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Why The Herbal Connection

General FAQ

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There are so many benefits to creating an account with us! Not only do you earn reward points which can be turned into discounts and free shipping coupons you also have the ability to skip the hassle of always having to re-enter all of your details. You can also keep up to date with the progress of your recently placed orders and look at the orders you have placed in the past.

We often find people either do not know how to create an account with us or just keep putting off doing it cause it seems like a long process. Believe me, the process is super quick, a video will be attached below demonstrating how easy it is to create an account.

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What does that mean for our customers?  

From the selection of suppliers, how we receive and store goods to the packing, blending and dispatch, consideration is taken to the environment, potential contaminants and safe food handling practices.  Our team are trained to identify any potential risks and hazards and have appropriate actions they can take to address and resolve.

Whilst the risks with dried herbs and spices are low we still have to be observant for foreign objects coming from overseas as well infestation.

Our HACCP GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) plans align well with our NASAA Organic Certification.  The combination ensuring at all times the team at The Herbal Connection are cognitive of any potential risks.

In doing so we can ensure that all the best efforts are made to ensure what you receive is not only great value, fragrant and flavourful herbs and spices, but they are also safe.

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We are always looking for ways to improve our impact on the environment, whether it be compostable and biodegradable products - and our tea bags tick all the boxes!

Our tea bag material is created Neo Soilon, which is compostable, and biodegradable - right down to the tag. The labels and string are heat sealed, with no glues, or polymers; and the one roll can be created into both pillow shaped, and pyramid shaped tea bags!

Neo Soilon fibre is biodegradable under industrial conditions.  They can be composted however without the correct temperature conditions they will take longer to breakdown.  They will eventually but it could take some time.  Under industrial composting conditions, PLA can be biologically degraded within a few days, or up to a few months. The temperatures must be above 55-70ºC in order to achieve this result.

Please see attached files for Specification, and further general information

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The Herbal Connection appreciates that a decision to move to a new supplier of herbs or spices is a big deal.  Your flavour and texture profile is essential to your brand.

 

In the early stages of having the business we would send out samples free of charge and quickly discovered something that is provided freely is treated cheaply.  Often samples would be lost or forgotten.

 

Having said that we will happily provide a coupon code for you to sample the product at a heavily discounted price on our 250g bags of product.

 

Just call the office and ask for your sample coupon.

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We do our absolute best to get back to enquiries as quickly as possible.  

  • Telephone calls received in Business Hours - Monday - Thursday 8am till 4pm will be returned same day and if no answer then a voicemail will be left.
  • Telephone calls received outside of business hours (as above) will be returned the following day.
  • Emails will be responded to within 24 hours of receiving email request.  Email our staff at sales@herbalconnection.com.au
  • Online Chat Messages will be responded to within the same business day if received within business hours (as above) and next business day if received outside these hours
  • Contact Us Form will be responded to within the same business day if received within business hours (as above) and next business day if received outside these hours.

It is our desire that all contact made to The Herbal Connection be returned the same day as the enquiry is received.  As we are a small team there are times when the amount of enquires we receive outnumber the people to respond and in this instance you will receive notification that there may be a delay in our response times.

We pride ourselves on being responsive and available to our customers.  If you do get our voicemail please do leave a message and you will get a call back to you as soon as someone is free to answer your query.   It is often the case that call volumes increase and at times a voicemail is the best option to have us come back to you quickly.  It is also often the case that all staff are required in production to fulfil customers orders and we are all hands on deck getting orders out and products made.

 

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We are big believers in giving back to our local community and as such, early on Chris and I made the decision that Friday's would be dedicated to volunteering.  Our desire is to create a business that supports us both financially and emotionally and this we have decided is by giving us time to focus on others as well as ourselves.

It was important to us when we started with The Herbal Connection that we make a very conscious choice to set the business up so we created greater balance in our work/life and would give us an opportunity to help support those in need or to support organisation that help support others.

Whilst orders do not get picked and packed on Friday we do have a courier collection on Friday with Australia Post for all parcels that were picked and packed on Thursday however missed our lunch time courier collection times.   We do ensure that orders received on Friday are the first out the door on Monday.  Voicemail is checked early on Monday and these calls are the first to be returned as well as email communication that comes in on Friday and over the weekend are the first to be responded to and often will get communication from us either on Friday afternoon or over the weekend.

Packing and Blending

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In the following video Chris, our production manager will walk you through some of our most commonly asked questions in regards to blending and packaging,

 

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The Pyramid tea packing machines used at The Herbal Connection require several consideration to get the best results.

Blend\Product: 

The consistency of the product is important in the accuracy and consistency of the distribution of your blend and ingredients into each tea bag.  The agitation process on the tea packing machine means that heavier elements (seeds\berries) will feed more quickly than lighter elements (rose\calendula petals).  Whilst more consistent throughout the run towards the end of a run the lighter elements "float" to the top of the blend.  Whilst we can maintain the best outcomes by limiting the input it is important that either consideration is given for some small variance between start and end of runs if you do not have evenly balanced ingredient weights.

