Style: September 01, 2022

Style | Wellbeing 29
“Every single one of our products has a wild element. That connection with nature, and
the value it holds, is so important, we wanted a piece of it in every bottle.”
Whatever the weather and in all seasons, those looking
to the hills, forests, fields and coastlines around
Otago might spot some of the Wild Dispensary team
harvesting or foraging for a diverse assortment of natural
goodies for use in everything from tonics and elixirs to
skin oils and throat sprays.
“We grow and forage all sorts!” says Ruth Vaughan,
who along with life and business partner Gerald Davies
co-founded Wild Dispensary back in 2016.
“In Central Otago (in various locations from Bannockburn
to Ophir) we forage thyme, rosehips, Californian poppy,
elderberry, horehound, hawthorn, St John’s wort and usnea.
Closer to home in Dunedin we source akeake, mānuka,
horopito, elderberries (Taieri) and usnea.”
“Our locally grown organics come from the Vern
Paddock Project in Mihiwaka on the Dunedin Peninsula.
They grow our chamomile, globe artichoke, calendula and
horseradish and are setting up to grow our nettle and
lemon balm,” says Ruth.
“Then we have North Island growers where we source
turmeric and lemons and foragers up there who collect
our kawakawa.”
What started as “a small passion project” is now a
booming small business, with Wild recently opening the
doors on its first bricks and mortar store in Dunedin’s
Bond Quarter.
“We started with a group of five of us, all hailing from
diverse backgrounds but brought together by a shared
love of the New Zealand landscape, its plants and herbal
medicine, and a mutual desire for sustainable business
practices,” says Ruth.
“Our ‘why’ was around creating a range of herbal
medicine that worked, but also tasted nice – our children
were perfect taste testers for this – as well as wanting to
celebrate Central Otago’s wild herbs, New Zealand natives
and championing locally grown organics.
“It was a fun project where we could collaborate and
share skills and learn from each other. I’d just finished my
environmental science degree and had a strong interest in
creating a mindful business with a sustainable ethos. I have
a track record of finding myself working around plants, so
this was a natural progression for me.”
Ruth says the rest of the original team moved onto
other projects but together with a new team member
and shareholder Skye Macfarlane (“our technical go-to and
trained naturopath and medical herbalist”), they have
developed the former passion project “into a natural health
company that can really help bring plant medicine into
more homes”.
“We’re a small but mighty team,” says Ruth. “Keeping the
team small but all pitching in together means we can be
adaptable, which has been useful over the last few turbulent
years. We have set roles, but all collaborate.”
What sets Wild Dispensary apart, and what they most
pride themselves on, says Ruth, lies in the company’s name.
“Every single one of our products has a wild element,”
she explains. “That connection with nature, and the value
it holds, is so important, we wanted a piece of it in every
bottle. Wild harvesting offers not only premium and
potent traditional plant medicine – but also a connection
to nature for us and our customers. We are truly
passionate about providing natural medicine right from our
very own backyard.
The Wild team works to an annual foraging calendar. “It’s
really important we collect the herbs at their prime potency
and quality,” explains Ruth. “As this changes seasonally we
have windows of time where we monitor the plants we’re
looking for.”
“With natives we have a little more grace as to when we
can collect. So we tend to collect as and when we need.”
Ruth says all of their harvesting is done on private land,
with the owner’s permission. “It has to be land that is wild
in nature, with no sprays and a long way off any roadsides.
This has taken time to locate the ideal spots, but five years
in we’ve built some good relationships with landowners who
love being able to be a part of what we do.
“We practice a foragers rule of never taking more than
one-third of the plant – leaving some for wildlife and some
for the plant itself to continue to thrive.
“We process our plants fresh as we believe we get
a better quality product over dried – so this is a busy
production time for us also.”
A further point of difference is Wild’s determination to
keep things in house. “Many other natural health companies
contract out all their manufacturing,” says Ruth.
“We are with our products throughout the whole process
– from harvest through to production and bottling. We love
this connection with the product as well as our ability to
ensure only the best-quality plants and base ingredients are
used, ensuring a premium product.”