One summer day in Gangzue, Lhuntse, Phuntsho Wangdi’s grandmother shared a story of nettle herbal tea – how they used to collect stinging nettles to make stinging nettle tea in the olden days.

An entrepreneur, Phuntsho Wangdi, 28 years old altered his grandmother’s story into a business idea by transferring the dried leaves into the grinder and making its powder. Then the powder is mixed in the ratio with other herbal ingredients – giving a stunning grassy and earthy flavor.

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬, 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚.

“Stinging nettles have been used by native peoples for a variety of uses throughout history. The plant has a long history of use as a source for traditional medicine,” he said, adding that nettle is a fantastic natural herb that had been neglected for nearly a century in Bhutanese history. Steeping dried leaves and drinking tea dates back thousands of years. It’s thought to originate in China, where it was used medicinally.

“Today, people drink tea for many reasons, including its taste, stimulating or calming properties, and health benefits. One popular herbal tea is nettle tea,” Phuntsho said, adding that nettle teaches us that outer looks and quick judgment is mistaken. Nettle reveals to us the process of transformation, in which unpleasant experiences became something treasured and valuable.

Speaking to Magazine, he shared that his business was established as a motive for helping people in his village, making the best use of the available resources, adding that if his business spur, he will plan for exporting to other countries.https://loden.org/entrepreneurs/phuntsho-wangdi/

He shared that he invested a total of Nu 90,000 in the Startup of his business, which he received from his mother and some amount was borrowed from his sister. And he received an interest-free loan of Nu 300,000 from Loden Foundation. “It had greatly aided me in the improvement of my business,” Phuntsho Wangdi said.

Although gathering raw materials is not a perplexing task, Phuntsho said the main concern is financial. “As business owners, it is our responsibility to meet consumer needs and to protect their safety. It is difficult to produce the desired product without the use of updated machinery, so keeping things simple is challenging.”

Phuntsho shared that the stinging nettle market could focus on expanding its reach in the markets beyond Bhutan to enhance its business of stinging nettle over the forecast period. Consumers these days are looking for a handy packaging solution for any product they buy, hence manufacturers across the globe could focus on offering stinging nettle in convenient packaging formats to enhance a large consumer base.

“The limited knowledge and awareness of medical practitioners along with low penetration of stinging nettle supplements across wider non-urban clusters is limiting the stinging nettle supplement industry to unfold its potential,” he said, adding that consumer purchasing power and per capita healthcare expenditure in these countries are also increasing year on year, thereby creating a pool of potential targets for stinging nettle manufacturers and suppliers.

Talking about his product he shared that so far, he had been receiving positive feedback on his work, with some even claiming that it had helped them recover from body aches, and coughs and even improved their blood pressure.

𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐍𝐮 𝟏𝟖𝟎 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭. “𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎 % 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐨𝐰.

Further, he shared that he will improve his herbal tea quality, and currently he is in the process of developing new types of tea with various flavors based on nettle.

“It is comfortable and enjoyable to a scene of nettle herbal tea as it brews. Just a few organic tea leaves are needed to release the authentic flavours into the water, ready to bring you on a journey through lush green landscapes, for a little break,” he said.

He shared that nettles are very high in vitamins A & D, particularly the younger leaves. When picking stinging nettles for stinging nettle tea it is best to pick the younger and fresher leaves.

𝐁𝐲 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐧