I’ve worked on the botanical side of product development for spa and distilling industries for many years covering ingredient selection and sourcing to meet brand USP, sustainable supplies, and trade legislation that applies to botanicals, and running interactive workshops for staff and customers to get to know botanical ingredients in products.
Examples include
- science interpretation and sourcing for Wildsmithskin
- sourcing for Everleaf
- ingredient selection and sourcing for Isle of Harris Distillery and The Boatyard Distillery
- concept development for EEVA
- I write about botanicals for the American Distilling Institute
My industry experience is accompanied by knowledge from my post-graduate research on wild botanicals used in alcoholic beverages, current research on sustainable wild harvesting and cultivation, and eclectic travels where I am always looking at local plants and what people are doing with them.
Consultation can be written up as technical reports for internal use, and/or text for public facing online or in print format. Writing style can be adjusted for intended readership—I’ve written features for The New York Times, BBC, Guardian newspaper, Sunday Times, and other outlets.