ABOUT US

A letter from the owner:

I have read many website “about us” pages that are extremely generic and say absolutely nothing about the company or how it got started. That’s just not me so if you really want to know about us and me, then read on. This is my history and my opinions of this industry.

I started Good Hope in 1993 after working as a sales rep for another large wholesale herb and spice trader. I happened to be fortunate enough to be with this other company when they decided they no longer wanted to service small accounts. Since these were the accounts I handled every day, I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to start my own company.

I was 24 at the time and was naïve enough to think I could actually do this. I started with about 200 items and added to the inventory every year to the point where we stock well over 500 items. In the beginning, the emphasis was on dried herbs for the natural products industry. We did a tremendous amount of sales to vitamin supplement companies or “nutraceutical” companies as they like to call themselves now. We exhibited at the Natural Products Expo in Anaheim and the NNFA show in Las Vegas but I stopped doing that back in the year 2000. The emphasis on natural dried herbs pretty much disappeared and the big trend was on extracts. Since there was no scientific proof that extracts were better, I decided to not pursue this trend. I am glad that I made that choice because many of the extract companies went bankrupt.

My general attitude about herbs is that they are from “NATURE” and we don’t know exactly what makes an herb have medicinal value. We can’t extract out one constituent of an herb and call it a “miracle cure” for everything under the sun. I think that is unethical. As these large scale pharmaceutical companies have entered the market, they have pushed out a lot of the smaller companies with true “herbalists” who actually have knowledge about herbs. I have seen the supply and demand cycle fluctuate so severely to the point where some of the herbs are over harvested and other herbs with great medicinal value are not harvested at all because there is no money in it. This is truly a shame. So what to do as a supplier of dried herbs? I stick by my customers and source these hard to find herbs utilizing my 13 years of purchasing experience. When someone calls me and asks for some herbal extract made up of ephedrine and caffeine, I tell them to take a hike as that is not what I believe in. Well, let me tell you this type of opinion won’t make you rich but that’s ok with me.

To supplement the declining sales in natural herbs, I turned my focus to designing potpourri. This is something I really enjoy and have become quite good at. I have added aromatic diffusers to this product line as well as room sprays. It may seem like a weird mix of product lines but it really isn’t. Rather than harvesting herbs for health, the suppliers of my potpourri ingredients are harvesting flowers, leaves and pods for decoration. I do the rest of the fragrance stuff because I happen to have a pretty good sense of smell and I know my fragrances are better than what you find at most retail stores. Plus, I have an entire line of pure essential oils which I have blended into some wonderful scents for my potpourri.

What else am I about? Accessibility. I still answer the phone and take calls from customers no matter how big or small. I will give you my honest opinion if you ask me. If you need information, I will share with you everything I know. My success is based on your success so if I can help, I will. Thanks for taking the time to actually read about us.

Sincerely,

Kim Danziger

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