Our Story
A tale of encounters, plants and convictions
Before it was a company, Terra Provence was the story of a man who fell in love with a region. At the end of the 1970s, Hans-Ulrich Wentzler, known to everyone as Ulli, discovered the Baronnies and its landscapes of lavender, thyme and rosemary. He settled there almost by chance, joined the harvest, learned the trade in the field, and began distilling his first aromatic plants.
A Citroën 2CV, a few bottles, and a bold spirit
At the time, there was no business plan or marketing strategy. Ulli harvested, distilled, packed his essential oils in his Citroën 2CV, then headed to Germany to showcase them. Meeting by meeting, a network was built. Producers, customers, friends. What started as a personal adventure was gradually becoming a business.
Organic, naturally
Long before organic became a trend, Ulli believed that people and the planet should move forward together.
He supported producers through the certification process and sometimes contributed to their financing himself. This pioneering vision shaped Terra Provence's identity for years to come.
From the Baronnies and beyond
Morocco, Portugal, Madagascar, Turkey and Sri Lanka enriched the adventure. Everywhere followed the same approach: meeting producers, understanding the chains and building lasting relationships based on trust. More than thirty years later, this philosophy continues to guide every decision we make.
Innovating without compromise
Ulli retired from Terra Provence in September 2020 and handed over the reins to Victoire Héran. An agricultural engineer by training, Victoire has followed her passion for aromatic and medicinal plants since her first internship in Costa Rica in 2005.
Victoire began her career at Albert Vieille, where she remained for six years, and led several projects related to her main passion. These included the sustainable management of New Caledonian sandalwood and the improvement of its distillation, the construction of a mobile distillery to support producers in the South East of France diversifying into organic farming, and the field monitoring of many supply chains in France and abroad.
Since 2020, she has taken over the management of Terra Provence with a main objective: develop this very small business around a well-identified strategy based on 100% organic and 100% pure and natural. She decided to invest in new production tools, a cleanroom and a laboratory, to ensure the purity and naturalness of Terra Provence's products. She has also continued development activities with local and global producers, perpetuating Terra Provence's core values and guiding principles.
