Two Years to Get In, Five to Learn the Way, Ten to Sharpen One Sword

Carmen, the owner of Fosetter in Montreal's Chinatown, on what it really takes to stay in the American ginseng trade.

Two years to get in, five years to learn the way, ten years to sharpen one sword.

How I got into ginseng

Before we opened the shop in 2015, I was already selling American ginseng wholesale out of a small condo.

There was a supplier, an uncle, who did the buying for us. I have to thank him here. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have had the chance to get into American ginseng. He also checked the goods for me, and sometimes he helped me learn a lot about American ginseng.

In 2016, to learn more about American ginseng, we kept in touch with the growers all the time. We went back and forth between the growing region in Ontario and Quebec dozens of times a year. So we really did put in the time.

Here in Quebec, because it isn't where ginseng is grown, there was never a brand of its own. So we created our own brand, Native Ultra, and we registered the trademark with a lawyer. We've kept at it ever since.

Cheap stock, and a box full of hairs

When I was starting from a blank page, some people said, come with me to the farm, the goods there are so cheap. I didn't go, because I'm a bit lazy.

Later, some goods came back that really were cheap. But when you opened them up, the fine root hairs inside were already almost a third of it.

After that I sorted it out with the suppliers. Unless I order root hairs separately, every box comes with no hairs, or only a very small share that broke off on its own. Slowly they understood that I want good stock, and slowly they started sorting out the good goods for us. Of course we're very grateful to the people who help us sort it behind the scenes.

Why it takes ten years

Honestly, American ginseng, or the high-end wellness category in general, has one big feature. You have to stock up, and you have to have a certain amount of money.

If you don't have a certain amount of stock, your price is very hard to keep stable. The market moves, prices go up or down. It's not something just anyone can do.

I think if you just do it in a small way, on the side, it probably won't amount to much. For us, we registered the brand, we stocked up properly, and we built out the whole sales channel. That takes at least three to five years.

So there's a saying. Two years to get in, five years to learn the way, ten years to sharpen one sword.

A few tens of thousands, and then I was hooked

The first time I put money into this, it wasn't much at the start. It was a few tens of thousands.

Over the years, all together? Five figures, six figures, for sure. Seven figures, actually, we're already there.

And after that, I got hooked on it. Really hooked.

Come say hello to Carmen at Fosetter, 78 Rue De La Gauchetière Ouest, Montreal.