Ethical Sourcing Calendula

In Weleda’s biodynamic archive, calendula plays a key role. The Calendula Baby Care range is the most distinct example of where this soothing and gentle plant is put to work but many of our other skin care products could not be produced without calendula’s valuable extracts. Cultivation of the plant for fresh processing mainly takes place in Europe's largest Biodynamic® plant garden, at our base in Schwäbisch Gmünd, southern Germany. 

Every summer in June, the plant garden starts to bloom: calendula illuminates the landscape with hundreds of thousands of radiant orange flowers. Around 6600 lbs. of flowers are handpicked. Over fourteen tons of leaves and stems are harvested. These plants act as the basis for herbal extracts in almost 30 Weleda personal care products, certified natural by NATRUE.

Calendula is one of the most versatile and effective plants for the wellness of the skin. Traditionally, calendula’s high content of nutrients like carotenoids, flavonoids and triterpene saponins makes it known for topical healing. 

Weleda’s in-house plant cultivation is biodynamic. Fundamental to biodynamic farming is “cycle thinking.” Cycle thinking means reusing and recycling residues to revitalize soil quality. Of course, since synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are not used, there is usually a lot of manual work. For example, the soil needs to be turned regularly to keep it loose so that calendula can absorb nutrients. Even the harvesting is done by hand, leading to higher quality as gardeners check the condition as they pick. Freshness is also guaranteed, the blooms are immediately brought to the processing plant, right next to the fields. 

Here in production, the sunny-flowered calendula becomes one of our most important ingredients as we create our gentle products.