Wilden.herbals and Pharmacies/Parapharmacies: Alkemia
Herbal teas and wellness, even in parapharmacy. Wilden.herbals meets a pharmacist with whom a fruitful collaboration has begun.
Wilden.herbals’ versatility has led us to discover a wide variety of sales channels, always being appropriate and in line with the relevant account. One example? Pharmacies and Parapharmacies. Parafarmacia Alkemia in Bologna shares many values with us, first and foremost sustainability and love of nature. Below is a conversation with Carla, one of the three pharmacists who started the business.
Parfarmacia Alkemia in brief:
Parafarmacia Alkemia was born in Bologna in 2015 with the opening of the first store in the city center. Myself, Manuela and Roberta are pharmacists with years of experience behind us and, driven by the desire to start our own business, we gave birth to Alkemia, which was followed by the second store. It is not just a place to shop; in fact, we wanted to actively enter the community and the neighborhood, interacting with them on a daily basis.
What Alkemia/Alchemy is for you.
Alchemy is the transformation of chemical elements, and for us this name represents the transformation of ourselves from our former life to our present life. It is a continuous growth, a constant change. But alchemy is also the transformation of our work, day by day. We like to keep ourselves constantly updated to meet our clients in new and more personalized ways.
What do your customers think about Wilden.herbals? What is the best seller?
Remedium No. 2 – Boost e Remedium No. 4 – Hangover have definitely been best-sellers: bought, loved and re-purchased by our customers. Boost in particular, is one of the few herbal teas on the market that contains echinacea, a formidable plant for boosting immunity, really highly recommended in recent months.
How did this collaboration come about?
After the first lockdown last year, we concretized the desire to also make known the realities around us, those we frequent and that are close to our way of being and thinking. Thus, thehashtag #alkemiatuttintinturn was born with which we present on our Instagram page activities that are related to us. Thanks to our frequent visits to Forno Brisa – a young bakery in Bologna with a forward-looking vision in line with our principles – we discovered Wilden.herbals. We were all pleasantly impressed; I then am a tea and herbal tea aficionado, as well as a tea sommelier!
Plants and infusions for self-care: how is this type of product proposed?
Phytotherapy is the basis of the advice we give to our clients. We believe in using plants for the prevention and treatment of various ailments: herbs and flowers are always our first answer. Therefore, here are functional and special blends such as those of Wilden.herbals can be combined with other phytotherapeutic remedies offered in our parapharmacy.
How are customers’ perceptions of food/beverage as prevention changing?
It has changed a great deal, especially in the last year. In the past months, no official protocol for prevention and immune boosting was ever provided, and instead people are paying more and more attention to this topic. Food and plants associated with a certain lifestyle are and will increasingly be considered as a way of prevention to more or less serious and frequent problems.
What are the most common complaints for which clients come to you?
Never before have people complained of various types of stress-related discomfort, caused in turn by prolonged stay in the home environment and constant proximity to PCs and smartphones.Anxiety leads to poor management of daily tasks and more or less pronounced sleep problems. One piece of advice we often provide is to respect sleep/wake schedules and try to acquire good sleep-related habits: the ritual of herbal tea after dinner or before bedtime allows us to reconcile and prepare our bodies for a proper night’s rest. Rituality is important.
A cuddle before going to sleep: Night herbal tea and reading
Our motto is “Share your Nature.” What does it mean to you?
We in our profession “work” with nature, transforming it by using plants, herbs and flowers in different preparations. For us, “Share Your Nature” means bringing this outside of work as well, encouraging and maintaining a healthy, slower lifestyle, but one that is able to look carefully at one’s own well-being.