It is also important to note that size matters as some products may have stems or parts that breach the seal.  This will cause a non-seal and potential leakage from the tea bag.

Sealing:

The tea packing machine uses an ultra sonic sealing process.  With some herbs the dust and makeup of them can cause the seal to be weak and in some cases stronger.  This may lead to some bags opening after sealing and in some cases staying linked.  In the case of being linked still they will fall apart with a simple shake.

Wastage:

For the above reasons there may be some wastage of blend and bags in the setup and processing of your tea bags.  Whilst we normally allow a small amount of extra blend for this reason there is the chance of +/- 3% of tea bags can be at risk of failure or not pass quality checks by The Herbal Connection or you as a client.  We will run additional tea bags with each run where extra stock exists to counter this but it is a consideration to factor in to your business plan.  The Herbal Connection does not cover the cost of wastage in our agreements.

For clients using their own printed tags this wastage is to be factored in when assessing reorder of bags.  For example; a run of 30,000 tea bags will result in a % of wastage of bags most commonly during set up of each roll onto the machine, and during quality checks.  We would rather use more bags and end up with a better result for the client than stick strictly to only running the ordered amount.

 

 

 

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As part of The Herbal Connection, we are offering a solution for client pack out by partnering with a disability services business here on the Gold Coast.

The pack-out fee ranges from around $.90 - $3/unit (regardless of weight) -  The price variation is dependant on the type of pack out service you are looking for. 

Services on offer but not limited to, are as follows:

  • Assembly of packaging
  • Stand up pouch pack out of loose herbs or tea bags
  • packing into Cielo bags 
  • packing into boxes or tubes
  • packing into outers
  • application of labels 
  • application of stickers
  • best before date applied

The Herbal Connection Difference:

  • We are committed to helping improve the lives of others and to supporting our community, we see the partnership arrangement in place for pack out as a core way for us to achieve this.
  • Certified Organic Production and Processor (#4306P)
  • HACCP Certified production facility
  • Customised quality assurance.
  • Images of production in place (QA and/or for your social media and advertising)
  • Client based production space via online workflow (view all information in real-time regarding your production project)

Each job is quoted individually and based on the requirements of the client.

All packaging needs to ordered by the client and shipped to us for pack out.

For more information or for a personalised quotation - please contact sales@herbalconnection.com.au or call us on 1300 SPICED

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Here, at The Herbal Connection, we pride ourselves on the communication and service we give to our clients. We have seen amazing growth within our blending, packaging, and production sector, and to ensure we continue giving you the best that we can, the following terms and conditions have come into effect for all current and future clients.

All custom blending clients are to have signed and returned a Non-Disclosure Agreement to The Herbal Connection, along with a Waiver Statement - which can be found attached to this document, or please ask one of our staff for a copy to be emailed to you.

  1. All custom blending clients are to have signed and returned a Non-Disclosure Agreement to The Herbal Connection

  2. All Non-Disclosure Agreements are effective from date of signature and will be reviewed every 12 calendar months to

    ensure all recipes are correct and valid. Our Non-Disclosure Agreement includes any previous recipes that The Herbal Connection have received, along with all future blends. We will request an updated copy signed every year, and we will never release client recipes.

  3. Recipes are now incorporated into a private blend on our ordering system, with an allocated price/kg

  4. Pricing for all custom blends will be re-quoted every 3 months. The Herbal Connection will give clients 7 days written notice of any price increases to blends. If there is a significant price rise for ingredients, The Herbal Connection reserve

    the right to increase price at time of purchase order.

  5. Minimum 70% of stock required must be purchased from The Herbal Connection.

    We will not accept stock from other suppliers, unless:

    1. 5.1.  we do not stock the product

    2. 5.2.  we are out of stock of product

    3. 5.3.  the product is vastly different in cut size/flavour profile to what we stock

    4. 5.4.  we will not accept price difference as a reason

  6. We charge a $62.50 blending fee per blend per order for up to 25kg of your blend - $2.50 per kg thereafter

  7. A separate $35 machine fee per blend is charged regardless of the amount of tea bags are produced

  8. All production orders are quoted for freight charges at time of order. We only charge what we are quoted by the freight company, and this is based on the initial order. Any additions to the order will incur extra freight charges if over the maximum volume per carton.

  9. All blending, tea, production, and packaging orders are on a prepaid in full basis only. A quote will be sent from our ordering system along with a production list which must be approved by yourself in writing. Production will be confirmed only upon receipt of production approval sign-off, and confirmation of full payment. Once received approval sign- off and payment remittance, stock will then be allocated, and a blending/production date will be scheduled with our warehouse team. In no circumstance will this be negotiable, nor will any invoice be charged on terms.

