Farmacy Skin Care Comes Fresh Off the Farm

When gardening buff Mark Veeder saw an unusual plant on his upstate New York property, he didn’t dismiss it as a weed. Instead, he turned it into a business opportunity. Turns out that plant, since dubbed “Echinacea Green Envy,” has the highest-known concentration of cichoric acid, which helps protect the skin’s collagen by inhibiting the enzymes that break down the skin’s firming protein and inhibits the overprotection of melanin. Veeder promptly enlisted farming expert Robert Beyfuss (who’d helped Veeder’s father found a Christmas tree farm) and patented the ingredient. After a two-year development process with co-founder and co-owner David Chung and general manager Caroline Fabrigas, a new brand, Farmacy, will be launched later this summer. The brand — which will feature hand-harvested Green Envy in all 20 stockkeeping units, ranging in price from $16.50 to $65 — will be exclusive to Sephora, QVC and Farmacybeauty. com.