Introducing the Acupuncture Herbal Vendor Coalition

Editor's Note: The following article was submitted by the Acupuncture Herbal Vendor Coalition (AHVC).

The strength of any community relies in large part on the knowledge, passion and diversity of its families. Our beloved East Asian medicine community is no exception. Typically, when we think of organizations and people who support the growth, integrity and sustainability of any profession, our minds go to schools, practitioners, regulatory and credentialing organizations, and policy advocates; each of which has its own mission of support. However, a new coalition is emerging from an unexpected corner of our profession: companies that have chosen collaboration over rivalry.

Many of the companies you know and support that provide your needles, herbs and practice supplies have joined forces to form the Acupuncture Herbal Vendor Coalition (AHVC).

Individually these companies have always greatly supported the profession with products, services, research, and education. By joining forces, we have the opportunity to amplify our contribution by building bridges between commerce and the profession, commerce and education, and commerce and public understanding.

In most industries, competitors work side by side, amicably but separately. In this profession, however, there is a different kind of community spirit at work – one that brings us together with a shared commitment to the medicine. In this spirit, the AHVC will advocate for the profession by using its united resources to support growth and thus add both resilience and continuity to the profession.

Across our member companies, we generate substantial market data – insights we are eager to share with the profession’s leadership to help inform long-term decision-making. As vendors, we are always looking for opportunities to educate, and in AHVC’s mission of cooperation we plan to build cohesive educational opportunities that are not company specific.

With a unified voice, we can better support the critically important work of education and advocacy, like Medicare or veteran support. We want to leverage our extensive contact and customer lists to not just promote our individual businesses, but also focus on using that channel for more general consumer advocacy and education to increase outreach for our community.

The goal of the Acupuncture Herbal Vendor Coalition is to bring another voice, with a slightly different point of view, to the chorus of those working to protect, uplift and expand the profession. By bringing our collective resources, experience and perspectives to the table, we hope to foster partnerships that create shared value for everyone.

Whether it is offering scholarships, supporting professional policy initiatives, or crafting educational messaging that resonates with the public, we are here to collaborate. We look forward to the conversations, challenges and shared victories ahead.

AHVC members have pledged adherence to basic manufacturing, handling and marketing principles. Products are produced in an FDA or comparably registered facility. All standard operating procedures (SOPs) adhere to the current dietary supplement rules as addressed in the U.S. Federal Registry CFR.111, and all member companies are current with state and local regulations.

We encourage you to visit our website, acuherbvc.org, regularly. We will be continually posting and updating as we strive to be an active resource of relevant information. We believe we can add resilience to the profession because when practitioners, academics and industry all work together, we can raise the bar for everyone.

Please support the AHVC by supporting its member companies. If you, or someone you know, uses products from a company that is not yet a member, please encourage them to join. The strength of the AHVC voice will get stronger with your input. We call on practitioners, schools, regulatory boards, and academics to voice your opinions. In order to produce better products, services and support – we’re here to listen together!