Statement on COVID-19

At Avena Botanicals, the well-being of our staff and customers is everything. Our business is supporting wellness by offering high-quality herbal products that benefit our customers' health (while nurturing plants, pollinators, and our planet in the process.)

It gives us great joy to craft herbal products in small batches using the purest organic and Biodynamic^® ingredients. We know how much you celebrate the vitality of our tinctures, teas, oils, cremes, and salves. In the past few weeks, you've shown us how much you have come to rely on us to contribute to your family's wellness in stressful times. We are committed to meeting your needs and doing whatever we can to have our products be of benefit to you and your loved ones.

At this time with the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, there is an important balance between our internal efforts to protect the health and safety of our team while we minimize disruptions to our customers. Toward that end, here are some of the things that we have done:

• Ensured that our leadership team is on-call and available to respond with agility to shifting concerns and risks, and able to make quick decisions to protect staff and provide for our customers. We are monitoring the news and CDC recommendations daily.
• Had "all hands on deck" staffwide preparedness meetings to emphasize following CDC guidelines regarding good hygiene and workspace / facility sanitization practices, social distancing, and (as necessary, leaning toward the side of safety) self-isolation / self-quarantine procedures.
• Encouraged all staff who can work from home, or who wish to self-isolate at home, to do so.  We have also implemented at-home work arrangements for staff members that have or will be traveling.
• Engaged additional resources to support production and customer care staff in keeping up with increased demand.
• Restricted visitors to our facility and have temporarily closed our Rockport shop (local customers who are unable to find our products in their local co-op or health food store may call us to place an order for pickup just outside our facility.)
• Granted extra sick leave to any staff member who contracts COVID-19, or who has a member of their household or immediate family contract COVID-19. Self-quarantine is encouraged whenever a staff member feels that they may be getting sick or has any reason to believe they may have been exposed to the virus.

Many of you have approached us with questions regarding our recommendations as to which of our products are most supportive in the context of a virus such as COVID-19. While we are not able to make suggestions as to treatments for specific illnesses or diseases, due to FDA regulations, we do suggest that you speak with a trusted herbalist or your holistic practitioner about these questions.

Our team has your back, and we hope that you will consider practicing good self-care and spend quality time with your families while social distancing at home. Some ideas:

1. Go for frequent walks outside and enjoy the sunlight & fresh air.
2. Take time to make a cup of tea and read a good book.
3. Cook something delicious (and swap recipes remotely with friends!)
4. Start that art or craft project that you've been meaning to.
5. Watch a cozy movie with your sweetheart.
6. Study herbs (there are some great online courses available out there!)
7. Play a fun game with your family.
8. Begin or continue a daily meditation practice.
9. Write in your journal.
10. Start planning your garden!

Please continue to check this blog post (see the bottom of this page) for any developing updates regarding our operations during COVID-19.

Yours in the spirit of wellness,
The Avena Botanicals Team

Updates

4/21/2021: Out of an abundance of caution, we have decided that our Rockport gardens and herb shop will be closed to visitors throughout all of 2021. Thank you for your understanding. We may selectively open our gardens in the summer of 2021 for specific events on an individual event basis with limited spaces and pre-registration required. You may check our Events & Classes page for future updates on this.

11/1/2020: Please note that our Rockport gardens and herb shop will be closed to visitors until late Spring 2021, at which time we will re-assess our plans and update our website shop hours listing accordingly.

6/9/2020: We have made the decision that our Rockport gardens and herb shop will be closed to visitors throughout this summer of 2020. In lieu of our on-site garden walks, we welcome you to participate in our virtual garden walks through the summer.

6/1/2020: Our phone lines are open for all inquiries and orders once again. To ensure staff and customer safety, our physical Rockport shop and gardens remain closed to visitors for the time being. We will re-evaluate this in the coming months and update our website if anything shifts.

4/21/2020: We are experiencing high order volume. Please allow 5-10 business days for the processing and handling of your order prior to shipping (we ship Mondays-Thursdays). Because of limited staffing, we are unable to expedite or change orders after they have been placed online, and we are only accepting phone orders from our wholesale customers. Our physical Rockport shop remains closed for the time being.

3/29/2020: Due to limited staff, please allow 7-14 business days for the processing and handling of your order prior to shipping (we ship Mondays-Thursdays). We are unable to expedite orders at this time. We are also unable to take requests for changing orders after they have been placed online.

3/19/2020: Our Rockport shop remains closed. We are no longer able to offer local pickup options to our customers. We recommend looking for our products in your local co-op or health food store. We are NOT able to accept phone orders at this time, unless you currently have a wholesale account with us. We will continue accepting orders placed online and will gladly ship products to you.

3/18/2020: For a few products that are in very high demand and low stock right now, we are limiting the quantity allowed in each order in the hopes that everyone can get a small supply of the supportive herbs they need. We will remove these restrictions as soon as we replenish our inventory. A few products are now out of stock and we are working actively to replenish these. Note that we still have stock for many (but not all) single herb tinctures that are ingredients in our bestselling (yet currently out of stock) blends, and you can purchase these individually.

3/17/2020: We are temporarily unable to fulfill orders containing larger tincture sizes (8oz, 16oz, and 32oz) due to reduced on-site staffing. All 1oz, 2oz, and 4oz sizes will remain available while we maintain stock on our shelves. Product availability is indicated on individual product pages.

3/16/2020: Our Rockport shop is temporarily closed to protect the health and well-being of our staff and customers during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, your wellness remains our priority -- if you are unable to find our products in your local co-op or health food store, you may call us to place an order for pickup just outside our facility. We will also continue accepting orders placed online and will gladly ship products to you.

3/9/2020: We are currently experiencing high order volume. Please allow 3-5 business days for the processing and handling of your order prior to shipping (we ship Mondays-Thursdays). To request that your order be expedited, please call us at 207-594-0694.

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