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HerbThyme Farms Inc., in South San Francisco, Calif. includes more than 200 acres of herbs and edible flowers with 60 acres in greenhouses.
Growers Turn to More Herbs as Alternative to Vegetables
- By Lisa Lieberman
California Correspondent
- As greenhouse vegetable production grows more costly and more competitive, more greenhouse farmers are turning to herb production as a more lucrative alternative.
“People are consuming more herbs than they did a couple of years ago,” said Kirk Schmidt, president of Quail Mountain Herbs LLC, Watsonville, Calif.
“A few years ago people had a lot of money and they were going out to eat all the time. Now they can’t do that for various reasons, but they don’t want to go back to the same bland foods they had before. That’s why they’re buying more fresh herbs to use in their cooking,” Schmidt said.
Fresh herbs are popular because dried herbs can’t duplicate their flavors. Many cooking magazines and newspapers call for fresh herbs rather than dried herbs in the recipes, Schmidt said.
Once the fresh herbs are cut and harvested, they start to dry and lose their essential oils and flavors. That’s why it’s important to deliver the herbs to the end users as soon as possible once they’re harvested, Schmidt said.
In competing markets, such as Mexico, greenhouses can’t offer the same quality as freshly grown California herbs, which are harvested and shipped to retail stores, usually within a matter of days, Schmidt said.
To accommodate its growing customer demand for variety and volume of freshly grown herbs, Quail Mountain Herbs, one of the biggest herb greenhouses in California, has expanded to over 1.5 million square feet of greenhouse space, Schmidt said.
Throughout California, the company has nine farms, which encompass the whole spectrum of microclimates within the state.
“This gives us a broad base of supply because our customers want product every day of the year and they want the same high quality every day,” Schmidt said.
The biggest challenge with greenhouse herbs, as with all agricultural commodities, is the consolidation of retail buyers who have become more demanding of higher quality product and lower prices.
Quail Mountain Herbs maintains high quality throughout the year since the company grows all of its own herbs from start to finish and doesn’t buy product from any other greenhouses.
“We sell directly to large grocery store chains, like Albertson’s and large food service companies like Cisco. We also sell to terminal markets,” Schmidt said.
Out of all of its herbs, basil, which comprises 35% of the company’s herb sales, is Quail Mountain’s most popular item.
The company, which had started out in 1979, has added five herb packs, including Italian blend, salad blend, lemon grass, opal, basil, and lemon thyme. In total, the company offers more than 25 different herbs.
Education and marketing are an important part of the company’s approach to sales, Schmidt said.
“We offer retail packages with recipe suggestions, and we have training for produce managers (showing) them how to cook with herbs,” Schmidt said.
Education is an important part of marketing herbs, Schmidt said.
“We’re in the second generation of people who don’t know how to cook. In the previous generation, we had Swanson frozen dinners. In this generation, we have microwavable food, but now people are learning that food actually tastes better with fresh herbs and that cooking can actually be fun with fresh herbs.”
Steve Hurwitz founder and division president of HerbThyme Farms Inc., South San Francisco, has also seen a rise in demand for herbs.
HerbThyme Farms has more than 200 acres of herbs and edible flower with 60 acres in greenhouses.
The company offers a one-stop shop for about 25 culinary herbs, including rosemary, basil, arugula, chives, and opal basil and Thai basil - herbs that are often used in Asian cuisine.
HerbThyme offers different packages for different herbs, including clamshell containers and bags.
Some of the herbs come in fresh packaging with the roots still in tact. This gives consumers the chance to put the herbs in water.
“This extends the shelf life of the herb and gives the consumer the chance to use the herbs as they go along,” Hurwitz said.
Both HerbThyme Farms and Quail Mountain Herbs also produce edible flowers, which have become more popular in Californian restaurants over the past several years.
“A lot of the chefs like using the edible flowers because of the very subtle flavors they have,” Hurwitz said.
Some of Quail Mountain’s more popular flower offerings include nasturtium, which has a peppery flavor, roses, which are edible if they’re not sprayed, and pansies.
The company offers about 75 varieties of edible flowers throughout the year and has at least two dozen varieties representing the full spectrum of colors, Schmidt said.
HerbThyme Farms has offered edible flowers for over 15 years, and sales seem to increase every year, Hurwitz said. So far, food service operators comprise the base of edible flower buyers, Hurwitz said.
“This is something that’s mostly for special occasions or for weekend nights,” Hurwitz said. “But we’re starting to see the potential of edible flowers at both the retail and foodservice levels on a more ongoing basis,” Hurwitz said.
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