WhiteDove Herbals banks on growing herbal market

HYGIENE – When John Hay, president and chief executive officer of Hygiene-based WhiteDove Herbals, helped found Celestial Seasonings in 1971, “no one in the country knew what an herb was.”

Today, half of all Americans use herbs for medicinal purposes and have turned the herbal product market into a $4 billion business, according to the Maryland-based American Herbal Products Association. WhiteDove Herbals is banking on that.

After helping his friend’s tincture company – Homegrown Herbals – Hay was asked to give it a face-lift “to bring their products to a new level.”

By January 2006 Hay brought in 25 investors who raised $1…