Herbaland Naturals, a Richmond-based company and Canada’s leading nutritional gummies producer, announced Friday that it has expanded into its second manufacturing facility to meet fast growing demand.
The new 50,000-sq.-ft. facility near the Cambie and No. 6 roads will provide 30 new jobs and triple production, according to co-founders Musharaf Syed and his wife Aisha Yang.
“It’s very exciting. It’s big and new and has a lot of space. Employees will enjoy working here,” said Syed.
Founded in 2009 on Horseshoe Way, the company expanded from Syed and Yang working in a small office to today’s 70 employee company, which exports products to 35 countries.
The company was also declared the 57th fastest growing company in Canada in 2018, rated by Canadian Business.
“Right now we produce 10 tons of gummies per day, but demand is so high that our clients need to wait for about four months after placing an order,” said Syed.
“With the new facilities, we will be able to produce 30 tons of gummies every day and our goal is to shorten the waiting time to six weeks.”
Syed, who has a nutraceutical background, worked in a number of nutritional supplement companies before he and Yang started Herbaland in 2009.
“Traditional nutritional supplement are capsules, tablets or liquid. It’s what everyone makes. We thought we should make something different,” said Syed.
“We decided to make nutrients into gummies. We were the only one doing this in Canada. A gummy is an easy, convenient way for people to consume their daily nutrition. It’s fun and very functional.”
Now the company has more than 200 licensed gummy products, which deliver different substances including vitamins, fibre, Omega 3, calcium and protein.
“We feel very proud that we can make the most of the supplements by transforming their traditional forms into the gummy form. Some customers have their own formula and we can make those too,” said Syed.
Meanwhile, all products are made with natural, non-genetically modified and gluten-free ingredients, and customers can also choose sugar-free and vegan products, Yang added.
“We will only stay with high-end materials, and we use a lot from local farms, such as local blueberries and cranberries, to ensure product quality,” she said.
“And people trust Canadian products, we have a very good reputation, and that also contributes to the success of our company.”
Yang said the gummy products “are not candies after all” and comes with recommended daily dose to follow.
“Our vision is to be the No.1 nutritional gummy producer in the global market, and to provide a healthy Canadian lifestyle for the world,” said Yang.
