Three generations of Cascara

The Pacific Coast Cascara Bark Company was founded in the 1930s by Ludlow Esses and his family in Montesano, Washington — a small town in the heart of Grays Harbor County, deep in the Pacific Northwest timber country where Cascara sagrada grows wild.

The founding generation passed the business on to Sherman Esses, his wife Dorothy, and his sister Eda, who ran the company for decades, building long-standing relationships with bark peelers and botanical buyers alike.

Today the company is operated by the third generation of the family — Russell Esses, Jerry Esses, and Kelly Esses Rudd — continuing the tradition of buying bark directly from local peelers, drying and grinding it on-site, and shipping it in bulk to botanical customers around the world.

A lot has changed in ninety years. The way we do business hasn’t — honest dealings, quality bark, and a handshake that still means something.