  10. Please allow 15 days from confirmation of payment for standard orders (not order date) for your blend to be completed and shipped. Large orders and orders requiring more attention will have a longer turnaround. This will be estimated by our staff and confirmed/communicated with all clients. Busy periods may also see a longer turnaround time – this will also be communicated at confirmation of schedule booking.

  11. Pack out fees for blends are now $3 per unit if required custom pack-out can be quoted at time of order based on the complexity of the job.

  12. All clients are to sign a waiver form to confirm that all blends are at user discretion. The Herbal Connection does not take responsibility for final product. All care is taken in each step of production procedure, and we will not issue a refund for anything other than compromised ingredients in stock. Please contact our team immediately if you have any concerns with your final product, and we will always try to come to a solution.

  13. If clients require research and development – a non-refundable R & D fee will be invoiced. This will include a sample of product, and cost will be deducted from your first production order.

  14. If a client requests special-order product to be purchased on their behalf with The Herbal Connection, an admin fee equivalent of 20% of total special-product order will be added to your invoice.

  15. Custom-label tea bags are quoted and purchased through our manufacturer, and cost is based on imagery used printing, production, and international freight, with median exchange rate at time of order. All custom-label tea bag orders are to be prepaid. Additional costings may be requested for any customs or clearance fees, upon clearance into Australia.

  16. Client custom tea bags are non-refundable. There will be a 3-5% loss of overall tea bags during the production process. Please allow for this during ordering and planning.

  17. Any clients who are on terms accounts, please note that terms arrangements cover ingredients only, and do not cover custom blending and production. Any ingredients purchased on the same purchase order as blending and production are also to be prepaid. If you have an invoice outstanding, or due within date of production, please note that your order will not be sent until your account has been cleared of any overdue payments, or confirmation of intended payment has been received by The Herbal Connection.

  18. All blends will be placed into freeze treatment for a minimum of 72 hours (3 full days), to help reduce the risk of organism contaminants. If requested that freeze treatment is foregone, a liability waiver relating to each order must be signed and returned prior to commencement of blending.

*Any clients who are on terms accounts, please note that terms arrangements cover ingredients only. Any ingredients purchased on the same purchase order as blending and production are also to be prepaid. If you have an invoice outstanding, or due within date of production, please note that your order will not be sent until your account has been cleared of any overdue payments, or confirmation of intended payment has been received by The Herbal Connection.

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It is best to allow 3 weeks for production from the time we receive stock OR your blending order is paid for.  However we are always ready to work with clients who have tight deadlines where we can.  All blending stock will need to go through freeze treatment for 6 days prior to shipment to client address, whilst we can work with client timelines on blending it is important to remember the week stock will need to be in freeze treatment prior to shipment.

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We ensure all equipment is cleaned thoroughly between packing jobs so it is essential we do a minimum run of tea bags when packing.  Our minimum run per product type would be 3Kg in a generic tea bag or 1 roll (6,000) if being run into a custom tea bag.

There is a $35/blend set up fee this covers the cost of setting the machine up and thorough clean down between blend to eliminate cross contamination of product.  The $35 fee is a flat fee regardless of the amount of product you choose to run through the machine.

Make sure you check out our non-branded range of bulk tea bags available at https://herbalconnection.com.au/products/tea/pyramid-tea-bags/

These have only "TEA" on the tag and are referred to as our "Generic" tea bag tags.  Ideal for filling out your range or for Cafe's and bulk food stores.

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The Herbal Connection are able to pack into pillow shape or pyramid shape tea bags.  With the option of your own bag and tag, beginning at 5 cents per unit, or a generic bag and white label tag at 3.7 cents per unit.

The filling of the tea bags starts at 11.5 cents per unit and is dependant on the type of tea needing to be run through the machine and the amount of time required.

There is a $62.50/blend and a $35/blend machine charge regardless of the amount of tea bags that are being produced.

The size of herbs and their ability to flow consistently through equipment does impact the outcome but the equipment used is very flexible, allowing the filling of tea bags using whole herbs.

Each job is quoted individually at time of order.

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At The Herbal Connection we can blend your products (powders or herbs).  Our blending is done to your recipe and can use 100% of The Herbal Connections products OR you can send product to us.  There may be some restrictions on how many and where these come from but we are happy to work with you.  Blending is done at a fixed cost of $2.50 per kilogram with a minimum per blend of $62.50 charged.  This covers equipment clean down costs per blend.

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If you are choosing to Certify your product Organic in Australia you can choose to have your blending and packing done at The Herbal Connection knowing we are a fully Certified Wholesaler and Processor under Certificate (4306P).

We can supply your raw materials, blend and pack under the Australian Organic Standard.

 
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