Rose Hydrosol, Turkish - Or - The Lack Thereof

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Thanks for the update, Butch, always appreciated, as are your fine products.

 

 

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Hi y'all,

 

Many list members are aware I have offered Turkish Rose Hydrosol (Rosa

damascena) in gallon sizes .. and up to 200 kilogram barrel sizes, for

many years now .. in 2000, 2001 and 2002 I purchased the entire crop ..

over 2 metric tons (4,410 pounds or 551 gallons) .. in 2003 I was able

to get only 1,300 kilograms (358 gallons) .. in 2004 I could purchase

but 400 kilograms (110 gallons) and the buying and selling price was

much higher .. still, I ran out of stock in late November 2005. From

the 2005 crop I was able to purchase ZERO stock .. NONE!

 

Was a time I was THE major supplier of Turkish Rose Hydrosol .. world

wide .. did such a good job that I almost put myself out of a job. ;-)

 

I get daily inquiries as to when I will get more in. I've been telling

folks that with luck .. I'll have more by the end of March 2005. But

that has changed so lemme clarify that for the folks on this list .. it

will save them from asking questions and save me from having to answer

them .. and I'll just use the information in this post to notify others

of the status when they inquire. ;-)

 

PURE Rose Otto and bulk Rose Hydrosol are becoming scarce commodities in

both Turkey and Bulgaria (they are producers of the world's finest). The

reason for this in Bulgaria is primarily a lack of labor .. and other

reasons I'll not go into now because I only sell Turkish Rose products

I'm gonna just concentrate on our problems here in Turkey.

 

Supply vs demand is having an impact in both Turkey and Bulgaria.

 

Residential and Commercial expansion is taking over many of the Rose

Fields in Isparta, Turkey .. this is a reality that is not going to

change. Most of the Rose Growers are subsistence farmers .. they grow a

few Roses in a corner of their fields and that is their major cash crop.

Some of the fields are in the city limits of Isparta .. others are

spread out over 40 miles in the Isparta area (the Rose Valley). One

cannot blame a farmer for taking the money and running .. growing and

harvesting Roses is a risky and difficult venture. Harvest of the Rose

Blossoms is not something I would do for a living .. I would prefer to

work in McDonalds for minimum wages.

 

European perfumeries have a larger demand for Turkish Rose Otto now due

to a few bad issues they have experienced with some Bulgarian Rose Otto

sellers in the last couple of years. This is not to say that one cannot

get good Bulgarian Rose products .. they can get them .. they just have

to be a bit more cautious now due to organized crime.

 

I have Turkish Rose Otto in stock but not a lot. I can provide 25 grams

or so to buyers but not larger amounts. You won't find anyone offering

kilos of Turkish Rose Otto now .. if they are claiming to do so .. you

can bet your bippy that it's the inferior Indian Rose Otto. If it is

Indian it will still be far better than the Russian Rose Otto.

 

The cost of both Bulgarian and Turkish PURE Rose Otto has increased over

100% in the last 3 years .. and it is NOT price gouging .. its something

that should have happened long ago .. the profit margin on Rose Otto

produced in both countries was so low that the Rose Otto stills were

being subsidized by their governments .. lots of folks were employed in

the industry and it was important to keep them employed. Even today

they are not making a killing .. the labor and aromatic material costs

are enormous .. plus the fact that the distillation facilities sit idle

for as long as 11 months a year .. a lot of money is tied up in that

infrastructure and its money that was not being returned under the old

prices .. profit margin was just too low.

 

The shortage of Turkish Rose Hydrosol is because:

 

(1) Due to the higher price and the hydrophilic quality of the oil,

many companies are doing multiple cohobations .. they are getting more

Rose Otto from the Hydrosol. This is not good as far as producing a

high quality Rose Otto .. but they are selling mostly to perfumeries and

to them it matters not. When they do multiple cohobations, there is no

quality Rose Hydrosol left because most of the Rose Oil is removed!

 

(2) My normal producers are not doing multiple cohobations but its not

due to them being more concerned about quality .. its due to them having

opened new markets for quality Rose Hydrosol. They have opened dozens

of retail Rose Products shops throughout Turkey now and they are using

all the Rose Hydrosol they produce .. there is no bulk Rose Hydrosol (in

barrels) to be had. What I would have gotten in late March would have

been prepackaged Rose Hydrosol .. in 1 liter plastic bottles .. from

those suppliers .. and it would have cost a good bit more.

