How to make money by collecting and selling medicinal herbs. Growing medicinal plants as a business

The rich experience of human interaction with nature provided contemporaries with a huge store of knowledge about plants that have medicinal properties.

Thanks to this, directions began to form traditional medicine. Despite the fact that today more and more drugs made on a chemical basis have begun to be produced, people have little confidence in them.

At the same time, there is an increasing interest in natural recipes, and therefore in medicinal herbs, which correct use produce an excellent healing effect. Naturally, in order for medicinal herbs, which can also be grown in greenhouses, to appear in pharmacies, it is necessary that someone do this.

Currently, there are about one hundred and sixty names of medicinal plants that are approved for use. That's why the sale medicinal herbs with good organization, it has become a source of income for many.

Natural remedies are used for both internal and external use. The first category includes infusions, decoctions, hydroalcoholic tinctures and extracts. In the second - herbal baths, wraps, lotions, compresses.

For both categories, medicinal plants are used as raw materials. Therefore, in many pharmacies and related retail outlets Those who have permission sell medicinal herbs, among which there are special anti-asthmatic or diuretic, chest, as well as choleretic or sedative and many other herbs.

This popularity is due not only to low price and safety, but also to the possibility of long-term use of these drugs in combination with other drugs.

Growing medicinal herbs as a business is profitable. Considerable income is generated by the processing of this natural raw material due to the low costs required for equipment, as well as the constant demand for this type of product.

Production technology

The full production cycle of medicinal herbs consists of the following stages: growing the raw materials themselves, their assembly, then drying and processing, subsequent packaging and sale of medicinal herbs.

For cultivation, it is better to organize a plantation. This will require the availability of land as well as equipment. We need to purchase seeds and fertilizers. Such production as a form of business has many advantages: firstly, you can obtain controlled volumes of plants, in addition, raw materials are always available.

However, for those starting their own business, it is better at the first stage to simply purchase raw materials from special collectors, then subject them to further processing and pack them into herbal packaging. This is explained by the fact that the growing process requires certain costs, as well as knowledge in the technology of producing medicinal plants. True, when purchasing raw materials, you need to have an idea of ​​​​all varieties of herbs and exercise caution, carefully checking the collections.

Processing of raw materials

Manufacturers of herbal infusions should be aware that special GOST 24027.2-80 determines the quality of herbal raw materials. In addition, there are special organizations involved in the research of natural products. This is done by the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision Authority and the Center for Metrology and Standardization, as well as some laboratories working at pharmaceutical factories.

The incomplete process of processing herbs occurs as follows. First, the raw materials are sorted and cleaned of impurities and rotten parts, after which they are sent for drying, which is a method of preservation. The natural method involves placing the plants in a ventilated area in the shade.

Thus, all raw materials are preserved as much as possible. active substances and its color. For machine drying, select a mode that corresponds to the composition of a particular plant: herbs, rich essential oils, dried at temperatures up to thirty degrees.

Signs of the end of drying are a characteristic crack when the rhizomes break, as well as the possibility of grinding leaves and grass into powder, and dryness of the flowers to the touch. At the same time, well-dried fruits should not stick together into lumps when compressed.

The loss of mass of raw materials is eighty percent for leaves and berries, seventy percent for flowers, sixty percent for grass, buds and rhizomes, and forty percent for bark.

Marketable condition

The dried plants then go into herbal grinders. The size is regulated by a special sieve, based on the purpose of the plant variety. For example, for baths and poultices, raw materials are cut into pieces no larger than two millimeters, and some parts medicinal plants generally bypass this stage during processing. These are seeds, flowers, berries and small inflorescences.

Then the crushed raw materials enter the mixer, in which the mixtures are prepared, where some components with essential oils are added to the mass by spraying, then it is dried at a temperature of about sixty degrees.

Apart from the usual grinding and mixing, there are other methods of processing plant herbs, such as producing aromatic oils and obtaining dry extracts. These production methods require expensive equipment, but bring good income.

Package

Medicinal herbs are usually sold in cardboard boxes. Healing infusions are packaged in fifty, one hundred and two hundred grams. Carton boxes, according to the requirements, must be lined with parchment paper. Sometimes the herb is placed in a double paper bag.

