A recent post on instagram from Ica City Fristad.
Hebe started by sourcing all of the plants, which were grown open ground, directly from the Italian producer, but nowadays Anita Jansson said that almost every importer and wholesaler in Sweden has them, so they can easily be accessed daily almost everywhere. As it turned out, many of the herbs can actually be grown in Sweden as well.
"The herb plants get really big, many have flowers and are very fragrant, so along with using them for food, they are beautiful in the garden. It's smells good, looks good and tastes good, which made a lot of people interested in them. We started around 20 years ago and had a lot of sales right from the beginning, especially because we were the only ones offering something like this. What started as a unique product, quickly became a regular spring feature for Swedish retailers. They are not just the regular potted herbs you buy in the store for cooking which would die within a couple days of being planted outside, ours are very hearty and last through the fall." shared Anita.
Roland trying to figure out how to squeeze one of the first big shipments into the old warehouse which was already too small. The company had to think fast and ended up renting tents as a temporary solution.
The great thing about sourcing the plants from Italy is that they are mature and in season still when the ground starts to thaw and the planting season begins in Sweden.
Although, Anita said that it can be a challenge making sure that the two meet up somewhere in the middle, because as the Italian season is ending, the Swedish season is just starting."For the last 5 years we keep on saying that we are going to stop with the Italian herb plants because we don't have the time or the space, but every year before the season begins, we start getting a lot of requests from retailers. Retailers love having them in their supermarkets to kind of symbolise the start of spring. They are in such high demand that we just have to bring them in for a couple of weeks," Anita continued.
"We really have to coordinate well because the Swedish planting season starts around the time that the Italy herb growing season is ending. When we have them depends on the weather conditions, there is always a risk that the Italian season could end before it is time to plant here, the weather in Sweden is always unpredictable." said Anita.
The most popular period for the plant sales are around the 30th of April, which is called Valborg in Sweden. The weather has usually improved by the holiday and because people have time off, many find it the perfect time to work on the garden. Easter is also a popular time to plant in the garden, depending on how early or late it falls in the year.
"This year, we started the offering the plants three weeks ago (week 12) and we will offer them for as long as there is still interest and people are still buying the plants in the stores or the Italian season ends, whichever comes first. The herbs that are offered vary from year to year, we have limited them to 9 varieties this year, but we are able to offer up to 20 varieties. Santolina is a great example of the lesser known herbs which are a great fit with the program, the plant has a nice light grey colour with little button type yellow flowers and offers something beyond the everyday potted herbs. There are a lot of varieties within the herbs, thyme is a great example, with varieties like Silver Queen, Aureo, Bertram Andersson, and lemon thyme," Anita explained.
"We have information sheets for every herb, with a tip for what you can use it for; plus their supposed medicinal uses and recipes. How to plant them, take care of them, which ones can survive the winter etc. The most popular are lavender, thyme and rosemary, but because there are so many different colours with each variety, many consumers buy a mix to go together in the garden. The plants are sold for a very affordable price, around 25 Krona (€2.60), which also means that customers are more willing to be adventurous in trying new herbs."
For more information:
Anita Jansson
Hebe Frukt & Grönt AB
Tel: +46 31 780 27 00
Fax: +46 31 19 33 28
Email: anita.jansson@hebe.se
www.hebe.se