Honest teas from pure Slovak production

I really like the Made in Slovakia project because it helps Slovak companies gain visibility and gives customers a real choice. If someone is interested in a Slovak-made product, they have the opportunity to get to know a specific company and its story.

Our company has been on the market for thirty-two years. We focus on the ecological cultivation of medicinal plants, and thanks to our location in the Zamagurie region and the Tatra Mountains, we operate in one of the cleanest natural environments in Europe. That is why, in addition to cultivation, we also collect herbs in the wild.

As the largest grower of medicinal plants in Slovakia, we have a very broad scope and an extensive portfolio. Under the Elixír brand, you can find loose teas, hygienically packaged teas, infusion teas, various gift sets, and in total we offer more than 700 products.

Our formulations have been approved by the State Institute for Drug Control, which means they have a positive effect on the human body in various health conditions. Today, we are the largest grower of organic medicinal plants in Slovakia, and we are proud that everything—from cultivation to final processing and distribution—is done within one company. We often say that our products go straight from the field to the customer’s table, and that is something we are very proud of.

We grow approximately fifteen types of medicinal plants. The most represented are chamomile, milk thistle, mallow, calendula, lemon balm, yarrow, lovage, hyssop, and agrimony.

From higher-altitude wild harvesting, we collect plants such as stinging nettle, rose hips, and raspberry leaves. These are our main core products—plants that we are able to grow under our local conditions and for which the technological process is largely well established.

When it comes to company decisions, a substantial part of the raw material is processed in-house and used in our own products. These include herbal teas, loose teas, tins, and gift packaging. In the case of semi-finished products or raw materials that we are unable to process entirely ourselves, part of the production is exported outside Slovakia. Everything depends on the quantity grown, which is the alpha and omega of the entire process. However, our main priority is always our own production, so that as much of the cultivated raw material as possible remains on the domestic market.

Everything depends on the specific year and the quantity of raw materials we are able to grow. Medicinal plants primarily end up in our own products, which is our top priority. We aim to satisfy the Slovak market first, and only when there is a surplus of a particular raw material do, we export it abroad, most often outside Slovakia or even beyond Europe.

Our products are certified as BIO quality and are inspected by a specialized certification body. The entire production process is adapted to these standards, meaning no chemical substances or preparations are used, and fertilization is limited exclusively to natural, certified materials available on the market.

BIO quality is highly sought after on our market today. We minimize the use of cellophane and plastic films on our production lines and strive to package our products in paper or materials that are easily biodegradable. In this segment, we do our best to reduce plastic packaging as much as possible, even though certain stages of the production process still require it.

When the raw material is grown and processed locally, only the finished product is transported. Products are not shipped across half the globe to be processed and then brought back to the Slovak market. Most of the production takes place directly on our own land, from where we distribute finished goods to outlets throughout Slovakia.

Entering new markets is certainly a challenge for us. We would like to be present in other European countries or even further abroad and become an attractive business partner for new companies. Now, however, our main focus remains on the Slovak market.

In terms of production capacity and technological background, significant investments have been made over the past five years. We have mastered the initial processing of raw materials and the drying process from a technological perspective. A future challenge will be processing raw materials into packaged teas, where we will need to move toward automated systems that minimize manual labour.

Within the next five to ten years, we expect automation to become essential, as labour costs continue to rise each year. Our vision also includes building new facilities for packaging, as well as warehouses for finished products and packaging materials.

Looking ahead, we would like to innovate our technological processes—for example, automating the packaging of loose teas, which we currently do by hand. We plan to build a new packaging facility with more space, as we also prepare various gift sets and need sufficient room to handle packaging materials.

My personal vision is also a herbal garden. We established one this year and use it for guided tours and educational lectures for university and secondary school pharmacy students, children from kindergartens and schools, as well as seniors. We show them medicinal plants, how to grow them, dry them properly, and prepare tea at home. We receive very positive feedback—children spend more time in nature and are then able to prepare their own tea themselves.