Naturally grown, sustainably packaged: Our vision of a green future from cultivation to your home
Today, our world is characterized by globalization, industrial agriculture, and monocultures. The constant pursuit of increasing efficiency and economic growth accompanies us, and it seems as if traditional farming methods and our connection to nature are gradually being forgotten. While it is certainly in our nature to evolve and progress, this constant drive for optimization comes at the expense of the environment, diversity, and sustainability.
Contents
1. Cultivation - from seed to plant in harmony with nature 2. Harvest - handmade for unadulterated purity 3. Drying and processing - gentle and careful for maximum ingredient concentration 4. Packaging - quality products in environmentally friendly packaging 5. Shipping - pure nature directly to your home Our Artemisia annua anamed (A-3): special features and advantages What should I look out for when buying Artemisia annua products?
In the wake of this madness for "higher, faster, further," the pay of smaller, traditional farmers in Germany is declining more and more.
On average, a domestic farmer receives just 22 cents out of every euro. In the 1970s, things were different: a whopping 50% of sales proceeds went to the producer.
Our A-3 is harvested and bottled exclusively by certified producers and according to the highest quality standards in Germany.
We attach great importance to above-average compensation. Although annual mugwort thrives excellently in Germany, many companies source their produce from low-wage countries like China or India to increase profit margins.
Teemana, on the other hand, focuses on short distances and regionality: through our cultivation of Artemisia annua , many German farmers have been able to establish a new, promising source of income. One farmer in southern Germany was even saved from bankruptcy thanks to our A-3 cultivation contracts and, ultimately, the demand from our customers.
Therefore, please help us preserve ethical and sustainable agriculture – moving away from mass production and toward a sustainable, ecological, and responsible way of doing business. This is a huge task, and we can only achieve it together.
For this reason, in this post, we want to give you an insight into the values and guidelines we adhere to throughout our production cycle – from cultivation to the finished product on your shelf. Join us on the journey of Artemisia annua anamed (A-3) and learn how tradition and sustainability accompany every step of our process – for a product that not only fully meets your expectations but also does something good for the planet.
1. Cultivation - from seed to plant in harmony with nature
In the conventional cultivation of many plants, synthetic substances such as artificial fertilizers and pesticides are often used. These are intended to protect the plants from pests and ensure high yields, but they leave numerous traces on the plants and soil.
However, our highest principle is to practice gentle agriculture, in which humans, animals, and plants are treated with equal respect. In this way , we contribute to the healing of our planet. Therefore, our process begins with the traditional cultivation of our plants, in which we follow numerous guidelines. This means we…
- … use only natural pesticides
- … do not use any easily soluble mineral fertilizers and ensure that all fertilizers are used wisely
- … do not use any genetically modified microorganisms
- ... ensure optimal light and water conditions when cultivating our plants. This is the only way we can guarantee their vibrant green color and full nutritional content.
- … we always cultivate our plants away from any roads and industrial landscapes , on a completely fertile, nutrient-rich soil
2. Harvest - Handcrafted for unadulterated purity
The usual harvesting in Europe often involves tractors, which means the finished product also contains components of other, often toxic plants. Furthermore, this widely available herbal product, which consists of mechanically crushed plants, usually contains up to 80% ineffective stems.
We, however, continue to rely on a traditional harvesting process. This means that we do not use any harvesting machines; instead, our plants are harvested by hand . Even the careful stripping of the leaves—the part of the plant with the most valuable nutrients—is still done by hand .
Artemisia annua harvest on our field in Germany
Hand processing and stripping of Artemisia annua leaves in Germany
3. Drying and processing - gentle and careful for maximum ingredient concentration
After harvesting, the leaves undergo a 24-hour pre-drying process in a drying cabinet. They are then gently dried in an oven at temperatures below 40°C, preserving all of their nutrients.
The carefully dried leaves are then further processed under laboratory conditions into leaf cuttings or leaf powder.
Drying in a drying cabinet
Of course, we do not use any processes that expose our plants to ionizing radiation for preservation.
In addition, all our products are regularly tested in laboratory tests by independent institutes to certify their quality. These tests primarily check for heavy metals, germs, mold, and salmonella.
4. Packaging - Quality products in environmentally friendly packaging
Once the Artemisia annua has been sufficiently dried and processed into leaf cuttings or leaf powder, it's time to package it. The dried plants are then carefully filled into small bags in our factory. These bags are stored in large barrels in a dark, dry place until shipping. This ensures that the plants retain their many valuable ingredients .
We always follow the zero-waste principle with our packaging. This means that our packaging is either fully recyclable or combustible without leaving any residue. This means it is free of any aluminum or PVC, and incineration occurs without releasing toxic fumes and gases.
In addition, you can reuse the PE bags we use up to 20 times for other purposes and then return them to the recycling cycle with a clear conscience.
5. Shipping - Pure nature directly to your home
As soon as you click the "Order" button in our online shop, we take the desired bag directly from the light-protected barrel and place it in a brown, light-protected shipping box. We usually ship this the very next day, so the shipment will reach your home within 2 to 3 business days . Of course, we'll provide you with all the necessary tracking updates during shipping, so you can sit back and relax and look forward to receiving your Artemisia annua package with great anticipation.
We are convinced that you won't find a comparable level of naturalness and high quality standards anywhere else . We always ensure that we have complete control over all production steps – from sowing and harvesting to processing and packaging. This is the only way we can offer you a reliable, all-round, worry-free package from a single source.
Our Artemisia annua anamed (A-3): Special features and advantages
Artemisia annua anamed (A-3) is a special creation of annual mugwort, available only at teemana, and offers numerous benefits. These include:
- It contains a significantly higher artemisinin content than the wild forms of Artemisia annua . For comparison, A-3 contains a constant artemisinin content of 1.4 percent, while the artemisinin content of the wild forms fluctuates between 0.05 and 0.4 percent.
- It boasts an above-average yield of leaves . This is particularly valuable because the leaves are the part of the plant with the highest content of artemisinin and other valuable compounds.
It is a pure, natural plant species based exclusively on traditional plant breeding - without any genetic modifications
What should I look for when buying Artemisia annua products?
Now let’s take a look at the features you should consider when buying Artemisia annua products:
- Bright green color: An intense, powerful green color of Artemisia annua products shows that the plant was cultivated under optimal conditions and has a high content of valuable ingredients.
- Pure leaf cutting: Since the Artemisia annua leaves are the part of the plant with the highest content of ingredients, it should be a pure leaf cutting without stems or other plant parts.
- Regional cultivation: Cultivation and quality standards, as well as soil quality, vary by country. To avoid high levels of contamination, the Artemisia annua product should ideally have been cultivated regionally in Germany and under natural conditions.
- Realistic price: Cultivating Artemisia annua under the conditions mentioned often requires considerable effort, as many processes must be performed manually – which naturally consumes a lot of energy and time. Therefore, it's hardly surprising that with a high level of quality, the price also increases accordingly. By comparison, a field worker in Germany earns about 100 times as much as a picker in Northeast India. For the price we pay our German farmers for 1 kilo of A-3 production, we would get 150 kilos of (brown) wild-type produce from Asia.
Conclusion
We hope this article provides you with a comprehensive overview of our guidelines and principles. It is our sincere desire to inform you, our valued customers, about our high quality standards. By shopping at teemana, you are not only supporting a small family business, but also making a valuable contribution to preserving our environment.
If you would like a deeper insight into our harvesting process, we recommend watching the video below:
