Healthy herbs

Kevin Lindseth and his partner, Richard Mason, had no idea the benefits they would reap when they relocated their fledgling organic herb business, Herb Trade, to northern Nevada from Newark, N.J.

Lindseth's father had built a 15,000-square-foot warehouse in Stead in part to lure his son back home from the East Coast. Tax breaks, and the fact that more than half their customers are located between Los Angeles and Seattle, helped too.

But the best part was the weather.

"The climate is particularly good," says Mason, 52. "Humidity is a constant enemy for storing dried product. You can have mold and yeast and (other) problems that we don't have. If the same mills were working on the East Coast, we would have a lot more trouble than we do here. It is ideal for what we do."

Herb Trade at 12101 Moya Blvd. sells organic herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables to manufacturers that need organic products for foods, teas or other herbal uses. Its primary markets are the United States and Canada, with Europe as a secondary market.

Lindseth, 43, says Herb Trade was originally going to take half the warehouse space, but they had to lease the whole building by the time they arrived.

In their first year in after arriving in northern Nevada in 2002 they outgrew that space. After essentially re-tooling the company - just five people relocated - Herb Trade is closing in on 45 employees. The company has an office in Shanghai, and satellite agents in the Netherlands, Germany and Mexico assisting with buying or selling products.

In January Herb Trade leased an additional 25,000 square feet of warehouse space next door for product storage. The company also added a product development room, a microbiology lab, additional staffing and private offices. The company has grown 50 to 70 percent since arriving here.

"We couldn't have chosen a better place to relocate Herb Trade," Mason says. "Trucking here is competitive, and warehousing, considering what we had in New York, it's pretty easy to buy land and construct a warehouse. We are able to own and manage our own facilities here, which is great because when we invest in what we have to do for processing, we are not in a rental facility. We feel more confident about the investments we make here."

One of company's strongest growth areas has been as an organic supplier. Early in its history, China became important buyer of vegetables, and later with fruits as well. The increased business necessitated a quality control agent, the primary function of the Shanghai office. However, herbs are still the bulk of Herb Trade's business.

"Like many businesses, we have taken quite a bit of lead or direction from our customer base," Mason says. "It has continually asked us about products and product ranges that originally weren't part of the game plan of Herb Trade. We began by selling herbs largely to tea companies and people who use herbs. That led us into vegetables, and that led us into fruits."

Herb Trade continues to expand product lines - and its capabilities. The company has mainly acted a "preparatory manufacturer," cutting, grinding, sifting or blending dried bulk products through one or more of its four mills for use by other manufacturers. With the added staff and a focus on product development, Herb Trade eventually hopes to supply ingredients, flavors and to package and distribute its own branded products.

Dawn Wykoff, who works as product development supervisor, says the opportunities for growth are expanding.

"As large food companies change over to organic because of consumer demand, everything that is conventional will want to transfer to organic. What we are seeing within a very short period of time is the conventional customer asking for organic replicas."