April 4, 2000 – In Canada, the price of Echinacea angustifolia fell from $ 130 per kilo five years ago to less than $ 40 per kilo this winter. That of ginkgo biloba has fallen by 50% in one year, to $ 15 per kilo and that of St. John’s Wort is at an all-time low of $ 4 per kilo when it sold for as low as $ 20 last year.
The arrival of a large number of new producers, sometimes encouraged by local governments to embark on these new crops, has resulted in overproduction. Some farmers are not even able to find a buyer for their echinacea crop, regardless of the price. They must earn their income from the tobacco harvest they had abandoned in favor of the new crop.
The current situation is partly the fault of the producers who believed they could easily sell their new crops without knowing the dynamics of the market and by betting everything on one or two plants. On the other hand, most of these productions are not certified “organic” and therefore face strong European competition.
The cultivation of medicinal plants has experienced a very strong expansion in recent years but the market is very unstructured and it is difficult to know the quantities that can be used by manufacturers. These conditions have made the market very volatile.
According to some observers, growers have an interest in trying to serve a local market, to know the distribution network well and to cultivate limited volumes of plants which are not part of the “bestsellers”. Thus prices are maintained and the rapid turnover of inventories ensures good quality.
HealthPassport.net
From Richter’s Herb Newsletter, March, 30, 2000