Country Life in B.C., Sept. ’98; by Wendy Holm

Alternative Agriculture
From crop to shop for herbal co

Elaine and John McLeod, proprietors of Bowen Island Botanicals Ltd., got their start in farming back in Manitoba in the mid 1960’s, putting John’s agriculture diploma from the University of Manitoba to work raising purebred breeder hogs (Landrace, Yorkshire) for export markets in Southeast Asia, Mexico, the Philippines, Korea, Thailand, and Japan. When a fire wiped out their entire operation in the late 1970’s, the McLeod’s considered their options. Luckily for B.C., their search took them to Bowen Island.

Starting with the concept of an Island garden centre/agricultural supply store in the early 1980’s to support Bowen’s (then larger) farm community - the resulting Meadowbrook Corner Nursery remains a thriving Island business owned/operated by the McLeod’s – the lure of farming remained.

But what to do on a small island with limited ALR base? In one of those “isn’t it funny what directs us along life’s path?” kind of circumstances, the McLeod’s didn’t have very far to look for the answer.

When their two young daughters developed serious food allergies and were subsequently diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (a condition related to immune system impairment), John and Elaine were fortunate to locate a naturopath and physician who were prepared to work together to provide some answers. The result? The two girls are now (thankfully) doing very well and the family’s intense introduction to botanical medicinal's has evolved into a serious farming/manufacturing/distribution venture for the McLeod’s.

From the very beginning, John says, the priority was on “What can we grow?” AND “What can we process ourselves?” John’s skills as a farmer and Elaine’s skills as a researcher helped answer these questions. And both knew from the outset - because of their girl’s experience - that quality was absolutely critical.

This fall, the McLeod’s will be harvesting certified organic Echinacea, St. John’s Wort, and Ginko from their 5.5 acres of land on Bowen and another 12 acres (a third of which is so far planted) in Abbotsford. The organic Goldenseal is still “in the ground” and plans are afoot to add other crops such as Licorice and Wild Indigo. Having the two farms allows them to specialize in varieties that do well in each location.

Key to the economics of this operation is a shiny new laboratory located on their Bowen farm where John and Elaine will add crucial value to the crop through processing (tinctures, extracts, powders, etc,) and packaging.

A marketing consultant who specializes in introducing new products with considerable herbal marketing experience is credited with giving the McLeod’s the “leg up” they needed to develop what has all the earmarks of a successful, Canada wide marketing and distribution systems. “We know enough to know that you don’t go into what you don’t know” says John. With the ongoing help of their consultant, Bowen Botanicals will soon be distributed to professional and retail (pharmacy, health and grocery stores) markets across Canada.

John is quick to credit the skills that Elaine, a university trained researcher with a degree in early childhood education, brings to the partnership. “Research is key in this business. Staying on top of the market, knowing where to look for information, knowing what questions to ask makes all the difference. We started with a thousand unanswered questions. And went after the answers one question at a time.”

As far as John and Elaine are aware, Bowen Botanicals is the only herbal company in B.C. – and one of only three in all of Canada – which are fully integrated: taking the crop from planting through the processing and packaging and final distribution to retail.

Both John and Elaine support the ALR, which they also credit for helping get them into the herb business in the first place: “Growing traditional crops on Bowen’s thin, rocky soiled- ALR would not carry a residential mortgage on seven acres. Herbs combined with processing was pretty much the only economic option open to us.”