Guest guest Posted May 23, 2003 Report Share Posted May 23, 2003 Hi Clearly I can see I've overstepped the boundaries from reporting to "industry-talk". Sorry about that. I would support your discussion of business in America as right on the mark. However, I'm afraid I'm stunned and disoriented regarding your comments as follows: So if it is a marketing ploy to sell correctly identified, sulfur-free, sterilized herbs, then I have been duped. And then: High volume suppliers tend to have very fresh herbs Ah .... which company are we talking about? In 1995 my somewhat lame marketing pitch was precisely that: correctly identified fresh herbs direct from growers who would forgo the use of sulfur preservatives if you were willing to prepay their work at harvest or prior to harvest. It probably sounded (still sounds) like a boring classroom lecture. Back in 1988 I got scolded nearly every day at ACTCM for buying herbs that were incorrect and highly sulfured. So in 1995 I joined up with the person who scolded me so thoroughly because they were willing to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. In about 1998 after doing business with herbs direct from growers I started to hear and even see my own words come back at me. I first saw it at the 1998 CSOMA show, and thought, "Mmmm ... I must be having an impact on the marketplace." So now my words are coming back at me in 2003 on the CHA list. I can't support the "sterilized" notion of fresh produce, but it very much is and has been my contention over the past 8 years that it's worth prepaying growers and wildcrafters not to use sulfur preservatives when drying their herbs. Also loading and sealing containers on site and being guided by the agronomist PhDs trained in China to verify the better growers and better sites is a worthwhile expedition. On page 9 of Roy Upton's American Herbal Pharmacopoeia's 2003 monograph on Dang Gui you can see Dr. Liang standing in Ming Xiang village in Gansu Province next to the main head villager's daughter Ms. Tsai. Ms. Tsai is the fasted slicer in the village and can cut around 300 lb per day. She notes it's far more difficult to slice the unsulfured Dang Gui, but her traditions precede the historical times of sulfuring. It's one thing to make the claim. It's another thing to carry it out. I'm a simple guy, Todd. I completely support the genuine nature of your views. I also apologize to you and to the list members for getting into an insider's discussion of the industry. It's you who should be evaluating the industry's work not me. If you open a bag of "sterilized" Dang Gui Pian and can smell it's freshness, you go for it. I wholeheartedly agree with you that the herb business should be consumer driven and consumer friendly ... most especially with regard to the practitioners themselves. In Gratitude, Emmanuel Segmen - Friday, May 23, 2003 10:13 AM Re: fu xiao mai, bing lang ban? , "Emmanuel Segmen" <susegmen@i...> wrote:My company is run by a Shanghai doctor and me a scientist with doctors, scientists and growers in China. We're not highly competitive business folks. I do not fault Mayway for adopting an american model of business. It is their right. They distribute a very high quality product and follow all US laws. While I appreciate your labor of love as I also labor for peanuts, perhaps Mayway long ago saw the writing on the walls. You don't survive in the global market unless you profit. And if you don't survive, then you cannot accomplish your mission, whatever that may be. I don't like it, but many important things have been created by rich competitive people (including this browser in which I write). It has oft been stated that the successful capitalists succeed by giving the market what it wants and needs. There were lots of little guys along the way, but the world would not have access to the internet and personal computing if not for one man and one company. Same thing for the railroads, automobiles. I am not much of a capitalist myself, but I can't help but notice those guys get things done. It remains to be seen as to what forces are actually remembered by history as bring TCM to america.So if it is a marketing ploy to sell correctly identified, sulfur-free, sterilized herbs, then I have been duped. I also do not see how Mayway not being able to currently procure bing lang could be construed as some form of attempt to kill off competitors. They lose market share by not having an herb available. In fact, the likely reason mayway does not have bing lang is because they turn over their herbs in such high volume. High volume suppliers tend to have very fresh herbs and one thing many of us have noticed is that the appearance of mayway herbs is often far superior to those available in local herb shops. I for one, appreciate the quality.Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 23, 2003 Report Share Posted May 23, 2003 Hi, Todd and All, I still recommend you buy Roy's monograph of Dang Gui, but here's a picture from the Ming Xiang village in Gansu Province. Dr. Liang is on the right and Ms. Tsai (fasted slicer in Gansu) is on the left. I asked Dr. Liang if Ms. Tsai was really strong. She said no ... just perfect technique. Emmanuel Segmen On page 9 of Roy Upton's American Herbal Pharmacopoeia's 2003 monograph on Dang Gui you can see Dr. Liang standing in Ming Xiang village in Gansu Province next to the main head villager's daughter Ms. Tsai. Ms. Tsai is the fasted slicer in the village and can cut around 300 lb per day. She notes it's far more difficult to slice the unsulfured Dang Gui, but her traditions precede the historical times of sulfuring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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