Galway firm stirs up global success with unique teas

by Judy Murphy

Jörg Müller is probably the best advertisement for herbal medicine that you could come across. The thirty-year-old has never taken an antibiotic in his life and has never needed to, relying instead on herbal remedies to cure any ailments up to now.

That’s very appropriate, given that the medical herbalist is one half of the team behind Solaris Botanicals, a family company based in the city’s Ballybane Enterprise Centre.

From its relatively humble office space at the rear of Ballybane Church, Jörg, his wife Karin Wieland, also a qualified medical herbalist, and two employees, Pryia and Dave, blend and prepare organic and specialty teas for leading hotels, restaurants and food shops in Ireland, the UK, Sweden, Finland, Italy, France, Greece and Saudi Arabia.

The client list of this multi-award winning company includes Harrods of London as well as leading Galway delicatessen, McCambridges and Dublin food shops, Fallon & Byrne and Donnybrook Fair.Not bad for a company that started in the attic of Jörg and Karin’s house, when they began blending top grade, loose organic specialty teas with a view to offering people a range of hot drinks that would be enjoyable and healthy.

“It was driven by passion and a certain amount of knowledge of the market and what was needed,” says Jörg. Theirs was a new product and the possibilities were vast.

The two met when they were studying herbal medicine in the University of Central Lancashire in Preston. Karin had grown up in Ireland, on an organic farm in Sligo, where growing and using herbs was a part of daily life.

Jörg, who is from Germany, was also familiar with herbs since childhood, as his mother, who is from the Czech Republic, used them both for cooking and medicinally, while his doctor was also a fan.“My GP in Germany always used herbs before using antibiotics,” he explains.

After school, Germans have a choice between compulsory army service or working in social service for a year.

Jörg applied for international social services, coming to Wexford where he worked with people with special needs for three years, in a centre which had a herb garden.

His interest grew and he went to Lancashire to study for his degree in plant medicine. He and Karin returned to Ireland after finishing their education, basing themselves in Galway.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.