Raw materials that have not yet been packaged should be stored in dry, ventilated areas, with little humidity, in closed bags, paper and cloth bags, boxes, boxes lined with clean white paper, or jars.

Herbs should be packaged only for their intended purpose: for example, “for colds” or “for coughs”, “for good night"or "for the kidneys", etc. For the right combination When producing herbs for medicinal prescriptions, the presence of a herbalist will definitely be required. As a container at the initial stage of production, when there is no income yet, it is allowed to use ordinary resealable plastic bags.

The pharmaceutical industry is constantly searching for new drugs to treat various diseases, but for the average Russian, these drugs are inaccessible, since their price exceeds the capabilities of the family budget of many people. And it’s not just the high price of medicines, but also their numerous side effects. harmful effects on the body. Moreover, in last years There are many counterfeit medications sold in pharmacies, which are almost impossible for the buyer to distinguish from genuine ones. All these factors encourage a person to use natural herbal medicine as a remedy. But you can use this not only for your own needs; collecting medicinal herbs as a business is a very promising way to maintain your financial condition.

Attractive aspects of business on medicinal herbal raw materials:

• the demand in the herbal market significantly exceeds the existing supply;
• the popularity of herbal treatment is increasing every year;
• to promote a herbal business, virtually no capital investments are required;
• When processing medicinal herbal raw materials, significant added value is created.

The medicinal plant business has one thing important property– the procurement of raw materials is carried out only in the summer-autumn period, and its sale can continue throughout the year.

First steps in entrepreneurship

First, an entrepreneur starting a herbal business will have to thoroughly study the varieties of herbs growing in a given region. It is very important to learn how to distinguish useful herbs from useless ones. poisonous plants. You also need to know well those plants that are protected by the Red Book of the Russian Federation as endangered species.

The next step is to obtain permission to collect medicinal herbs and other plants from the forestry department. If the application for activity is considered positively, then you need to sign an agreement to collect medicinal raw materials in the area. It does not matter how the collection of raw materials will be carried out - alone or additional workers will be attracted for this. Of course, these people are able to increase the collection of herbs several times, but they will have to spend money monthly to pay for their labor.

Technology for harvesting medicinal plants

You can immediately list the main stages of work on the preparation and marketing of medicinal raw materials plant origin:

• artificial cultivation plants;
• work on collecting medicinal raw materials from artificial crops and in wildlife;
• drying the material;
• processing and packaging activities finished material;
• sale of goods.

To grow plants yourself, rather than collect them in the wild, you need to rent land plot, buy equipment and seeds with fertilizers. When you independently grow plants useful for human health, it becomes possible to control the amount of harvested products for each type of raw material. But it should be noted that there are disadvantages of this method - considerable costs arise for soil cultivation and fertilization. In addition, for such procurement of medicinal herbs, there is a need to obtain special agrotechnical knowledge on growing and collecting raw materials.

When collecting medicinal raw materials, you must adhere to the following rules:

1. It is best to harvest early in the day, when the herbs and plants are dry from the morning dew. Plants that are wet from dew or rain should not be collected, as they subsequently lose their presentation and may acquire an unpleasant taste and aroma.
2. It is required to strictly observe the time for collecting medicinal herbs and plants, which can be established in reference books on medicinal raw materials.
3. The farther from settlements and roads will be collected, the more valuable the collected material will be. There are standards for this - collection can be carried out at a distance of at least 100 meters from roads, and at least 20 kilometers from large settlements. It is also unacceptable to collect medicinal raw materials near city landfills or agricultural lands where various chemical substances in the form of fungicides, herbicides, etc.

A good way to speed up the development of entrepreneurship is to organize the purchase of medicinal herbs from the population. In this case, you will have to open a point for receiving medicinal herbs, where those who wish can hand over the collected raw materials without any problems and receive the corresponding wages.

The collected raw materials must immediately be sorted out and impurities and foreign plants removed from them. This will further give the product a good presentation and will attract buyers. Next, the material is sent for drying, which can occur both in natural and artificial conditions. In order for plants to maintain their appearance and internal contents, drying should be done in a shaded and well-ventilated area. But when machine drying, you will need to select the required mode.

