Waimea Herb Co. Cultivates Creativity Along With Spices and Teas

In 2011, an afterschool program in Waimea on Hawaiʻi island set out to teach children how to tend to a garden and grow their own food.

Mālie Sarsona, co-founder of Waimea Herb Co., recalls the processed snacks the kids used to bring to the program in its early days: “You would see Cheetos, you would see cans of Spam. It was wild. We were like, ‘oh, this is not great.’ … So we taught them how to grow their own food, like fruits and berries, and actually create something with them.”

Credit: Aaron Yoshino

She says the kids especially loved learning how to harvest herbs and brew tea because it’s“like creating potions. … They were putting a dash of chamomile and a little bit of peppermint, and they felt so cool creating their own blends.”

What began as an afterschool project was soon integrated into the core curriculum at Kanu o ka Āina charter school. And the runaway popularity of their tea prompted the 2013 launch of Waimea Herb Co., bringing blends of lemongrass, peppermint, hibiscus, chamomile,bergamot, ʻawa, māmaki and more to the broader market.

Credit: Aaron Yoshino

Today, the company handles all manufacturing in-house, and they continue to source exclusively from local growers. “If you’re a farmer with us, you’re actually part of our seed share program,” Sarsona explains. “You get access to free seeds and seedlings whenever available, you grow it, and once it’s ready to harvest, we will buy it back from you.”

In addition to their products being available for purchase on their website, they occasionally sell at markets and retail in some local stores. “We try to stick with smaller shops, and that is very intentional,” says Sarsona, “because we are a small business that wants to support other small businesses.”