Wilden.herbals: the path towards raw material sourcing

In this article we talk about centuries of travel, contamination and trade, our organic plants and the relationship with our suppliers.

Over the past centuries, even before the discovery of oil, medicinal plants were one of the main reasons for conflicts, travels and trade. When new continents were discovered, people also discovered new species, new varieties, new adaptations of plants.

Plants travel

That’s right: plants have always travelled. They could be in dried form, cut for teas or in powder. 

Culinary uses of herbs determine a geographical identity of the plant. Let’s take some herbs as an example: sesame in the southern Mediterranean area or turmeric and coriander in India. These identities are the result of centuries of contamination, evolution, trade, agricultural experiments. Another thing: plants are used as a basis for medicine and for a healthy lifestyle.

It’s not just a coincidence that rice and curry is the most common dish in Great Britain or that Milan, Wilden.herbals’ birthplace, is one of the areas of highest consumption of saffron in the world. Spices bring cultures to life and move just like people.

But where Wilden.herbals’ plants come from?

Wilden.herbals: organic plants for herbal teas

When we conceived Wilden, the hardest job (which is a constantly ongoing process) was to find the best organic medicinal plants cut for teas.

We are still a young and relatively small reality: for the quantity of herbs we process we are not yet allowed to purchase plants outside of the EU. Anyway we are working on this.

We made a clear choice to buy only organic certified plants with chemical analysis of residues: this way we can ensure their excellent organoleptic properties.

In Europe medicinal plants are used by German and British people the most; the best quality of medicinal plants grown in Italy have indeed Germany and Great Britain as a destination.

The relationship with our suppliers

Step by step, Wilden.herbals has been building solid relationships with its suppliers over the years.

Speaking about the geographical DNA of our plants and our herbal teas: wild fennel, sage, rosemary, bay leaves come from Sicily and are purchased directly from a farm.

Mint, moldavian lemon balm, mallow and chamomile come from Estonia and are purchased from a certified farm. Cocoa come from Ecuador but it’s entirely processed by the Italian importer. We purchase the other plants from two historical importing companies, the first in Germany (active for five generations) and the other one in England, in Somerset countryside.

We have been working non-stop to develop new direct relationships with farmers and to establish long-term synergies. We believe that’s the winning formula to offer the best medicinal plants cut for teas: respecting biodiversity, soil fertility, agricultural work and those daily social relations agriculture makes possible.

Diversity in plants and their origins is a plus Wilden.herbals wants to explore more and more by creating research projects, getting insights and developing plant-based products with herbs that are traditionally used in different cultures.

In order to do that, we need to cultivate education and awareness. We have to be aware that only cultivating a diversity of tastes, flavours and cultures we will be able to broad new horizons for a sustainable future.

Let’s cultivate the wild side inside all of us.

Ph. credits: DSL Studio