— OUR PROCESS —
Premium Chamomile
Cultivation and Processing
Our chamomile production process combines agricultural tradition with technological innovation to achieve the highest quality product, destined for herbalists and premium infusions. From sowing to packaging, every stage is meticulously controlled to guarantee purity, exceptional flavour and aroma.
1. Agricultural Phase: From Seed to Plant
Sowing Season: The ideal cycle begins between March and late May. Early sowing (April) allows better plant development and maximises yield.
Sowing Method: Given the tiny nature of the seed, conventional sowing is performed by spreading it directly over the prepared bed. For successful germination, it's crucial to maintain adequate humidity and take advantage of natural cold snaps, which benefit its development.
Crop Management: Weed control is fundamental to avoid nutrient competition. We perform manual weeding with hoes, ensuring chamomile grows strong and free from invasions that could affect its quality.
Harvest: A crop sown in early April is ready for its first harvest in late September. Chamomile's advantage is its regeneration capacity, allowing for two to three cuts per season, extending through September and October.
2. Harvest: Our Own Technology and Innovation
Collection Process: We harvest fresh using machines designed and manufactured by ourselves. These machines use a system of specialised combs that extract the flower with a portion of stem.
First Cut: We seek to obtain the flower with the shortest possible stem.
Second and Third Cuts: Being regrowth, the stem proportion in the harvest is naturally greater. This variation is used to create our different product cuts.
3. Drying Process: Preserving the Essence
Transport and Drying: Immediately after harvest, chamomile is transported to our drying plant. We use state-of-the-art natural gas ovens with three-tier conveyor belts.
The material circulates continuously through the belts, where a current of controlled hot air is applied. This method ensures uniform drying and preserves all essential oils, colour and aroma of the flower.
4. Processing and Classification: Maximising Product Value
After drying, chamomile goes through a rigorous sieving and classification process to extract every valuable component.
Primary Sieving - Flower Extraction: The first sieve separates the whole flower, which is our premium product. The reject from this sieve (broken flowers) goes to milling.
Stem Classification: Harvested stem is classified into two calibres: Fine Cut and Coarse Cut. Both are essential for "softening" the infusion, improving its palatability and balance. They're mixed with the flower in customised percentages according to each client's specific requirements.
Secondary Sieving - Premium By-products: Material that settles to the second level of the sieving machine contains three valuable by-products:
Petal: Used whole or in fine cut for blends, providing clarity and colour.
Pollen (Tubular Fluorescence): Can be cleaned and sold as a very high purity product, or destined for milling to enrich other blends.
Seed: Used exclusively for sowing.
Final Blending: All components—whole flower, broken flower (milled), fine stem and coarse stem—are recombined in various percentages to create customised blends that meet the exact standards of flavour, appearance and aroma demanded by each market.
5. Seed Processing: Guarantee for Future Harvests
Cleaning and Preparation: Seed is extracted with a special sieve that separates earth, dust and debris. Subsequently, it passes through a wind tunnel where remaining impurities settle by specific weight in different outlets, resulting in clean seed with high germination power.
Sowing Density: We use approximately 20 kg of seed per hectare. Dense sowing is a key integrated management strategy, as chamomile plants, when growing thickly, naturally choke out weeds, reducing the need for additional interventions.
Conclusion: Our commitment is to offer superior quality chamomile through an integral process that controls every detail, from field to cup. This is the result of harmony between agricultural knowledge and precise processing, ensuring satisfaction of the most demanding clients.
Wholesale Enquries
Our commitment is to offer superior quality chamomile through an integral process that controls every detail, from field to cup. This is the result of harmony between agricultural knowledge and precise processing, ensuring satisfaction of the most demanding clients