If medicinal herbs are received from the population, then the collectors of the material must be aware in advance of the requirements that apply to the plants being delivered. This can significantly reduce labor costs for sorting and sorting material, and therefore reduce its cost. And yet, the price of taking medicinal herbs must be constantly compared with the selling price of the finished product, and as a result, the entrepreneur must receive sufficient profit for active work.

The cost of goods in the industrial cultivation of medicinal herbs is much lower. Despite the fact that this method involves significant technological costs, the amount of medicinal raw materials is ultimately so large that no manual collection of wild herbs and shrubs can compare with it. It is very important not to use harmful substances in fertilizers and soil improvers. chemical compounds, since in this case medicines obtained from herbs can not only lose their valuable properties, but also turn out to be harmful to humans.

Prices for medicinal herbs and their fees

When selling goods collected and prepared for sale, you should focus on the prices that are established on the modern drug market. Of course, these prices can vary significantly depending on the time of year and the exchange rate of the Russian currency. But on this moment they are defined in the following range:

• Dried cranberries - 200 rubles per 200 gram bag.
• Dried raspberries– 110 rubles per 50 gram bag.
• Dried mint – 250 rubles per bunch weighing 1 kilogram.
• Dried sage – 500 rubles per 1 kilogram bunch.
• Dried rosehip – 50 rubles per 50 grams.
• Dried grass Coltsfoot - 100 rubles per bunch weighing 100 grams.
• Dried St. John's wort - 30 rubles per bunch weighing 50 grams.
• Dried chamomile – 100 rubles per 200 grams.

Prices for other herbs and their preparations can be easily found on Internet sites on the relevant topics. These are important business guidelines, since by unreasonably raising prices, an entrepreneur risks losing his clients, and by underestimating his work, he can lose a significant amount of income and have low profitability of the established enterprise.

Ways to sell goods

A good option for selling goods is to open an online store of medicinal herbs. But in order for a site to find its clients and customers online, it needs to be promoted through the ranks of TOP popularity. This can be provided by specialists in the field of website promotion technologies, whom you will have to contact. If the site is promoted and there are enough customers for medicinal raw materials, then it will be necessary to organize channels for sending the goods to consumers. One of them is Russian Post. But many online stores create their own channels for delivering goods to consumers, including courier services. The main thing is that the fees for delivery of goods are not comparable to the cost of the orders themselves.

If there is a pharmacy of medicinal herbs in the region, then it is necessary to establish business relations with this enterprise. Sometimes pharmacies purchase medicinal herbs in bulk, which significantly improves the financial situation of the business. An excellent option is contracts for the supply of medicinal raw materials to pharmaceutical companies; as a rule, they also purchase medicinal herbs in bulk. Payment in this case is carried out by non-cash method. The main thing is that payments for delivered products arrive at the entrepreneur’s account without delay. This circumstance must be clearly discussed before the delivery of raw materials begins.

Of course, you can open a real medicinal herbal store in your town, but here you need to think through everything carefully and “weigh it”. After all, the cost of renting a premises or kiosk with a seller may be comparable to the income from the sale of goods. Then the meaning of selling medicinal herbs will be lost, and instead of the expected profit, the entrepreneur will receive losses. If everything is well thought out and a stable forecast for the success of the business is obtained, then there is no point in postponing the start of entrepreneurship. Determined people conquer almost any field of activity.

Pharmacy today offers consumers a variety of drugs that can successfully treat various diseases. But people consume quite a lot of chemicals, and many choose to treat with natural remedies such as herbs. You can find any extract in pharmacies, but the industry practically does not produce herbal medicines. That is why this niche open for business.

It is important to make one subtle remark here: only those who know nature well and understand medicinal plants can engage in this business.

What is needed to organize a business?

When planning this type of activity, pay attention to possible options events. This business from scratch can be the main one, during the development of which you will have to organize the collection of herbs, hire workers, organize production volumes and sales of goods. In addition, you will need registration entrepreneurial activity, as well as obtaining a license for this type of work.

