In 1993, master herbalist Debra St. Claire co-founded and became the executive director of an international project to preserve the medicinal plant knowledge of indigenous cultures. The project was named The EthnoMedicine Preservation Project®. As executive director, it was her responsibility to fund the project.
Next, she looked for a product that could be sold to the same customer again and again, with little need for consumer education, in many different markets....a fun product that could carry the message about the EthnoMedicine Preservation Project® and capture the imagination and loyalty of her customers. Because her personal food choices were centered around the philosophy of whole, pure, and organic, she decided to create an organic product that she felt good about giving to her family and that she could sell to her customers with pride.
Drawing on her extensive experience in product development in the natural foods industry, she created an organic breath mint that was designed to be the natural alternative to an English breath mint named Altoids, a product that she personally liked for it’s strong taste, but did not like the ingredients it contained (refined white sugar and animal by-products).
She used Organic Molasses Granules to form a naturally sweet base for the pure Peppermint essential oil that she used to flavor her new breath mint. (In the Ayurvedic healing arts, dehydrated molasses (also known as Jaggery) is used as a medicine to support the immune system!) Unlike Altoids, St. Claire’s Organic Peppermints are made with pure, organic peppermint essential oil and have no animal by-products.
Debra painted a scene of the Rocky Mountains from her home in Boulder, Colorado and used it to decorate collectible tins to package the peppermints. Because she felt great personal and professional benefit from reading inspirational quotes from various great minds from history and in current times, she added a selection of these bits of wisdom to the insides of the peppermint tins. Her goal was to give each customer something uplifting to read each time they opened the package. The peppermints were launched in July, 1994, and became an instant success in the natural foods industry, attracting both national and international distribution and loyal customers.
Many more flavors have been added to the line, and we now proudly make 18 different herbal and fruit flavors, all in a nutritious base of organic molasses granules.
Our tins now include: organic Merrymints, Peppermints, Spearmints, Wintermints, Ginger, Licorice, Cinnamon, Coffee, Cardamom, Clove, Key Lime, sour Lemon, Raspberry, Sweet Peach, Tangerine, Watermelon, Throat Soothers and Tummy Soothers.
Organic Fruit Tarts
Mothers and other healers know that Peppermint, Licorice, and Ginger have been used for thousands of years to aid digestion and alleviate nausea. These three ingredients already had a loyal following with adults. What was missing was something fun for the kids. Our Lemon Tarts were very popular with children, but the price for a tin was a little high for the young folk, so the St. Claire's Organic Fruit Tarts line was born. Now containing six fruit tart flavors in pouches and refillable tins—Key Lime, Raspberry, Sour Lemon, Sweet Peach, Tangerine, and Watermelon—they are a wholesome alternative to white sugar-based candies that are full of additives and artificial colors. The funny thing is, they turned out to be just as popular with adults!
Aromatherapy Pastilles
Unable to leave her love of herbal product formulation for very long, Debra St. Claire developed another line of products called St. Claire’s Aromatherapy Pastilles®, a line of molasses based herbal lozenges. The first two products in that line were St. Claire’s Organic Tummy Soothers and Throat Soothers. The Tummy Soothers are formulated with herbs and essential oils traditionally used to alleviate gas, indigestion and nausea. The Throat Soothers are formulated with herbs and essential oils traditionally used to soothe sore, scratchy throats and are great for singers!
More Products
In 2011 we launched 8 flavors of delicious organic gourmet cocoas sweetened with molasses granules.
Calling all cocoa lovers! St. Claire’s European style cocoas are a delicious anytime drink — perfect for after-school snacks or cozy nights in. They’re just like mom used to make, only with healthy, organic ingredients! Add your favorite creamy liquid for even richer taste!
GOURMET COCOAS
Most recently, due to increased consumer interest in nutritious alternatives to processed white sugar, we have launched our molasses granules as a stand alone product in bulk bags, and have provided a recipe section on our website to show how easy it is to substitute this mineral-rich sweetener in a large variety of tasty treats.
All of our products are Allergen-Free and produced in a dedicated allergen-free facility
The EthnoMedicine Preservation Project®
Since our first product launch in 1994, 10% of our profits have been supporting the EthnoMedicine Preservation Project in its documentary efforts to preserve the medicinal plant knowledge of indigenous cultures. You can learn more about our work in Peru, India, Belize and Australia at ethnomedicinepreservation.com. Hop on and see what we’re up to!
THANK YOU for supporting the EthnoMedicine Preservation Project through your purchases of our products!
- Debra St. Claire, Master Herbalist, founder/formulator, St. Claire’s Organics
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