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www.thevillagenews.co.za
10 June 2020
Smoking hot – getting high on herbarettes Writer Raphael da Silva
W
hile South African smokers have had to scheme and hustle to find ways to satisfy their nicotine cravings during the lockdown, an entrepreneurial family in Worcester has spotted an opportunity and launched their own range of herbal cigarettes, aka herbarettes.
“My mom made and sold herbal mixes for her range, SupHerb, about 20 years ago. And now with the lockdown, she was motivated to create a product that would help people to quit or cut down on smoking cigarettes,” says Christel Allen, who along with her mom, Karen Allen and sister, Tamarin Shaw, have launched PlantED. Apart from their range of herbarettes, this all-women business also sells organically grown seeds, herbs and plants, and home-grown health products made with medicinal herbs. “My sister, Tam, researched different smoking mixes and she and my mom came up with the six flavours we sell, with information about the medicinal properties of the herbs. I
designed the logo, came up with the brand name, launched the Facebook page and we all started the business together,” says Christel. With an exciting range of products with names such as Dream On, Space Out, Cheer Up, Uplift, Fresh Chill and Tranquil, all the blends are organic, even the filters, and sourced locally from Worcester. “The two main base plants we use are Mulberry and Raspberry,” says Tamarin. “The reason we chose them is because they are high in antioxidants and also neutral in flavour, so they carry the other flavours well and, importantly, we can get them in large quantities from our area.” Unlike tobacco cigarettes, herbarettes don’t contain nicotine. Each herbal blend has a medicinal quality and unique flavour. As an example, Cheer Up has St John’s wort, a flowering plant from the family, Hypericaceae, which is known for its antidepressant qualities. Chamomile, traditionally used for herbal tea that reduces stress and anxiety, is also added. “An interesting fact is that the effects
of smoking can cross the blood-brain barrier in approximately 10 seconds. So, for example, while you might only feel the calming effects of Chamomile in 40 minutes if you drink it as a tea but when you smoke it, you will feel it in 10 seconds,” points out Karen. One can purchase herbarettes in two forms: either in a pouch or as rollies. PlantED even sells a mix of rollies so that customers can choose which flavour to smoke throughout the day, based on their mood. Since launching during the lockdown, PlantED has been receiving consistent orders daily from across the country. The biggest opportunity that the PlantED team sees is in helping smokers to wean themselves off tobacco. Chamomile, for example, is an excellent tobacco substitute, which Christel says can be used to alleviate tension and anxiety, and to reduce the craving for nicotine until it vanishes entirely. For those smokers who are still using tobacco during the lockdown, it can also be mixed with one of PlantED’s ranges to stretch their supply or to help them quit altogether, by gradu-
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ABOVE: The all-women team of PlantED: Sisters Christel Allen and Tamarin Shaw with their mom, Karen Allen. RIGHT: The herbarettes can be purchased in a pouch or as rollies. Photos: PlantED ally reducing the amount of tobacco that is mixed with the herbs. “My mom has done a lot of research and we continue to look into recent studies about smoking different herbs. All the herbarettes are non-toxic and we don't add any herbs that are harmful to smoke. Of course, smoking is a health con-
cern in general, and the aim of our product is to help people become non-smokers,” says Christel. For more information, prices and orders, PlantED can be contacted at planted.info@gmail.com or 079 612 4148. You can also find further information on their range of products on their Facebook page, PlantED.