The next stage is renting or purchasing premises, seeds, and organizing their cultivation. After this, you will need to prepare and sell the goods. Such activities require significant investment. You don’t have to collect herbs yourself, but open a collection point, then your task will only include drying and selling.

Another option is without any cash investment. You can organize your own business and not go to a large-scale level. For beginning entrepreneurs who do not have experience in this field, it is better to use it as additional income.

What equipment will you need to buy?

You can grow medicinal plants yourself, without the need to purchase equipment. They can successfully grow in summer cottages, and herbs can be dried and stored in utility rooms. If you plan to produce a large number of raw materials, you will need to buy a special drying chamber or a floor dryer equipped with a mesh tray. If improperly dried, the raw material will lose its appearance and aroma, and it becomes useless for medical purposes. Accordingly, proper processing and storage of plants is the key to business success.

Collection can be carried out in a basket or box, the main thing is that the container is clean. It is recommended to grind dried raw materials with a regular mortar. In addition, you will need to purchase packaging materials. Fragrant herbs and flowers are used in the manufacture of various mixtures, as well as fragrant pillows. Birch and oak branches – great option for the manufacture of bath brooms.

Production Features

Collection is carried out in spring and summer. It is advisable to do this before noon or after the dew has disappeared. It is not recommended to collect plants after sunset. Be careful not to damage the herbs, especially if you want flowers and leaves. When collecting roots, you do not need to pull out all the plants found. Thin them out, otherwise next year nothing will grow here. You should also pick only those herbs that you need, without damaging those growing nearby.

When collecting plants, follow all steps, such as the recommended time for collection. This allows you to save beneficial features herbs After collection, the plants should be treated and weeds removed that were picked accidentally. Bunches are formed from the plants, after which they are hung out to dry under a canopy, but not in damp room. It is better to dry the raw materials in the wind in the shade.

Sales of medicinal herbs

One of the important components of business is the sale of raw materials. This is how you can earn income. To sell finished plants, you can use pharmacies or companies whose main activity is the production of homeopathic medicines. You can also sell medicinal herbs on the market; people actively purchase them in autumn and winter, when there is a peak in colds. Advertisements in print publications and on the Internet can increase sales. In order for the sale of medicinal herbs to be effective, you must adhere to the requirements for dried herbs. This is important if you work with pharmaceutical companies.

Business on medicinal herbs: profitable or not?

This type of income is quite attractive, because its organization does not require significant costs, so there are excellent opportunities to make a profit, and very soon after the start. Dry medicinal herbs are in steady demand, and in winter there is a rush. In addition, you can earn good income by selling bath brooms.

You can determine how profitable it is by reading some examples and prices of grass that are most popular among the population. Herbs used in the preparation of decoctions for weight loss are in demand. No less popular are herbs used in the production of medicines for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and pancreas.

For example, the cost of a kilogram of dry licorice root is 1,850 rubles. This medicine used in the treatment of colds, stomach ulcers, asthma. It is known for its immunomodulatory and antioxidant properties. The cost of a kilogram of dry elecampane root is 1,350 rubles. The root is used as an anti-inflammatory, choleretic, diuretic and hemostatic agent.

It is worth noting that selling herbs is not only a way to generate income, but also a useful pastime. After all, you will have the opportunity to often be outdoors and constantly move. This type of income is perfect for students and retirees. And what it will be - more large-scale or additional - is up to the business organizer to decide. Developing production capacity, you can increase your profits.

• House in the village
• Knowledge
• List of plants
• Search for buyers
• How to quickly expand your business

In a world where there are practically no relatively free business niches left, people are increasingly turning to creativity, and also remembering the occupations and crafts of their ancestors. One of these is the collection and sale of medicinal plants. But what is necessary for the successful development of this income? Next, we will take a closer look at what the collection of medicinal herbs is like as a business.

House in the village

It is advisable to collect plants in places far from man-made pressure and industrial centers. Wooded or steppe areas are best suited for this. To effectively organize a business on medicinal herbs, you need to acquire a base - a house in a village or settlement near a forest or unplowed, abandoned agricultural land.

