The Sweet Smell of Success Once the world's main producer, Bulgaria is reviving
its traditional rose oil industry by JAN STOJASPAL
In Bulgaria's Valley of Roses during May local women rise before dawn
and head out to the fields. As the sun rises they begin harvesting the
small pink flowers of Rosa damascena for the delicate petals that will
be distilled into attar of roses, or rose oil, among the world's finest
and an essential ingredient in designer perfumes. "Bulgarian rose oil
makes a great base for perfumes," says Anna Dobreva of the Institute of
Roses, Essential Oils and Medicinal Plants. "It has a unique ability to
harmonize the most contradictory scents."
Harvesting methods have changed little since the 17th century, when the
Ottomans found the valley's combination of sandy soil, mild February temperatures
and wet springs ideal for rose cultivation. Women still pluck the flowers
by hand, gently depositing them into their aprons. The best pickers collect
about 30 kg of rose flowers in a day, earning roughly $4 for their efforts.
To maintain freshness, the flowers are distilled on the same day in one
of the valley's nine distilleries. The rose petals are boiled and oil
is collected from the resulting condensation. The condensate is then redistilled
to release more oil.
For decades Bulgaria had few rivals in terms of the quantity and quality
of the rose oil it produced. In the early 1900s, annual production ranged
between 3,000 and 6,000 kg. By 1917, Bulgaria had more than 8,000 hectares
of rose fields under cultivation and the industry employed some 200,000
people. At one point the country supplied more than half the world's demand.
But the Depression, World War II and forced collectivization of the rose
fields under the Soviets all took their toll. Today, only 1,500 hectares
of rose fields are in production, yielding between 1,000 and 1,300 kg
of oil per year. The local economy has been further hit by the near collapse
of the area's other major employer — Arsenal, an arms manufacturer
that makes Kalashnikov rifles.
Under ideal conditions, between 1.5 and 2 million rose flowers produce
one kilogram of oil. But a spell of hot, dry weather during harvest or
a warm early spring can significantly lower the yield and quality of the
oil. And Rosa damascena itself is a finicky flower. "You have to do everything
just right," says Georgi Stoyanov, deputy director of the Institute of
Roses, Essential Oils and Medicinal Plants in Kazanlak, the valley's administrative
center. If you do get it right, though, the rewards can be big. A kilogram
of Bulgarian rose oil costs between $3,500 and $6,000 in the United States
and France. Seventy percent of the country's output is shipped abroad,
where it is snapped up by the likes of Christian Dior or Chanel.
The Bulgarian industry is doing its best to meet demand. More than 120
additional hectares of roses were planted last year and more people are
getting into the business. And the rose farms are once again being collectivized,
this time for sound economic reasons rather than communist ideology. Larger
farms allow producers to pursue more efficient cultivation and processing
techniques.
But change will not come overnight. It takes several years before a young
rose bush flowers, and several years after that before it matures to provide
a good yield. And some things may never change — like the female
harvesters who for centuries have risen before the sun to hand-pick the
most valuable flowers in Bulgaria's Valley of Roses.
