Canada's Herb, Spice, and Medicinal Plant Industry

The Canadian herb, spice, and medicinal plant industry is a small and relatively new industry located primarily in western Canada. Medicinal herbs, spices, and essential oils are considered special crops, while culinary herbs are a horticultural commodity.

As interest in alternative health products increased in the 1990's, so did the demand for herbs and spices in both food and personal care products. This has created many value-added opportunities in the industry such as spice blending for retail, medicinal herbs, and the extraction of essential oils. However, the availability of production, acreage, and trade statistics for most crops remains limited.

Production

Traditionally, the production of most herbs and spices has been concentrated in the moderate and semi-tropical regions of the world. This is a result of both climatic considerations and low wage rates as production is labour intensive. However, herb, spice and medicinal plant production is currently expanding into less traditional production areas such as North America. This in part can be attributed to increasing capital requirements associated with more intensive production and newer production technology being utilized.

Disposition

The export volume of Canadian herbs, spices, and medicinal plants has been relatively stable since 1999, ranging between 11.3 thousand tonnes and 11.9 thousand tonnes. Canada's major global market for this industry is the United States, importing 54% of Canada's total exports in 2003.

Marketing

Unlike traditional crops, there are no well established markets for herbs, spices, and medicinal plants. Thus, producers are required to engage in proactive marketing and devote a significant amount of time to the marketing of their products. Crops are marketed through farmers' markets, private sales, wholesalers, and other growers. To assist in marketing their product to the largest purchasers, growers are now forming marketing units, wherein they create cooperative agreements amongst themselves. Quality is a crucial determinant in the sale of herbs, spices, and natural health products, as these crops will not sell at lower grades.

Regulation

Medicinal herbs play an important role in the natural health product industry. Natural health products include vitamins and minerals, herbal remedies, homeopathic medicines, traditional medicines, probiotics, and other products such as amino acids and essential fatty oils. On January 1, 2004, under the Natural Health Products Directorate, the Natural Health Product Regulations came into effect. Previously, natural health products were classified as either foods or drugs under the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations, as there was no separate category under which they could be classified. The regulations include provisions for definitions, product licensing, site licensing, good manufacturing practices, clinical trials, and labelling and packaging requirements.

Plant Identification

In 2004, the Saskatchewan Herb and Spice Association, acting on behalf of the National Herb and Spice Coalition, initiated new protocol for plant identification. The report, Good Practices for Plant Identification in the Herbal Industry (PDF document), aimed at developing effective, practical tools for industry members to accurately identify plants. Plant identification is the foundation for the safe use of natural health products; it is also a key step in meeting the requirements placed on the industry by the Natural Health Product Regulations.

National Medicinal Herb and Spice Prices

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Horticulture and Special Crops Division and the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) in Saskatchewan conducted, in November 2002, an industry-driven pilot project to supply national price information on medicinal herbs and spices. The results of this project were positive and much needed by the industry. Prices are now published on a monthly basis in the Medicinal Herb and Spice Reports.

The future success of the herb, spice, and medicinal plant industry in Canada is dependent on the ability to establish recognizable standards and regulations for production, processing, and marketing of the commodities. It is important to recognize the fact that the industry is very much in its relative infancy in the Canadian marketplace and therefore, extensive changes can be expected as the industry develops.