Sustainable harvesting at Baikal Herbs Ltd
The idea of “sustainable harvesting” is great in theory—but in practice, it’s often ignored, despite existing regulations. Chaga grows slowly. It takes 2–3 years just for a small conk to emerge from a birch tree. Then, it needs another 3–4 years to develop enough active compounds to be of real value as a health product. The older the chaga, the more potent and beneficial it becomes.
Now demand for chaga has been rising steadily for almost a decade. Unfortunately, in response, a lot of chaga has been harvested without limits. Siberia is vast and sparsely populated—flying over the taiga for hours, even just as far as Irkutsk, all you see is green forest. There’s a massive reserve of birch trees and chaga mushrooms out there.
Still, continuous, uncontrolled harvesting does have an impact. Not catastrophic, but significant. From time to time, we run into sourcing issues. The main problem isn’t that chaga is disappearing — it’s that harvesters must go farther and deeper into the taiga to find quality material. It’s a logistical nightmare: no roads, dense forests, swamps, bugs, wild animals... not everyone’s willing to venture out. And we need serious volumes, we’re talking tons and truckloads.
Now that you’ve got a better picture, let me tell you what we’re doing to make our harvesting more sustainable.
Why we insist on older wild Chaga
We’re not saints—business comes first, of course. But unlike 90% of other chaga extract producers, we’re actually trying to preserve this resource by buying only older chaga, at least 5 years old. We determine age by size—anything under 20 cm in diameter is rejected. Our harvesters know the standard and stick to it (see the picture below).
Young Chaga vs. mature Chaga comparison in hand
To be honest, our main motivation isn’t “sustainability” for the sake of it. It’s practical. We need top-quality raw material to make top-quality extract.
Here’s something interesting: back in the USSR days, the pharmacopoeia stated that for chaga extract to be considered therapeutic, it needed at least 40% chromogenic complex. We’ve set our own benchmark higher—we aim for no less than 50%. In fact, we usually hit 53% or more.
Chromogenic complex and resource efficiency
How does that relate to sustainability? Well, from 9–10 kg of raw chaga, we typically get 1 kg of the extract (highly concentrated powder). But with older, more potent chunks, we can get the same result from just 6–7 kg. Why? Because older chaga is richer in the good stuff – which we aim to extract. So by insisting on older material, we actually save resources and money. Less raw material, same yield. It just makes sense.
What we do not process
Another important point: we don’t process the soft, yellowish inner layer of the chaga (see the picture above). It contains little to no useful compounds. Most Russian manufacturers include it anyway—it saves them money. But we don’t. That layer can make up 30% of a chunk. Yes, we’re literally throwing away part of what we pay for. People think we’re crazy, but that’s our commitment to quality. We only use the hard, nutrient-dense parts of the mushroom (see the picture below).
Chaga Layer Cross-Cut
Yellow layer removed
So in doing all this, we accomplish three things at once:
- We discourage harvesting of young chaga by refusing to buy it.
- We produce a highly concentrated, premium extract that’s trusted by customers who value quality.
- We cut our raw material costs and increase profitability.
Win-win-win, right?
Premium product for discerning customers
That’s why our product is priced higher, and why it’s not for everyone. We’re about quality, not mass production. Our freeze-dried chaga is a premium product for discerning customers.
This is the key message I want our wholesale customers to convey to their clients. A lot of people don’t realize what makes this chaga different. But once they understand it, sales will follow.
Wild vs. cultivated “Chaga” and chromogenic complex
In light of everything mentioned above, you can confidently challenge any seller offering cheap chaga extract by simply asking for a certificate of analysis that shows the chromogenic complex content.
You’ll probably be surprised—most people in the chaga industry won’t even know what you’re referring to. And there’s a simple reason for that. A huge portion of the “chaga” on the market isn’t truly wild chaga at all; it’s artificially cultivated, often mass-produced in controlled facilities overseas, particularly in China. Producers grow it on grains or other substrates, and while this method can inflate the levels of polysaccharides—making the product look impressive in lab reports—it doesn’t reproduce the complex natural chemistry that develops only when chaga grows slowly on living birch trees under harsh, wild conditions.
As a result, these cultivated products lack the chromogenic complex, the signature collection of bioactive compounds responsible for chaga’s deep color, potency, and many of its unique benefits. This complex simply cannot be created in a lab environment. So when you mention it, companies selling cultivated chaga often draw a blank—because their product never contained it to begin with.