Members of the Saskatchewan Herb and Spice Association say growers are finding it difficult to access markets and get good prices for their products.
That’s why the group decided to spend more than $50,000 on a study that would tell them how to set up a provincial marketing organization for herbs and spices. What they found out is that the industry isn’t ready to take that step.
Government funding
Saskatchewan Agriculture and the Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development fund each contributed $26,500 to the market development study. The herb and spice association also ponied up some cash, but would not specify how much.
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The study’s goal was to find out how to establish an organization that could get producers’ products to market and provide better prices and access to brokers.
“We need to know which doors are opening, which ones to go through and how to avoid the ones that are going to snap shut shortly,” said board member Cathy O’Byrne in a letter to members informing them about the study.
“But now that the first draft of the report has been completed it appears that those goals haven’t been achieved. We’re not as far along in developing the industry as we thought.”
O’Byrne had hoped the study would provide the association with something more substantive in terms of setting up a marketing organization. What did result is a reality check.
“(The industry) is in its infancy here.”
O’Byrne said the board didn’t realize how fragmented the herb and spice industry is. The association’s 225 growers produce everything from half-acre crops of herbs like ginseng and echinacea to entire fields of coriander and caraway.
About 40 types of herbs and spices are produced in Saskatchewan. Some of them are processed, while others are sold as raw product.
The study found that it would be a mammoth task for one organization to gather and market the vast array of products grown in Saskatchewan.
Small growers need to unite, said O’Byrne, because buyers aren’t interested in talking to someone selling only half an acre of herbs.
Organization plans
She said the association next plans to hire a development person to help focus and organize the industry and get a better handle on the products producers should concentrate on growing.
The marketing agency idea could resurface once the industry matures and becomes more streamlined.