If you can’t afford to buy a house in the village, you can find villagers who, for a reasonable fee, will allow you to live in their house for a while. It is also necessary to take care of the place where it will be stored. medicinal collection, for example, a barn or part of a veranda. This will not be easy to do, especially in remote villages, where any passive income and even small cash are welcome. The most the best option for business will equip an abandoned house as a transshipment base for herbs. There are also plenty of them in remote villages and villages. You can organize a kind of medicinal mini-factory in it.

Knowledge

To make money from medicinal plants, you definitely need minimal knowledge of what herbs look like and when to collect them. It is also necessary to know which plants have medicinal properties, and which body systems are affected. To do this, it is better to study some scientific works in botany or gain knowledge from local residents in villages, if, of course, they are carriers of such information. Ideally, it is best to take part in collecting plants yourself or attract specialists to develop this business.

By the way, if you want to open a business collecting medicinal plants and subsequently register an individual entrepreneur, it will be important to know that this craft has been assigned the OKVED code 02.30.

List of plants

You should not look for exotic plants and break the law by collecting them in protected areas. An ordinary forest and even a forest belt is a treasure trove of nature. Many medicinal plants grow there, such as:

• St. John's wort - excellent depressant, an effective antidepressant;
• Wild mint - has a calming effect on the nervous system, is used in the production of cosmetics, has a sharp cooling smell, which appears when the leaves are rubbed;
• Coltsfoot - allows you to effectively fight cough, helps with whooping cough;
• Licorice is a powerful remedy for stimulating mucus production during colds;
• Sea buckthorn - oil from the berries of this plant helps heal wounds and is also used in the treatment of ulcers. It's important to know when to pick the bright yellow berries;
• Sage – helps in the treatment of ulcers, has a diuretic effect;
• Wild rose hips are a source of vitamin C. Its medicinal and preventive effect can hardly be overestimated. This is an excellent remedy for combating exhaustion and anemia;
• Linden blossom – prevention of kidney diseases and disorders nervous system it is also important to know when to collect;
• Lingonberry is an excellent disinfectant and diuretic;
• Raspberries are the most expensive of all the above plants and are used to treat colds and infectious diseases. Both fruits and leaves can be collected.

Plantain also has medicinal properties. It stops bleeding perfectly, but it can be considered to a greater extent field means. It does not retain its properties for long after failure. Corn silk also has a medicinal effect - these are threads located under the leaves around the fruit. This list of herbs alone is enough to set up your business. In the future, you can expand it by studying new types of plants and organizing their collection.

We draw your attention to the fact that you need to take care of the packaging of products for sale. We recommend using environmentally friendly paper bags, because In polyethylene, herbs may lose their properties.

Search for buyers

As you can see, mastering the medicinal plant business is not a problem. Selling medicinal herbs will cause more worries. After all, in order to make money, they need to be sold. This is where the Internet comes to the rescue. You can create your own resource offering to buy gifts of nature. The main factor here is website promotion to attract visitors who are potential clients and, very well, if they are regular ones. This is an effective and simple sales scheme that does not require significant financial investments. You can also find specialized third-party resources and offer your services as a supplier of medicinal herbs.

You might be interested in: Breeding purebred cats - profitable business idea!

An example of a ready-made online store through which you can sell:

We draw your attention to the fact that on the websites you can immediately study the prices that you should focus on when selling your own medicinal mixture!

How to quickly expand your business

If you collect herbs and plants alone, you won’t be able to earn much. The maximum is 90,000 rubles, which is expensive every day, since some types of natural medicines quickly fade, so it is important to collect as much as possible useful herbs. This also makes it necessary to know which plants bloom or lose their medicinal properties when.

To optimize the process and earn more, you should involve local residents in the collection. Their knowledge of the area, and therefore the accumulation of medicinal herbs, will be a good help. For a relatively small fee, they will help you collect an impressive amount useful plants. Here you can organize packaging of the resulting material after drying. Equipment for this will require no more than 30,000 rubles.

