Mint value chain

Producers source mint runners or rhizome cuttings from established beds of spearmint, peppermint or chocolate mint varieties. Vegetative propagation ensures true to type flavour profiles essential for consistent essential oil composition and culinary herb quality.

Mint is cultivated as a spreading perennial in contained beds or raised rows with drip irrigation and regular cutting to maintain vegetative growth. Rust disease management and bed renewal every three to four years maintain essential oil quality and yield levels.

Mint is cut just before flowering when essential oil content peaks and bundled for fresh market or laid in windrows for distillation. Cutting height above the lowest leaf nodes ensures rapid regrowth for multiple harvests per season.

Fresh market mint is sorted, packed in punnets or sleeves with damp paper and rapidly cooled to two degrees celsius. Mint wilts extremely rapidly at ambient temperatures and requires high humidity packaging to maintain leaf turgor and aroma intensity.

Bulk mint is steam distilled for essential oil used in pharmaceuticals, confectionery and personal care products or dried for tea blends. Peppermint oil commands stable international pricing and represents the highest value extraction from mint biomass.

Fresh mint serves retail herb sections and hospitality while essential oil and dried mint supply pharmaceutical, food manufacturing and export channels. Multi channel distribution across fresh and processed formats stabilises income across market fluctuations.