Flares: Herbalism and Gifting

Herbs are uniting people all over the world and gifting keeps on giving.
MAY 04, 2021
by Amy McMillen
eCommerce health and wellness medical

What’s better than plant care and self-care at the same time? Functional leaves and roots from all over the world are gathering attention for their healing properties. 

Because many flowers and herbs are indigenous to certain places, it takes time to spread from their place of origin to other cultures. For example, hibiscus recently broke out as the latest floral star in the US, while still maintaining ~5x more search interest in Uganda. 

Where in the world are people searching for herbs? Source: Keywords Everywhere, Google Trends, and Healthline

Herbs that are popular in one part of the world can create opportunities in others, including: 

  • Adult study abroad: When the world opens up, consider organizing educational tourism based on local, indigenous herbs (this plants-as-medicine course in Costa Rica is sold out for May). For now, take advantage of teaching global apothecary lessons from the home. The Herbal Academy, offering online courses ranging from $300 to $3k each, has taught 100k+ students and has 400k+ Instagram followers. 
  • Databases: As herbalism continues to get mainstream, people will be searching for easy-to-navigate, trusted information on fact vs. fiction. For example, this Chinese herbal medicine database organically gets 15.3k clicks/mo, per Keywords Everywhere. Do the same for other functional herbs indigenous to other cultures around the world, adding an interactive map (take inspiration from this tea blog) and marketplace.

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