Dry Bulk Herbs
Dry bulk herbs can be a science to purchase. The very first thing is to find
out when the leaves
were dried. Although they last many years, if you are planing to sell them
yourself afterward, then you should try to get the ones dried this year or last
year, the older the herbs get, the weaker the properties. If they stay on your
storage house one or two years, you can be safe, but if you purchased old
leaves, two years in your warehouse may be too much. Even if they are dry,
proper care is always required, like a cool, dry place. Excessive heat, humidity
and sun will ruin your merchandise. Sun, for example, will weaken the properties
and make them unattractive to your customers as colors fade.
Also, dry bulk herbs can be packed carelessly and leaves will fall, the more
leaves that get loose the more waste you will have. People will often buy a
handful, but mostly of several stems until the desired weight is achieved, all
the fallen leaves start to crumble and will become useless, you will end up with
a bunch of unidentifiable leaves nobody wants. Either you take this into account
and charge a little extra for the amount you calculate will fall off, or sell by
bag. Online stores may put loose leaves in the shipment and won't have this
problem.
Examine the dry herbs you are buying, bulk packages often bring surprises, open
up one package and look at it's content. Many herbs are dried when they are wet
and will get stained, the properties will become useless. These herbs are
usually "hidden" inside the bulk packages so you think you are buying one thing
and end up with a product that will not sell. It looks ugly and your customers
will think you are pushing some second grade products at them. Also, check that
the stalks are well balanced with the leaves, you could end up buying a bunch of
stalks with very few leaves. Stalks don't taste that great and many people even
discard them and only use the leaves.
You can offer some grinders to your customers as well, leaves can be easy to cut
when they are moistened, but the dry leaves become hard to chop and offering a
solution to their problem will be seen with sympathy by your customers.
Dry bulk herbs can be purchased directly through the internet, in the case you
decide to do this, check out who the provider is and what are they doing to
ensure the delivery meets the points outlined above. If the producer does not
even mention such issues, like what they do to protect the herbs from damage
(dry herbs can be delicate) then drop them an e-mail, if they don't answer or
the answer doesn't satisfy you, go somewhere else. I know a lot of time is
wasted chasing around companies that sell dry bulk herbs, but you will be better
off when you are certain of what you purchase that in the hopes the company acts
in good faith.
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