In 2022 there appear to be less than 10 farms that actively grow and commercially harvest Rhodiola rosea in Canada. There are a few farms in the USA (Alaska), Germany, Bulgaria, and Russia. The rest of the annual harvest comes from wild-harvested plants. This situation has to improve. Rhodiola Growers of Canada wants to help growers around the world to get started and to become successful at growing Rhodiola. This Knowledge Base was written to provide growers with tools to assist in the overarching goal of sustainable and economically feasible cultivation of this amazing plant.
Industry Statistics
The global market for Rhodiola rosea extract in 2015 was $27.06M. Rhodiola rosea is well known and used in several European countries and some Asian countries. In North America, where stress is at an all time high, and the population could see the most benefit, the benefits of Rhodiola rosea are poorly understood.
The following industry information was taken from the study by J. Brinckmann, et al.
Commercial herbal extraction companies are the most important link
in the supply chain between the informal sector trade and exports of
extracts. China is a major producer of Rhodiola extracts for export. According
to a 2017 market analysis and investment feasibility study, there
were about 84 companies in the Rhodiola extraction business in China.
The study, however, did not distinguish between the several different
species of Rhodiola that are processed into extracts in China. Global
demand was believed to be increasing rapidly (CICCE(B), 2017). While
the biggest export market is for extracts of R. rosea, we know from
post-market analysis of finished products that some Chinese extraction
houses are using other species of Rhodiola, either mixed with R. rosea or
with other Rhodiola species (see 3.8 Adulteration and substitution). It is
not yet known which Rhodiola species is the predominantly used substitute
for R. rosea.
A 2016 market study estimated the value of the global market for dry
extract of Rhodiola rosea root in 2015 at about US$27.06 million, with
nearly 75% of the extract volume manufactured in China, about 13%
made in Europe, over 5% manufactured in the United States, and about
7% elsewhere (not disclosed). The average market growth rate from
2011 to 2015 was estimated at about 7.80% (QYR Chemical & Material
Research Centre, 2016). These data are confounded however due to the
fact that several Rhodiola species are apparently used by some
export-oriented extraction houses in the manufacture of extracts purported
to be made from R. rosea. The United States, followed by the
United Kingdom, then Australia, Canada and South Korea are the main
importers of Rhodiola extract from China (Cunningham et al., 2020).
According to the Zauba Technologies database, there are about 10 main
Chinese exporters of Rhodiola extracts to the United States. Most of the
Chinese extraction houses also have sales representatives and warehousing
and distribution operations established in the United States.
The global supply of R. rosea raw material that is used to manufacture
extracts is obtained mainly from wild populations. The largest
populations subject to intensive commercial wild collection are situated
in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia (Galambosi, 2006; Smith and
Cameron, 2017) but also in the neighbouring Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region, China. About 500 tonnes annually of R. rosea rootstocks
reportedly come from Xinjiang (Bejar et al., 2017), although it is likely
that some portion is originating from wild collection sites outside of
China, and it is assumed that some may be coming from unpermitted
illegal harvesting (see chapter 3.4.4). We interviewed individuals in the
R. rosea extraction industry. Some interviewees suggested that the estimate
of 500 tonnes annual from Xinjiang included material brought
cross-border into Xinjiang and that the estimate (first reported by Bejar
et al., 2017) originated from one informant who worked for a European
extraction house. We were not able to verify the 500 tonnes/annual
estimate.
What can we do?
Rhodiola rosea is not easy to grow and there are significant barriers to overcome in order to make the crop economically viable. Rhodiola Growers of Canada was formed to help overcome the barriers. We want to provide people who are interested in growing Rhodiola rosea with the tools and knowledge they need to be successful.
Please read on in our Knowledge Base to find out more about growing Rhodiola. You will find information on seeds and seedlings, propagation, field preparation and cultivation, and harvesting techniques. Most of our material comes from the experiences of successful farmers in Canada. We will be continually adding information from other places around the world, as well.
Rhodiola Growers of Canada wants to help those who are ready to give growing Rhodiola a try. Please read through our articles and if you have further questions, please comment below or send us an email.