05.01.09
San Francisco Herb & Natural Food Co.: Going to the Source
For Barry Meltzer, president, San Francisco Herb & Natural Food Co., Fremont, CA, his journey into the natural food world started with a palm reading. “In the 1960s, I went to a palm reader who said I should open a natural foods store because it was a perfect fit with my lifestyle,” he said. “So I sought out the money and rented a store.”
During his retail experience, Mr. Meltzer developed a knack for formulating herbal products. He also made some important connections in the herb world, forming friendships with people like Mark Blumenthal, who today is the executive director of the American Botanical Council, as well as Drake Sadler, the founder of Traditional Medicinals, a therapeutic tea company.
Mr. Meltzer, along with these herb pioneers were among the first to start a trade association dedicated to the market development of medicinal herbs. It was called the Herb Trade Association. “It was the first organization to work with the government,” he said. “It was really interesting and exciting to get involved in discussing how to move the industry forward.”
Eventually, Mr. Meltzer realized a strong demand for bulk whole herbs, so he decided to close his store and explore the raw material side of the business. Initially this took him to countries such as Albania and Bulgaria, where most of his herbs were coming from at that time. “As demand picked up and people wanted more herbs, I decided I had to track down my sources,” he said. On his first trip to Europe in 1972 his goal was to seek out herbs such as blackberry leaf, red clover and raspberry leaf to use as bases for his teas.
Today San Francisco Herb & Natural Food Co. sells hundreds of herbs and spices to companies looking to put them in a range of finished products, from teas to capsules. “We consider our specialty to be the large variety of herbs, teas and spices we offer,” Mr. Meltzer commented. “We do everything from growing to blending to encapsulating to packaging. And we’re on top of the material every step of the way.”
Still passionate about the source of his raw materials, Mr. Meltzer continues to visit the countries growing his herbs. During the course of a year he spends time in several of them, including Bulgaria, Albania, Sri Lanka, China, India, Mexico, South Africa and many others. In fact, he says he’s usually out of the country eight to 10 days a month.
Currently, San Francisco Herb & Natural Food Co. is working to re-create the Nature’s Herb line, which the company acquired in the mid-1980s. “We’d like to re-launch the Nature’s Herb line because some of the formulas go back 100 years,” Mr. Meltzer said. “After we took over the line in 1987, we promised to further develop the products and now seems like the perfect opportunity.”
Reminiscing about the old days and comparing them to today, Mr. Meltzer said, “There are a lot of differences now compared to when we started. For instance, originally it was the drug companies that were selling botanicals, and now there is more involvement from natural food companies. Also, today people want more documentation and are more interested in quality than they were years ago.”
In terms of trends, Mr. Meltzer said organic is hot. “Organic is popular, and that’s the direction we’re headed. However, I think people are interested not only in organic, but also the way in which these products are harvested and collected.”—R.W.
San Francisco Herb &
Natural Food Company
47444 Kato Road
Fremont, CA 9453
Telephone: 800-227-2830; 510-770-1215
Fax: 510-770-9021
E-mail: barry@herbspicetea.com
Website: www.herbspicetea.com