medicinals® uses pharmacopoeial grade herbs whenever possible in its products regardless of whether they are dietary supplement products or over-the-counter (OTC) drug products.
The Martin Bauer company, part of the Nature Network® represents the highest standard for pharmacopoeial quality herbs, combining decades of knowledge with innovative technology. Our partnership with Martin Bauer gives us access to the largest supply of pharmacopoeial grade herbs in the world, technical expertise, and state-of-the-art quality control. And, our production and testing facilities, in both Europe and North America, meet international standards for medicinal herbal product production.
All of the herbs we select are tested for identity, composition, quality, strength, and purity, including microbiological quality. MaBa-Therm, a microbial reduction technology developed and provided by Martin Bauer that is suitable for certified organic herbs, carefully treats herbs with steam without destroying pharmacopoeial quality.
Working together with farmers and wild collectors, we carefully monitor the conditions (good agricultural and collection practices (GACP) and labor standards) under which our herbs are grown. This combined commitment to quality assurance provides our consumers with the most reliable herbal products.
From seed to to the finished herbal product, we will never leave quality to chance.
Visit Martin Bauer to learn more.
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The Ambootia® Estate
The Ambootia® Estate is a beautiful tea plantation nestled in the rugged foothills of the Himalayas in Darjeeling, India. The organic tea leaf used in our Organic Green Tea with Ginger and Organic Chai comes from this wonderful model of social justice and sustainability and is certified organic, Biodynamic® and Fair Trade Certified™.This estate was once an ecological disaster. The land had been ruined from poor farming practices and the estate had been abandoned, leaving five hundred farm worker families left to fend for themselves amongst the ruin. Not many people would have stepped in at this point to take over the operations. But the Goel and Bansal families did. Believing that they could restore the land to its bounty, they began the slow process of recovery.
Shashank Goel says that Ambootia's new farming principles emphasized the farm as "the interdependent development of the mineral, plant and animal through humans, harnessing the positive cosmic forces that allow nature to bring to life the finest produce." Ambootia adopted the international standards of Biodynamic farming and saw the revitalization of this magnificent tea estate.
Biodynamic farming methods seek to create a farm that is self-sustaining - generating all fertilizers and inputs on the farm itself - ecologically balanced and economically viable. "All activities are aligned to create an ecosystem in harmony," says Goel.
About 4500 people live and work on the Ambootia Estate. Many of these families have been living there for generations, dating as far back as 1861. Primary to Ambootia's philosophy of management and farming is the well-being of the people who work there. Therefore, in addition to the higher than industry standard wages they receive for working the tea plantation, farmers are provided housing, sufficient water and energy for their daily needs, medical care and subsidized food. Children are never employed and instead, are required to attend the eleven schools provided on the farm. The people on the farm have plots of land where they grow various vegetables, herbs and spices for their own consumption, as well as to sell at market for additional income.
Traditional Medicinals®' teas that use Ambootia organic tea leaf:
Organic Chai
Organic Green Tea with Ginger
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Guayaki
Our organic yerba maté comes from Guayaki, a company with a goal to "create economic models that promote rainforest restoration while providing living wages." We are proud to partner with this visionary group of people who strive to preserve the rainforest and create economic sustainability for indigenous peoples.Guayaki partners sustainably harvest organic yerba maté in the rainforest of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, generating a renewable income stream which enables these communities to improve their lives and restore their lands.
As with all our suppliers, we are proud of the product and the people from whom we get our yerba maté. It is an honor for us to pass on the vision, mission and fine product that Guayaki represents.
Traditional Medicinals® ' teas that use Guayaki organic yerba maté:
Organic Yerba Maté
Organic Lemon Yerba Maté
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ForesTrade
ForesTrade, Inc. is a unique company that sources organic tropical spices, vanilla and Fair Trade coffee from around the world and is dedicated to environmental conservation, socio-economic development, and the promotion of sustainable trade.Working with primarily indigenous communities, often in remote locations, ForesTrade is pioneering a business model that enables small-scale farmers to link-up with premium specialty markets, while preserving cultural and environmental integrity. "When ForesTrade uses the word 'Sustainability' it describes business practices that are designed to support:
- Balance and harmonization of the earth's ecological systems
- Well being of the farmers and their communities
- A safe and supportive work environment for those connected to the company
- Concern for the social, economic, environmental and spiritual well being of the company's business partners and their communities," says Ian Diamondstone, ForesTrade's Supply Chain Manager.
ForesTrade combines concern for the environment with respect for their partnering farmers and communities to bring about positive models of self-sufficiency.
In Guatemala and Indonesia, ForesTrade's technical field staff teach and encourage growers to utilize organic agricultural methods, and implement resource conservation techniques. ForesTrade also helps farmers break from "a cycle of debt" by paying an organic bonus, helping them obtain working capital assistance and creating sustainable and diverse income streams.
New, positive income streams give farmers an economic incentive to prevent further environmental degradation (for example, growing and harvesting organic cloves instead of logging biologically diverse forests). The organic bonus is paid to individual farmers and their associations and is typically used towards self-help programs and to assist in the development of needed community infrastructure such as roads and potable water systems.
Using ForesTrade's organic spices in our products, such as breadnut seed from Guatemala, enables us to contribute to the preservation of these indigenous communities and tropical ecosystems around the world.
We are proud to partner with this visionary group.
Traditional Medicinals® ' teas that use ForesTrade herbs and spices include:
Chocolate Smooth Move®
Organic Chai
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