 

I have decided to NOT purchase any or the 2005 crop .. sold in 1 liter

bottles. The reasons are .. if I did purchase it would be the middle of

April or so before I could get it into my company in Maryland .. that

would be around 40-45 days or so afore the 2006 crop of Rosa damascena

(Rose Otto and Rose Hydrosol) is produced .. and though Rose Hydrosol

will NOT spoil in a year's time .. they still added a preservative to

the prepackaged product this year due to certain requirements of the

Turkish government. I just learned this .. so it helped me to make this

decision.

 

I have never and I will never add a preservative to any Hydrosol I sell.

We test ours every 90 days http://www.av-at.com/hydrosol.html .. the

testing agency is indicated at the bottom of the page at this URL.

 

Another point of interest .. many of you are now owners of adulterated

Rose Hydrosol .. that is a fact! The material used to adulterate the

Rose Hydrosol is .. distilled water. Its been watered down. This is

not a new practice .. its been going on for years. When you compare one

that is PURE with one that is adulterated .. you'll see the difference!

 

I am present at the stills when they barrel my Rose Hydrosol!

 

I have contacted some producers here and they have agreed to sell to me

a fair amount of one time cohobated Rose Hydrosol in late May .. that is

when the harvest/distillation begins. I'll purchase my own barrels

(they are made to order) and have them shipped to the stills prior to

the beginning of the harvest. Both Martin Watt and Chris Ziegler (our

List Mama) have visited the stills with me while they were loading MY

Rose Hydrosol in MY barrels .. and this year its gonna be like Old Times

again and I am willing to wait.

 

The only thing that will not be like Old Times will be the amount of the

product I'll be able to obtain. I'm shooting for a metric ton (1,000

kilograms .. or 275 gallons) and I hope they will be able to deliver.

When Chris visited here in 1999 it was so plentiful that she was able to

take a bath in 25 kilos of Rose Hydrosol .. a first since Cleopatra did

that a few years earlier. ;-)

 

When Martin Watt visited in 2000 the folks at the still gave him all he

could carry .. free of charge.

 

Both Martin and Chris visited during the Gud Ol' Days .. and those days

will not be seen again. This year I will be accompanied to the Rose

Fields by my wife, Tanya, and my son (not yet named) .. who will be 50

days old or so at that time. I look forward to showering them both with

Rose Blossoms. ;-) There is a photo of Chris in the midst of them on

the photo section of this site.

 

Another thing that will not be seen again are the prices I previously

got for Quality Rose Hydrosol .. I expect the prices will be at least

25% higher .. maybe more .. and I will still run out of Rose Hydrosol

before I can get more from the 2007 distillation.

 

So y'all .. that's where its at .. there will be no Rose Hydrosol sold

from Appalachian Valley Natural Products (Anatolian Treasures) until at

least late June 2006.

 

But .. I MIGHT have another SHORT sell on Turkish Rose Otto soon. I'll

know more about this next week. A European perfume factory has been

sold out to a larger one .. and 3 kilos of the Rose Otto stock they had

contracted for has not yet been delivered. I have put in a bid on this

oil but I won't know the outcome until a couple of other bids are

received next week. It ain't gonna be inexpensive .. that's a given!

 

Some folks are not smiling about the increased cost of Quality Turkish

and Bulgarian Rose Otto and Rose Hydrosol. That's easy to understand

when one is on the buying end and trying to acquire as much product as

possible for the smallest investment possible. As for me .. I'm not at

all unhappy about it .. I think the price increases are long overdue.

If I thought they were gouging I would stop offering it .. like I have

stopped offering Vanilla Absolute .. that is big time price gouging.

The cost of Vanilla beans has decreased by 85% of more due to a number

of factors .. but the cost of Vanilla Absolute remains out of sight.

 

The increase in cost of Turkish and Bulgarian Rose products is fair and

it will do much to assist peasant farmers and workers .. and if its a

quality product .. the new prices will still not make the distillers

rich .. you can take that to the bank as solid information!

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

Wholesale/Retail GC Tested EO & Turkish Rose Products, Tested Hydrosols

and other nice goodies shipped from our warehouse and store in Downtown

Friendsville, Maryland .. Population: 597