About the AHPA Sustainability Committee
The AHPA Sustainability Committee has been launched to increase awareness of the issues surrounding sustainability within the herbal products industry. The AHPA Sustainability Committee brings together industry leaders and provides a forum for dialogue and decision-making regarding sustainability. The committee provides educational opportunities and resources to herbal products companies that would like to address sustainability within their operations and/or supply chains, provides a forum for discourse on issues related to sustainability, and highlights and showcases examples of sustainable, equitable operations and sourcing practices. The Sustainability Committee seeks to collect and curate existing resources, explore collaborations, and provide opportunities for companies to experience success in their sustainability goals.
The Sustainability Committee Purpose
The AHPA Sustainability Committee brings together herbal industry leaders, creating a community of practice that identifies, analyzes, and finds solutions for key social, brand, and environmental risks that require collaborative industry action. The Committee generates tools and guidance for member companies of all sizes wishing to address sustainability concerns and/or launch sustainability programs. Finally, the Sustainability Committee creates a collaborative platform to encourage conversations between all stakeholders – including industry, agency, herb farmers and wildcrafters, conservationists, and environmental scientists.
Committee Goals
- Administer and analyze the AHPA Sustainability Survey to understand the sustainability needs and current status of AHPA member companies
- Identify areas of need in information/knowledge and leadership regarding social and environmental sustainability
- Development of self-audit assessment tools
- Ingredient suppliers
- Finished product manufacturers
- Collect and curate sources of info for current best practices
- Create educational tools, training, and guidance
- Identify high-risk issues in supply chains regarding herbs and adjunct plant-based ingredients (i.e. palm oil and palm derived products).
- Identify and/or develop tools to measure a company’s impact on wild herb populations
- Identify and/or develop tools to rate a company’s overall progress regarding sustainability, including sourcing, home base operations, packaging, etc.
- Liaise and collaborate with Ecolabel and sustainability certification programs to bring clear instructions for companies who want to participate
- Identify gaps in existing programs and certifications and find workable solutions to fill them
- Create a forum for AHPA members to engage in conversations around sustainable/regenerative agriculture, conservation, and impact of climate change on herb industry.
- A forum for members to learn from each other
- A forum for farmer-farmer communication and/or farmer-supplier communication