The Essential Oil Industry

The essential oil production industry traditionally consists of large farms that produce a huge batch of oil from a single plant species per year (or maybe a couple). This model favors a wholesale method that treats the oil as a commodity to be traded on public markets. These large quantities of oil are then sold to industrial producers or to distributing companies that repackage, brand, and sometimes dilute the oils for retail sale.

These distributing companies source batches directly from distillers around the world, ship them vast distances and enforce (or not) their internal quality control standards before retail sale. Unless the distributing company observes the entire growing and distillation process for each batch directly, they cannot fully guarantee many of the things that their customers want to know about, like specific growing and handling conditions. Still, sometimes these companies have been accused of nefarious marketing practices. (Again)

Add to this a general level of distrust among buyers about the purity of essential oils. There is no independent certifying body for essential oil purity or quality. Since they are so concentrated, it is often quite difficult to tell by scent if a bottle labeled as “Pure” has been diluted with a carrier oil.

Blue Ridge Aromatics offers a unique value-proposition to the regional market in that we grow and distill relatively small batches of a wide variety of organic herbs; the oils and hydrosols of which are offered directly to natural healing practitioners. From seed (or cutting) to bottle, we handle our herbs and essential oils personally, every step of the way. Our customers know their oils are completely pure and of the highest quality.

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