Top Stories » Headlines » People

James May, right, accepting the AHPA Visionary Award

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) announced the winners of its sixth annual AHPA Awards to recognize individuals and companies making positive contributions to the herbal products industry.

The awards were presented during the association's Annual Member Meeting on March 10 at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel.

"AHPA honors and thanks these leaders for their significant contributions to the herbal products industry," says Michael McGuffin, AHPA president. "Each honoree is committed to excellence and understands that continual industry growth depends on the individual actions and decisions made by members of our business and education communities."
This year's award winners are:

James May, founder of Wisdom Natural Brands maker of SweetLeaf Stevia Sweetener, the 2011 AHPA Visionary Award. AHPA, which promotes the responsible commerce of herbal products, presented May with the award in recognition his dedication to the advancement of all-natural stevia. Inspired by May, the Visionary Award recognizes May’s tireless championing of stevia as an agricultural crop for family farmers in developing countries and his promotion of stevia as a natural sweetener that could have a role in fighting childhood obesity and in preventing diabetes.

Known as “The Father of Stevia,” May first traveled to Paraguay to import stevia in 1982 and worked for more than a 25 years to bring the natural sweetener to the American market. From the beginning, May could foresee being part of a great food revolution when he initially brought stevia to the U.S. and began selling products out of his garage 29 years ago. By adhering to high standards in making products that are natural, May became a pioneer in a worldwide movement toward embracing healthy, low-calorie options.

His perseverance and dedication resulted in SweetLeaf Stevia® Sweetener, a natural sweetener with zero calories, zero-carbohydrates, zero-glycemic index and zero chemicals. SweetLeaf® is the 2010-2011 Global Stevia Products Award winner for taste, technology and sustainability.

Edward J. Fletcher, chief operating officer of Strategic Sourcing, Inc., in Reading, Pa., received the AHPA Herbal Hero Award, which recognizes individuals who make outstanding contributions to AHPA committees or initiatives.
Fletcher learned the business of cultivated and sustainably harvested medicinal botanicals from the roots up: propagating and growing Native American wildflowers in his family's ornamental nursery business. He currently serves on AHPA's Raw Materials Committee as chairperson, the Advisory Council of the National Center for the Preservation of Medicinal Herbs, and the Botanical Advisory Panel of United States Pharmacopeia.

NOW Foods, based in Bloomingdale, Ill., received the AHPA Herbal Industry Leader Award, which recognizes companies that set an example of outstanding business practices that move the industry forward. The family-owned company provides high-quality nutrition products.

The AHPA Herbal Insight Award recognizes individuals or non-commercial organizations that have a significant impact on furthering knowledge and understanding of botanicals and their uses.

This year, the Award is presented to the members of the Expert Advisory Council for the revision to AHPA's Botanical Safety Handbook, which provides safety data on more than 600 herbs as guidelines for product labels, including contraindications, side effects, and special warnings. This team of professionals dedicated their life-long knowledge to voluntarily review the current information on botanical safety, providing an invaluable service to the herbal community. The revised edition of the Botanical Safety Handbook will be published late this year or in early 2012.
• Zoë Gardner, R&D Project Manager at Sebastopol, Calif.-based Traditional Medicinals, and team leader
• Michael McGuffin, AHPA president
• Roy Upton, executive director of the American Herbal Pharmacopeia
• Mary Hardy, MD, medical director of the Simms/Mann UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology
• Tieraona Low Dog, MD, director of the Fellowship at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona
• Aviva Romm, MD, medical practitioner and President of the American Herbalists Guild
• Soaring Bear, PhD, pharmacologist
• David Winston, herbalist, educator, and ethnobotanist
• Lyle Craker, professor, University of Massachusetts
• Daniel Gagnon, herbalist and president of Santa Fe, N.M.-based Herbs, Etc.