PPC Herbs. Leaders in Organics

Realising there was going to be an increasing World demand for genuine organic products including Australian Certified Organic herbs in herbal medicines and cosmetics, was the motive behind the establishment of The Pharmaceutical Plant Company in 1993.

We could see no health benefits in using imported trade herbs that are fumigated or irradiated on entry to Australia, when there was a plentiful supply of clean green organic Australian herbs right here on our doorsteps. From the very beginning, we saw that the health benefits of natural medicines and therapies were largely dependant on the supply of uncontaminated ingredients. So far 85% of our products are made with Australian Organic Herbs, and we are 100% Australian owned and controlled.

We manufacture a large range of Practitioner Only liquid herbal extracts, a range of Listed herbal products available for sale to the public, a very successful range of Organic hair and skin care products, a range of herbal creams, a large range of homoeopathics, and have a rapidly growing area of contract manufacturing of organic products for other companies.

We are proud of the fact that our dedication to the use of Australian Organic herbs, which has been our guiding principle for the past ten years, has been recognised and accepted by our customers and is a major reason they choose to use our products, and the main reason for our growth.

Most of our growers are small to medium family groups of dedicated people who truly value their organic way of life. The herbs they produce reflect the quality, consistency and the happy organic life style they live by. We work as a team with our growers, encouraging them and giving them advice on how to improve the quality of their herbs.

We test every batch of herbs both internally in our own laboratory and externally by using a T.G.A. qualified external laboratory, the Australian Herb Technical Resource Centre which gives us completely impartial test results. We do thin layer chromatography (TLC) in our own laboratory on every herb, as well as a battery of other tests, as required by the TGA, and use outside specialists for high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to identify herbs and the quantities of active ingredients they contain. This external impartial check means we cannot be accused of doing our own policing, and we make the results available to growers to help them improve their herbs.

All the manufacturing processes are performed inside our Clean Rooms under GMP conditions and all products manufactured undergo rigorous Finished Product Testing to meet the specifications laid down by the regulators. Our Quality Documentation procedure allows for complete traceability of all products, processes, equipment including, raw materials, finished products, and all aspects of the manufacturing processes.

Certified means no Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) are used and the herbs are free of contamination. Organic Herbs have not been fed any artificial fertilizers to boost their growth, with absolutely no chemicals used while growing. Being a Certified Organic Manufacturer means the quest for purity and quality continues, well after the harvesting. We store Organic Herbs in a special area. They are not fumigated for insect pests and are kept separate from Trade herbs to avoid contamination. Our temperature controlled (20°C) clean rooms ensures a true cold percolation extraction takes place. No heating is used to concentrate or evaporate ethanol. Over-heating reduces actives, enzymes and nutrient, and reduces the quality of the extract.

This special treatment continues until they are in the bottle with “Organic Herb in process” labels on all equipment used in their manufacture.

The organic extracts are carefully bottled and labelled with our Gold Medal stickers and NASAA or OGA stickers to show you easily and quickly that the herb is Organic. We cannot, as a Certified Organic Manufacturer, call any herb Certified Organic unless the strict adherences to the guidelines have been met. Our price list easily allows the practitioner to determine the source, country and organic status of each herb.

We were the first and are currently the only processor of Medicinal herbs in Australia Certified Grade A by the Organic Herb Growers of Australia (OGA) No. 578 and are also the first and currently the only Medicinal herb manufacturer to be Certified as an organic Processor of Herbal Medicine* by the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia Ltd. (NASAA) No. 3458P, which has International accreditation through the International Federation of Organic Movements (IFOAM), and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS ) who regulate what comes in and what goes out of Australia. We are members of the Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA) and certified as organic processors (10394P) by the ACO. We are licensed by the Australian Department of Health, (TGA Licence No 50725) to produce herbal and homoeopathic medicines to a GMP standard accepted by the World Health Organisation, and have been licensed to make Veterinary products by the NRA ( No 2157 ) trading as Organic Animal Remedies.
I have been professionally involved with farmer groups for over 30 years, both in production and marketing and as former organic strawberry grower.

We hope you will take the time to consider our products and help us to support the Australian herb growing industry.

Gordon Robertson
Managing Director

* Correct as at February 2006. Check http://www.nasaa.com.au under Producers/Processors.