Ingredient supplier Verdure Sciences has joined third-party testing company Alkemist Labs’ new transparency program, Alkemist Assured.
 
The Alkemist program consists of two tiers. The first tier of this transparency program, Next Generation Transparency, includes consumer-friendly certificates of analysis (COAs) for botanical testing. Companies who participate in this program and who share their testing reports with the public, are listed on the Alkemist website as Next Generation Transparency partners. The public reports must be updated a minimum of every six months to ensure they are up to date.
 
Secondly, to have the Alkemist Assured seal, companies are required to conduct Next Generation Transparency reporting in addition to a regular schedule of product testing by Alkemist Labs. Companies can use the seal on product marketing materials, websites, and sales materials.
 
“The Alkemist Assured seal will help provide an added layer of transparency for our customers. This seal aims to bring confidence to the forefront for foundational efforts at Verdure, further confirming identity, potency, and purity through an esteemed and reliable third party. We are excited to partner in this endeavor,” said Sonya Cropper, vice president of Verdure Sciences.
 
“Verdure Sciences has always committed to delivering high-quality ingredients by testing for identity, strength, purity, and contaminants,” said Bhaumik Darji, quality assurance manager at Verdure. “With this expanded partnership, we have taken a step forward for our customers as a commitment to quality, integrity, and transparency. This program provides additional transparency in testing that supports our commitment and fight against adulteration.”
 
“I want to acknowledge [Verdure’s] courage for being an early adopter of this program,” said Elan Sudberg, CEO of Alkemist Labs.
 
 These efforts are part of Verdures’ internal mission, branded as Verdugration, to provide sustainable, socially-conscious, and transparent global stewardship of plants, ingredients, the environment, and processes, according to Kristen Marshall, digital marketing manager of Verdure Sciences.
 
“While Verdure has always held sustainability, traceability, and transparency as key pillars of business, we are now sharing these messages in a more meaningful way for our customers through Verdugration and Verdure Cares,” Marshall said.
 
Verdure Cares, which is a subset of Verdugration, focuses on sustainable partnerships, social impact, and the team at Verdure.
 
“Combined, under the Verdugration umbrella, these efforts aim to make our contributions to the planet, people, and practices we employ more meaningful, but they have always been in practice,” said Marshall. “As a part of our internal efforts to improve sustainable, traceable, and transparent messages, we are very excited to partner with Alkemist. Being a part of the Alkemist Assured initiative offers a unique opportunity to better include quality control and assurance in our transparent efforts. We look forward to collaborating further to uniquely offer consumer friendly COAs to our customers. In tandem with Alkemist, we are going to work to share information openly and accurately. It will certainly be important to share these new resources in a way that translates to appropriate finished products as well.”