Our Story
It all began with a goal; make herbal medicine more accessible to the general public, then get back to the garden!
Bronwyn started The Herbal Dispensary in 1996 with this goal, shortly after she graduated as a Medical Herbalist. Since then, the Dispensary has been serving the health and wellbeing needs of the Raglan Community for almost 25 years.
The Herbal Dispensary started as a small clinic and dispensary with but $3000 worth of stock, manufacturing a small range of herbal remedies. It has expanded steadily over the years; seven locations later, and with a few more staff, the shop is now a thriving herbal dispensary and natural health & organic wholefoods store with customers all over New Zealand!
Along the way Bronwyn met her partner Geoff when he popped in store for lip balm! It was with his support and encouragement that The Herbal Dispensary moved into its largest & final premises on Wallis Street, with plenty of space for organic food & produce, a full dispensary, and natural health clinic. Geoff & Bronwyn made a wonderful team over the years running the business, both familiar faces in-store.
One of Bronwyn's biggest joys has been the community support, being able to serve so many longtime locals (including third-generation customers!) and visitors alike. It is fair to say she achieved her original goal! Now time to get back to the garden...
In 2021, after 25 years, Bronwyn handed over the reins to Natalie Jacques, a Naturopath & Medical Herbalist, and former staff member. She is excited to continue the legacy of The Herbal Dispensary.
Natalie was drawn to Raglan 7 years ago, initially for the waves. Having spent most of her life chasing waves around the world, she had come to Raglan for a surf. She was staying at a friend's place and saw an advertisement in the local paper looking for a naturopath at The Herbal Dispensary. Being a naturopath and medical herbalist, Natalie went in the next day after a surf to apply for a job and the rest is history. Bronwyn and Geoff still laugh at her coming in with zinc and salt on her face!!
After working at The Herbal Dispensary for 4 years, Natalie moved to Mount Maunganui. While she was there, she continued with her passion for natural medicine and worked for a practitioner company called FxMed, started her own practice as Naturopath Natalie and started up a natural first aid kit venture called 37 South. She upskilled as a NLP practitioner and started to specialize in gut and hormone health, utilizing all the knowledge she had gained with FxMed on functional testing.
Natalie wanted to move back to Raglan and it was on a trip back to Raglan, while she was having an ice cream outside the Herbal Dispensary congratulating Bronwyn and Geoff on the recent purchase of their house, when they told her they wanted to retire and offered her the business. That tied in perfectly with her plans to move back - and the rest is history!
Natalie took over in February 2021, joined by a wonderful team who have been with the business for years.
We all look forward to seeing you next time you are in Raglan!
