Since its founding in 1943, The General Herbal Medicine Laboratory has consistently collaborated with producers recognized for the quality of their products and their expertise. An approach that is part of the company’s DNA: founded in Marseille, the gateway to the East and a true crossroads of cultures, LHG imports its raw materials from from all continents and processes them at its facility in Aubagne.
This passion gave rise to the desire to control the entire value chain of the spice and herb trade. Historically, LHG’s core business has encompassed sourcing, processing, and sales to professionals. Creating a agricultural cooperative pepper production in São Tomé and Príncipe is a concrete example of the internalization of the function sourcing, while reaffirming the company's commitment to an organic and responsible approach.
How did the cooperative get started? Why invest in this remote region of the Gulf of Guinea? How can we develop an agricultural system that respects both people and nature? Find out The origins of this project, under the watchful eye of its main driving force: Gilles Talrich, president of LHG.
São Tomé and Príncipe, a pristine archipelago with exceptional terroir
Located in the heart of the Gulf of Guinea, equidistant from the coasts of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe is a former Portuguese colony that has been independent since 1975 and has a population of just over 200,000. With an area of 1,000 km², 2.5 times smaller than Réunion, it is one of the smallest countries in the world. Consisting of two main islands, São Tomé and Príncipe, the archipelago represents a a true showcase of unspoiled nature thanks to its geographic isolation, its equatorial tropical climate, and its volcanic soil, which give it lush vegetation.
The history of this country is closely linked to that of the triangular trade and the slave trade carried out by Portuguese colonists beginning in the 15th century. The economy at that time was dominated by sugarcane cultivation. In 1822, the archipelago became the first place of refuge for cocoa seedlings outside South America with the importation of the’amelonado, a species endemic to Brazil. In fact, it would be the only African territory where this type of cacao would acclimatize; hybrid species had to be created to enable viable agricultural production on the rest of the continent. With an annual production of 36,000 metric tons, São Tomé and Príncipe was the world’s leading exporter of cocoa in 1913 and earned the nickname «Chocolate Island.».
This small country is now a democratic and pluralistic parliamentary republic, but operating primarily with the help of the European Union. « This explains why launching and developing an agricultural project in this remote area requires an extraordinary alignment of the stars » explains Gilles Talrich. And that's exactly what happened in 2007…
2007: First contact between LHG and São Tomé and Príncipe
It was in November 2007 that LHG developed an interest in São Tomé and Príncipe, spurred on by its brand-new owner, Gilles Talrich. « We had met the French company Kaoka, which specializes in cocoa, is interested in expanding its operations in the archipelago. The island’s location—completely isolated in the Gulf of Guinea—means that the cacao trees are pure, uncrossed varieties: there has been no cross-pollination, giving them exceptional quality. This chocolate manufacturer explained to us that the EU, through donor organizations, was funding agricultural development projects, including a project on pepper. »
Gilles then decided to take a stand and settled in São Tomé and Príncipe for the first time that same year to meet with the project’s initiator, a local, Francisco Ramos. He is an agricultural engineer and the manager of the pepper development project. « But to develop a project—that is, to bring together farmers on this island and encourage them to grow pepper—there had to be the certainty of a market for the product. »At that time, pepper was available on the archipelago but in such small quantities that the country imported 15 metric tons of pepper from Portugal every year.". So we had to build everything from scratch.
Hénaff, a providential partner
In February 2008, LHG received a visit from the company’s CEO Hénaff who wants to meet with the new management. The famous Breton pâté brand, a long-standing partner, has announced its intention to develop its own raw material production chain in order to «see the pepper grow.» The circle was complete: « I presented the São Tomé project to him, and we quickly reached an agreement: he committed to buying the pepper by setting up a pre-financing system. In other words, the farmer committed to producing a certain annual quantity of pepper, and Hénaff pre-financed the annual harvest. So the farmer worked and was paid at the same time. At the end of the year, the pepper was exported. It was received in Marseille and delivered to Hénaff—except that the farmer had already received his advance payment. »
This system has been the key to success in motivating farmers, thanks to the genuine commitment of both parties to the purchase. « Because the problem for all these farmers in those countries is that they’re being taken for a ride and exploited. Here, we showed them that we were committed, that we trusted them, and that we’d be there every year so they could plant pepper plants. »
This was followed by a long-term process of farm development, since a pepper plant takes four years to become productive. Throughout this time, the two companies therefore divided the responsibilities: while Hénaff provided the financing, LHG provided on-site support as an agricultural partner. This role involved defining agricultural specifications and the expected quality standards, as well as training farmers in pepper cultivation and organic methods to obtain certification. The pepper must be recognized as being of quality and above all from organic farming.
« São Tomé was a completely original creation, there was no pepper export industry—we had to start from scratch. You could say the stars aligned: discovering a country just as I’d taken over the company, meeting Hénaff, who supported us in this production partnership, and establishing a sustainable pepper production process. It was an opportunity we were able to seize and build upon. That sort of thing happens only once in a lifetime. »
«Whatever you can do or dream you can do, you can begin to do. Boldness contains within itself genius, power, and magic. Start now.» – Goethe.
A source of pride for the CEO, the cooperative has been in existence for over 10 years—not without its challenges, but in line with the company’s values: to provide exceptional products while respecting both people and nature. This pursuit of quality and the challenges we had to overcome: that’s what we invite you to discover in our second article.
