Goulds Apothecary & Natural Dispensary

A place you can come for advice and medicines you can trust

Our approach to naturopathy is grounded in experience drawing from tradition and contemporary science. Goulds dispensary and practitioner staff can assist with a wide range of ailments from coughs and colds to chronic conditions, using quality herbal medicines, nutritional supplementation, dietary advice, and lifestyle modifications.

Providing a sanctuary to the local community since 1881, Goulds apothecary continues to operate from our heritage shopfront on Liverpool Street. While our home remains here, we now proudly serve patients across Australia and world-wide.

From our commitment to sustainable sourcing of medicines through our own farm to our carefully chosen suppliers, we endeavour to source the best quality medicinal plants. Sustainable sourcing means sourcing medicinal plants that have been produced in a way that supports biodiversity, ecosystem integrity and human wellbeing. To ensure quality herbal medicines also need to be grown and processed in a way that preserves their medicinal integrity.

Sustainability

Premium quality

Grassroots connection

Optimising vitality & purity

Knowing the source of our herbs

Supporting small & local growers

Learn about the Goulds Farm

Many of us are interested in knowing where our food comes from, but do you know where the plants in the natural supplements you take have come from?

Many herbal products are made using herbal material that is sourced with a primary goal of seeking a low price. For this to be possible producers, farmers, and wild harvesters are often paid very little which forces them to cut corners.

It is also common for herbal material to change hands many times along the supply chain, meaning the manufacturer may know very little about the initial origin of the herbal material. This is referred to as a “long supply chain”.

There are considerable conservational issues resulting from the popularity of herbal medicine, including the over harvesting of wild plants, threatening their existence and/or disturbing the ecosystem they are sourced from.

Examples of medicinal plants that have been overharvested and have been listed as threatened or at risk include: Rhodiola, Arnica, Beth Root, Slippery Elm, American Ginseng, Goldenseal and Black Cohosh.

Other issues within medicinal plant trade include substitution, adulteration and contamination. Carefully produced herbal medicines from clean environments ensures we have a medicine we can trust at the end, and a medicine we can feel good about using.

By ensuring we use cultivated sources of threatened species we avoid contributing to their demise and provide consistent livelihood to farmers to encourage them to continue their cultivation.

These are some of the reasons why we grow many of our own medicines and develop relationships with farmers that we source from. We aim to grow our own or source locally or organically grown as a priority.

If you would like to learn more about sustainable sourcing of medicinal plants visit this site: sustainableherbsinitiative.org