PROCESSING TOOLS ADAPTED TO AROMATICS

Our technical expertise : keystone of the quality of our aromatics

Thanks to a favourable climate and an appropriate technical itinerary, the plants develop their aromas over the months. We harvest when they are the most loaded with essential oils, which directly influences the products’ aromas and gives them unequalled powers of smell and taste.

Once harvested, the plants are dried gently, ventilated with ambient air on the producer’s own dryer, preserving their primary organoleptic qualities. This crucial step is well controlled. The moisture content and colour of the plants are constantly monitored to avoid losing essential oils.

The next step is threshing dry branches. This detaches the leaves (the parts of the plant we are particularly interested in) from the stem. This results in a product we call “thresher crude”.

The cooperative centralises the collection of batches from members to prepare them for sale. They are cut, sorted and graded to remove all impurities from the product, namely dust, stems and any foreign matter. The batches are then homogenised and blended following a predetermined recipe. None of our products are subject to an ionization process.

The last steps are the packaging and then the shipping orders according to meet customers’ needs.

Labeling : guarantee of the quality of our aromatic plants

We grow our plants according to several quality accreditations : Red Label Herbes de Provence, French PGI thyme and organic agriculture. Strict specifications must be met for each of the three accreditations. Every year, a certifying organism is responsible for carrying out an audit check. 100% of the plants we offer for sale have been grown in Provence without GMOs.

• The Red Label Herbes de Provence was created in 2003. It guarantees a stable recipe and an essential oil content greater than 2%. The product is systematically debacterized.

• The Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) "thym de Provence", obtained in February 2018, allows our product to stand out of the markets thanks to its production and processing area.

• Our organic references guarantee a product grown in compliance with the production rules of organic farming, always from Provence.