North Carolina Rising

Gaia Herbs

North Carolina may be home to numerous high tech jobs but agriculture remains the number one industry, contributing more than $70 billion annually to the state's economy. As conventional crops like tobacco become less viable, growers are turning to a variety of alternative crops. Medicinal herbs are one of the fastest growing sectors of the agricultural industry and Gaia Herbs, located in Transylvania County, is one company that believes it is well poised to benefit from that expansion.

Gaia cultivates 250 acres of medicinal herbs in western North Carolina. It is a certified organic grower and nationally branded manufacturer of liquid herbal extracts. The company prides itself on its commitment to quality. Farm Manger Jorge Mendez says no chemicals are used on the farm and the standards are very strict in determining the best time for the plants to be harvested, "We take samples to the lab and if the samples show they're still lower in medicine we don't harvest them," said Mendez. "We wait until they get to their peak and when they're ready to be harvested they tell me from the lab we can go ahead and do it."

There are a wide variety of plants that are used for medicinal purposes, Gaia grows anywhere from 30-55 varieties each year. Gaia CEO and Founder Ric Scalzo believes the demand is growing for these botanicals because people are becoming more and more curious about how to address common disorders without pharmaceuticals. "Many people are concerned about the side effects of drugs," said Scalzo.

Medicinal herbs have a long history in western North Carolina, particularly among Native Americans. "The biodiversity in western North Carolina and particularly in Transylvania County is vast," said Scalzo. "In fact 80% of the plant species that grow in the U.S. grow right in this region which makes it optimum for botanical cultivation."

Gaia can't grow all of what it needs and the company believes there's a lot potential for farmers in the herbal industry. "This whole industry is growing rapidly year after year," said Jackie Greenfield, Vice President of Global Sourcing and Sustainability. "One of our biggest challenges is finding high quality certified organic material." Gaia is working with farmers in the U.S. because of growing concern about contamination, adulteration and quality issues seen in some overseas botanical materials, particularly those coming from China.

Quality is something Gaia spends a lot of time working on. An on site lab tests all of the plant and extract materials to be sure they meet company standards and that consumers are getting what they pay for. "There have been several instances where we buy certified organic material and we've found pesticide residues," said Jeremy Stewart, Chief Scientist. "You constantly have to be on the lookout for any contamination for not good quality and that could be from the standpoint of strength from the biomarker, microbial or heavy metal standpoint."

Gaia likes to say it's a vertically integrated company from seed to bottle. Along with its farm, Gaia operates a 36,000 square foot herbal products manufacturing facility. "In this facility after we receive a botanical we'll grind it and then extract it here and that's really the beginning of our manufacturing process extraction," said Jamie Brandenburg, Plant Manger. "We'll extract and concentrate it to predetermined strength and then once we get to strength it will go to be encapsulated or bottled as liquid extract."

The company believes it is positioning North Carolina as a supplier to the nation and the world of premium quality botanicals. "There's a group of thought leaders in western North Carolina that are positioning western North Carolina as a center for an emerging natural biotechnology which uses all of the sophisticated science associating with creating well characterized well made botanical medicines," said Greg Cumberford, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. "North Carolina is just well endowed agriculturally to be able to sponsor and support the growth toward this wellness paradigm."

Ric Scalzo says Gaia is able to attract more and more experts to work with them. "It's bringing more knowledge and intelligence to this area around botanical medicine and certainly in this local area in Transylvania County it's really inspired the economy here."

Gaia started out in Massachusetts in the mid 1980's. The company moved to North Carolina in 1996. At that time Transylvania County was home to three large employers, textile, paper and x-ray film manufacturing, all of which have since disappeared. "They had all been here for decades," said Cumberford. "And so when we moved here it seemed kind of odd that a company like ours would come here but they've all gone away and now we're one of the largest private employers in the Transylvania County. I think we've contributed very meaningfully to the economic prospects of this county."

Gaia Herbs employs about 120 people. The company has been growing between 13 to 15 percent every year. In 2009 Gaia was recognized by Governor Bev Purdue and the Western North Carolina Biotechnology Center as a model of economic and environmental sustainability.