This option for earning money has a huge advantage - the medicinal collection can be stored for quite a long time and does not require urgent sale. That, in fact, is all I wanted to tell you about the collection of medicinal herbs as a business. Finally, we recommend watching this useful video

The pharmaceutical industry is constantly producing new medications, but the population is losing confidence in them. This is due to the fact that medications are expensive and often have side effects and there is a high probability of purchasing a fake. Therefore, more and more people are turning to the help of medicinal herbs. You can use them for your own needs, or you can make a business out of them.

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What is attractive about the activity?

Advantages that the business has:

• lack of saturation of the market due to the fact that its needs are not met;
• increasing popularity of medicinal plants;
• the opportunity to make a profit without starting capital;
• high profitability;
• obtaining added value during the processing process.

The business of medicinal raw materials is characterized by one feature. It consists in the fact that the collection of plants takes place in the summer and autumn, and the sale takes place all year round.

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Where to start entrepreneurship?

Before you start a business, you need to study all the types of herbs that grow in your area, paying special attention to medicinal plants and poisonous ones. You should also find out which plants are listed in the Red Book. Then you need to obtain permission to rent a plot and collect medicinal plants. To do this, you need to contact the forestry agency. The agency may approve or reject your application, giving reasons. If the application is accepted, the lease agreement is signed.

You can collect medicinal raw materials yourself or with the help of hired workers. Usage extra hands will significantly increase production volumes. But this will require certain monthly labor costs. Let's look at the stages of a business selling medicinal herbs. Some stages may be omitted from production.

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Stages of preparation and implementation

1. Growing raw materials.
2. Collection.
3. Drying.
4. Processing and packaging.
5. Implementation.

If you plan not to collect plants, but to grow them yourself, then you will need to purchase land, equipment, seeds and fertilizers.

The advantage of growing plants is the ability to control production volumes and plant types.

Disadvantages are significant costs and the need to know the technology of growing and collecting plants.

Rules for collecting raw materials:

1. The best time to collect is in the morning, when the dew has dried. Never collect plants after rain or during dew. If you do not follow this advice, the plants will lose their presentation and acquire an unpleasant odor.
2. Each plant has an optimal harvest period. Therefore, you need to acquire the necessary information.
3. They collect herbs away from civilization. If this is not possible, then at least try to collect herbs at a distance of more than 100 m from roads and more than 20 km from industrial enterprises, away from fields treated with herbicides and pesticides, and from landfills.

The collected material is sorted, freed from impurities and rotten plants and sent for drying. At natural way plants are placed in a shaded and ventilated room to preserve color and useful material. If machine drying is used, then select the appropriate mode.

To give products a marketable appearance, attract more buyers and increase the cost of raw materials, the collected grass must be processed.

Methods for processing medicinal herbs:

• crushing products using a cutting machine;
• packaging of raw materials of one type in boxes or bags;
• preparation of mixed mixtures (for tea, for baths, for cosmetic and medical procedures);
• making aromatic pads (sachets) from various plants used to improve sleep and mood, calm the nerves, repel moths and have a pleasant smell;
• production of bath brooms;
• making soap using medicinal herbs;
• preparation of infusions and decoctions;
• production of semi-finished products for a specific production.

Distribution channels for medicinal plants:

• collection points for natural materials;
• pharmacies;
• companies involved in the pharmaceutical industry;
• healers;
• Internet;
• own point of sale.

The best option is to sell the goods yourself. In addition, in this case it will be possible to accept medicinal herbs from the population, increasing the volume of goods. But in the case of independent sale, additional knowledge, investments and hiring of appropriate specialists will be required. To be able to trade herbs, you need to obtain a license. A license costs approximately 10,000 rubles, but you will have to wait several months to obtain it. It is advisable to hire herbalists and pharmacists who understand plants, since clients mostly consult with the seller without knowing what they need.

Documents for obtaining a license:

1. List of manufactured medicines.
2. Charter
3. Memorandum of association.
4. Protocol on the founding of the company.
5. Confirmation of registration with the tax office.
6. Statistics codes.
7. Extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.
8. Documented consent of local authorities to open production.
9. Conclusion of the sanitary-epidemiological station on the compliance of production with sanitary requirements.

It will take about 150 thousand rubles to prepare the documentation.