Step by step to a high quality product

Original yellow or orange, dark green and violet, in bags or practical click-shut boxes and drums: Ricola herb drops are presented for our customers in a host of colors and shapes.

They all have one thing in common: Soothing Ricola herbs. But it is a long way from where the herbs are cultivated to the end product. The story of a Ricola herb drop always starts in the fields surrounded by the Swiss mountains – in the Valais, Emmental, Puschlav, Jura or Central Switzerland. In these Swiss cantons and regions, more than one hundred mountain farmers cultivate the soothing medicinal herbs – the essence of every Ricola product.

Only the best for the best

Ricola is meticulous in the cultivation of its herbs, taking a gentle but carefully measured approach. No wonder – herbs are the essential basis of all Ricola products.

Depending on the altitude of their herb fields, the farmers begin to cultivate herb seeds and seedlings from mid-April. To prevent damage to sensitive plants during unexpected cold periods, the sowing season may be delayed by more than a month at very high altitudes.

Farmers under contract to Ricola cultivate the herbs with great care: They firmly reject the use of chemical substances like fertilizers for fighting pests. Weeds are removed by hand and insects are deterred with bio-sensitive products. Ricola herb farmers repeat the arduous weeding process many times before the herbs are ready for harvest. They also regularly change the variety of herb to guarantee sustainable and biological cultivation. Living and working in harmony with nature is a long-standing tradition for the cultivation of Ricola herbs.

Our disciplined quality control

Harvest time begins when the medicinal herbs attain the highest levels of valuable active ingredients.

Herbs still growing in the fields must prove it is worthwhile to process them further. This involves a Ricola expert carrying out an initial quality test of the freshly cut herbs. To ensure the herbs stay fresh, things must move very quickly after the harvest: The herbs must immediately be delivered to the production site.

Ricola quality experts carefully monitor the following criteria:

• Freshness
• Color
• Aroma
• Purity
• Concentration and quality of the active substances

Refining the taste

Depending on the herb variety, the herb extract is mixed with additional ingredients such as plant extracts, sugar or sugar substitutes and sweeteners. The mixture is then heated, cooled and shaped to form the original herb cough drops or other flavored drops.

…And there you have your Ricola herb cough drop!