The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA),Silver Spring, MD, has announced the winners of its eighth annual AHPA Awards to recognize individuals and companies making substantive, positive contributions to the herbal products industry.

The 2013 AHPA Awards will be presented during the association's annual Member Meeting & Breakfast on March 7 at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, CA. This year's award winners are:

The AHPA Herbal Hero Award, which recognizes individuals who make outstanding  contributions to AHPA committees or initiatives, goes to Sidney Sudberg and Élan Sudberg of Alkemists Laboratories, a botanical identification and analytical testing company in Costa Mesa, Calif.

The AHPA Herbal Industry Leader Award recognizes companies that set an example of outstanding business practices or organizations that work to move the industry forward above and beyond normal business practices. This year's award is given to Trout Lake Farm, an organic herb grower in Trout Lake, WA, with special recognition of Martha Jane Johnson, cofounder and sales manager, who is retiring this year after 40 years with the farm.

The AHPA Herbal Insight Award recognizes individuals or noncommercial organizations that have a significant impact on furthering knowledge and understanding of botanicals and their uses. This year, the award is presented to Josef Brinckmann, vice president of sustainability at Sebastopol, Calif.-based tea company Traditional Medicinals.

The AHPA Visionary Award goes to Lynda LeMole for her pioneering efforts in forwarding the use of herbal medicine. Ms. LeMole's work stems back to the very beginning of the natural products movement, the late 1960s, when she used her nutrition education and passion for holistic health and sustainability to teach students and help various companies employ socially responsible practices.