A NEW NAME GOING FORWARD  

The American Association of Homeopathic Pharmacists was founded in 1923. At that time, there may have been up to 1,000 pharmacists preparing and selling homeopathic products, each within a small geographical area. Some of those pharmacists and their companies became the early members of the association including Boericke & Tafel, Ehrhart & Karl, Humphrey’s Pharmacal, John A. Borneman and Sons, Luyties Pharmacal, and Otis Clapp & Sons. 

After a slow five decades-long decline in the number of companies, only a few companies remained, though they had expanded to become regional and then national suppliers. For many, their focus had shifted away from homeopathic products being their primary offering. The "back to nature" movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, brought about another major shift: the homeopathic industry changed from individual professionals operating “mom and pop pharmacies” to small manufacturers beginning to operate on larger scales.  

Now, a century after our founding, the landscape has changed dramatically. Long gone are the pharmacists who were the bulwark of the suppliers 100 years ago. The homeopathic industry is now composed of a diverse collection of manufacturers and marketers. The industry ranges from those who focus on just one or two homeopathics to those making a broad range of homeopathic drugs; from those whose products are sold by major brick and mortar retailers, to those catering to the needs of health care practitioners, to those who reach consumers exclusively through online sales.  

The founding name of the association no longer describes the membership nor the avenue through which the overwhelming majority of homeopathic products end up in the hands of the consumers who use them. As we move into our second century of service, the AAHP is updating its name to better reflect what our association is and the focus of our association efforts. Our initials will remain AAHP, but we will be known as the AMERICAN ASSOCATION for HOMEOPATHIC PRODUCTS. Stay tuned for an official announcement once the name change has been finalized along with the unveiling of our rebranded material coming in the next few months.