By the time I left college, I was the lucky American ginseng ingredient supplier for Celestial Seasonings. Together we developed some of the quality control protocols that are still being used as benchmark quality standards throughout the natural products industry today. Many major brands use our American ginseng ingredient. Since then we've developed a farm-direct brand of American ginseng products including capsules, tea, select roots, root powder, extract, soaps and the first American ginseng instant tea in the US.The ginseng ingredient in my brand is cultivated for a minimum of 4 years. This long-lived perennial root grows growth rings like a tree, becoming more potent with age; more mature plants are simply higher quality. Also, Burmeister Farms practice what is known as integrated pest management. That means that we do not use chemicals of any kind until something comes along that cannot be controlled by organic methods. Then, and only then, do we turn to biodegradable chemicals to save the plants from disease. We do not use pesticides or herbicides, only organic and biodegradable fungicides and very sparingly. This is not to say we are certified organic, we are not. That would only cost extra and not guarantee the kind of quality that comes with chemical testing of the crop. Our ginseng is 3rd-party independent lab HPLC tested and is guaranteed to contain very low to no residues down to below chemical detection limits. I am confident that our ginseng is the cleanest cultivated ginseng you will find. In a time when farmers are using more and more chemicals to boost yield and consumers are demanding health products to be organic, we wish the rest of the agriculture industry would follow suit and embrace organic cultivation practices. Burmeister Ginseng is dedicated to hiring veterans and proud to be a green-friendly, bee-friendly operation. We are also corporate sponsor of "United Plant Savers" the charity tasked with saving indigenous medicinal plants.