Story of supply

A note from Sebastian Pole, Herbal Director and Co-founder of Pukka Herbs

Creating a high quality sustainable supply chain
'As an Ayurvedic practitioner I have always been obsessed with the quality of the herbs that I use in my clinic. It makes sense, if it looks, tastes and smells right and has been grown in the optimum conditions then it has the best chance of working. We have put in huge efforts to have the herbs that we use grown in the best possible environment for that species. We have spent lots of time ensuring that the correct soil, water and growing conditions are used for each species that we grow. We have also been aware of the effect that wild-harvesting herbs is having on local plant populations. The WWF stated in 2004 that 20% of all herbal medicine species are potentially threatened. We want to play a part in reversing this. In order to do this we have strived to take harvesting into a ‘field’ setting. This has given us wonderful control on water purity, soil fertility and optimum harvesting times.  It has certainly been inspirational for us and empowering for the farmers.

I visit the farmers every year and it has been wonderful to see their fields flourish and their confidence grow along with their crops. The farmers have a genuine love of growing plants that they know are helping to heal people and a passion for organic farming knowing that it is helping to protect their land. They are broadening their horizons through the organic perspective and have developed an understanding of organic farming being so much more than just ‘not using pesticides’. They study building soil fertility and are masters of the compost heap, vermicompost, intercropping and insect encouragement. I have literally seen dry and barren fields transformed into lush and verdant jungles!'

Creating a direct link with the farmer co-operatives
The farmers we work with are often organised into co-operatives. They usually own small plots of land (1-5 acres). There are usually between 10-20 families in a co-operative group. All of the farms we work with have never seen chemicals and many of the farms are in natural forest settings, known as ‘forest gardens’. If you can’t tell your Neem tree from your Amla tree then you may just think that you are walking in the woods! Our input has been to add herbal crops to their food rotation plans which have added diversity and added income.

We work with farmers living across the varied climates required by the different medicinal plants from the Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia; the humid tropics of Sri Lanka and South India, the dry plains of Madhya Pradesh and Gujerat and we are working with cultivation projects in the Himalayas to grow some of the rarer species - Jatamansi and Kutki.

Our certified Production process
The herbs are harvested at the optimum time, when their essential oils and flavour are at their peak. The freshly harvested herbs are then taken to processing units where the herbs are sorted, cleaned and dried. These units in India and Sri Lanka are organically certified and comply with European standards of hygiene. After drying, the herbs are analysed for bacterial content, heavy metals and moisture.

We do all of our manufacturing here in the UK at a registered facility with a Manufacturer’s Licence.

Only if each batch of herbs meets our rigorous standards of high quality do we release them for you to use.