HISTORY

In the beginning: 1979, the Touret Farm

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L’Herbier du Diois started as a small-scaled farm initiated by the Wartena and Vink families, friends from the Nerthelands who wished to return to the Earth. Implemented in Vachères-en-Quint, in the Department of Drôme, the Touret Farm became the first organic Aromatic Herbs farm in the local region of Diois. The seedlings and young plants came from wild herbs of the region, which initiated the transition from traditional harvesting areas to cultivated fields. The small farm refused from the start single-crop farming and decided to raise goats at the same time. We continue to encourage these methods and ideas amongst the producers we work with.

65

Employees

9 700 000 €

in turnover.

350

suppliers

195

International customers

Today: at the heart of organic and sustainable farming

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As the demand increased over the years and in order to be able to meet our customers’ needs, little by little the Touret Farm became a wholesaler offering a large range of dried herbs coming exclusively from organic farming. We have also specialized in processing plants, offering various cut sizes, production of powder, sifting and grinding, steam sterilization and packaging. Among our customers we count herbalists, medical and cosmetic groups as well as Food industries from France and abroad.

Thanks to our close and long-lasting relationships with local and international farmers and our expertise from our long experience, l’Herbier du Diois has become a key link in the field of organic dried aromatic plants.

The company has also become an undeniable reference when it comes to sustainable development whether it be for small-scaled French farmers or farmers from the Southern countries. We have also taken part in a new label called Bio Solidaire, in 2007, with a main product: our local Lime Tree. Our concern for the wellbeing of people is at the heart of our management policy. We strive to offer them the best working conditions in a healthy environment with our ecological building, finding ways to bring harmony between private and professional life through the option to work 35 hours weekly in 4 days, offering language and management courses, driving licenses, complementary health care, and organizing external activities such as concerts and sport tournaments.

L’Herbier du Diois is now a forefront figure of Ecology thanks to our wood framed building whose straw insulation is infused with positive energy.

Tomorrow: Contributing to the outreach of organic and sustainable agriculture

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Through our farm, now called “La Croix”, l’Herbier du Diois carries out its knowledge in the fields of the Diois region. Our goal: to become a center of knowledge on aromatic and medicinal herbs and to continue seeking the best farming methods that agree with our philosophy, while staying connected to our roots. We aim for this structure to become, in the long run, a help and stimulation for farmers wishing to grow organic aromatic herbs and thus contributing in the growth of organic farming while still promoting the fundamental principles of sustainable development.

Furthermore, we continuously strive within l’Herbier du Diois to improve the production and transformation procedures of our material as we relentlessly aim to improve the quality of our product while the wide variety of projects with local and international farmers allows us to extend our plant offer.

We do not target profitability at all costs and rather seek harmony between sustainable development and the necessity of economic growth in order for our business to flourish and to keep on providing employment. It is with that in mind that we build strong partnerships with producers based on multiannual commitments in order to ensure development on both sides; we never ask for exclusivity and encourage their pluriactivity. When it comes to ecology, we take at heart the transportation of our goods and encourage, through bonuses, our employees to use ecological transports. We remain very attentive to the development of new and green technology projects and would to like to install terminals on our parking for electric vehicles. We recycle all our waste papers and eliminate little by little unnecessary packaging to adopt reusable ones.

Last but not least, we are in the process of creating a true haven of biodiversity all around our building through a wide range of plantations and water supply points.