Seven stages, and what each one is there to remove.
A cleaning and grading line for dried medicinal and aromatic plants, to be sited inside the Fayoum growing belt. Below: every stage and the defect it exists to take out, the documents intended to travel with a consignment — and a plain statement of where the build stands. The test methods are named, parameter by parameter, in the specification tables.
■ CURRENT STAGE
We do not offer processing services to third parties. No toll work, no contract work, no bookings, no held capacity — there is no equipment yet. If you need tonnage this season, we are not your supplier. If you are mapping Egyptian origin for 2027, now is when assessing us is worth your time: the process is defined on this page, and the specification is written, parameter by parameter, under Products.
Seven stages, from intake to sealed bag.
A cleaning and grading line for dried medicinal and aromatic plants. Each stage below is specified in our build plan; the line is in procurement and none of it is installed or in commercial operation. Steam sterilisation is a later phase and is not part of this scope.
Intake
Goods received against a lot identity, weighed and sampled on arrival. Raw material is to be held under lot number from this point forward so that everything downstream can be tied back to a delivery.
Air aspiration
Air separation to remove dust, light chaff and leaf fragments by density difference — the first reduction of extraneous matter before anything mechanical touches the material.
De-stoning
Gravity separation to remove stones, soil agglomerates and other heavy foreign bodies that field harvesting and yard drying introduce.
Sieving & grading
Screening to separate the material into defined size fractions — whole flower heads, tea-bag cut and fines — so that a delivered lot sits inside an agreed sieve band rather than an average.
Sorting
Removal of off-colour material, stem and residual foreign matter that survives the mechanical stages, to bring extraneous matter within the specification agreed with the buyer.
Metal detection
In-line metal detection before packing, with rejects held and recorded against the lot rather than returned to the stream.
Weighing & packing
Net weighing into export packaging under the lot number, sealed and labelled, with the packing record forming part of the consignment file.
Specification first, then process.
We intend to work against the buyer's written specification rather than a house standard: agree the parameters and the test methods before a lot is committed, then evidence them per consignment with third-party analysis.
Our quality system is being built around HACCP principles, with FSSC 22000 certification as the target once the line is operational and has a production history to audit. We do not hold either today, and we will not claim otherwise on a specification sheet, in an email, or on this website.
Analysis is to be carried out at an accredited external laboratory. No laboratory has been appointed at this date. We are not a laboratory and do not intend to self-certify results that a buyer relies on.
What is intended to travel with a consignment.
The document set below is what we are building the operation to produce. It is the set an importer needs to clear goods and to close their own supplier file.
| Document | Purpose | Intended issuer |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Analysis | Results for the agreed specification parameters on a shipped lot | Accredited external laboratory |
| Packing list | Lot numbers, bag count, net and gross weights per pallet | Fayum Botanicals |
| Phytosanitary certificate | Plant health clearance for import | Egyptian plant quarantine authority |
| Certificate of origin | Origin evidence for customs and preferential treatment where applicable | Issuing chamber / competent authority |
| Batch traceability record | Links a shipped lot back through packing, processing and intake | Fayum Botanicals |
If your file requires a document that is not listed here, tell us at the specification stage. It is easier to build a requirement into the process now than to retrofit it to a shipment.
Fayoum, Egypt.
The Fayoum depression and the neighbouring Beni Suef and Minya governorates are Egypt's principal growing area for chamomile and a number of leaf herbs. Siting the line inside the growing area shortens the time between harvest, drying and processing. That is the whole point of putting it there: to buy from a field we have seen, rather than from a warehouse three hand-offs downstream.
Not a trading desk.
We are being set up to clean, grade and pack — to take physical responsibility for a lot rather than to pass a supplier's bag through with our name on it. Judge us on the specification we will put in writing. That is the part that is real today, and it is the part that decides whether a lot clears your intake.
The questions a buyer asks first.
Are you certified?
No. We hold no food-safety certification today. HACCP implementation and FSSC 22000 certification are planned once the line is operational. Any certificate we obtain will be shown to you as a document, not asserted as a bullet point.
Can you supply this season?
No. First supply is targeted for the 2027 season. What is worth doing now is the specification work — agreeing parameters, methods and grades — so that when the line runs there is nothing left to negotiate but price and date.
Who does your testing?
No laboratory has been appointed yet. The intention is an accredited external laboratory, named to you before a lot is committed; we do not intend to run our own analysis for results a buyer relies on.
Can we visit or audit?
Not yet — there is nothing on the ground to show you. The line is in procurement and nothing is installed. We would rather say that than stage a visit. When there is a site, an open-door audit at the build stage is part of the plan, and we will invite you to it unprompted.
Do you sterilize?
Not in the current scope. The first-phase line described above is a cleaning and grading line and includes no sterilisation step; steam sterilisation is planned for a later phase. If your specification requires microbial reduction, say so at the specification stage and we will tell you plainly whether and how it could be met.
Do you take contract or toll processing work?
No. We do not process other companies' material, quote for it, or hold capacity for it. If that changes it will be because the equipment exists and has been validated, and this page will say so.
Assess us early.
Send your specification and we will tell you what we can and cannot meet, in writing.