2017 LAVENDER CROP REPORT

2017 LAVENDER CROP REPORT

by Enio Bonchev

August 18, 2017
village of Tarnicheni, Bulgaria

The 2017 harvesting of lavender crop in Bulgaria is completely finished and our company is now in the process of finalizing the very important post-harvest activities. In the next few paragraphs we would like to share with you our evaluation of this year’s crop in general and the outcome of our production efforts in particular.

This year lavender crop in Bulgaria was clearly unfavorable. There were evident early indications for that because of the hot and dry summer of 2016 and the harsh winter of 2016/2017. Early spring periods of heavy rains and hail further contributed to the poor outcome of the harvest.

In general, we are accustomed with the notion that lavender is a durable crop and can withstand harsh winter conditions and is not as susceptible as other plants, such as rose. Nevertheless, this time it took a serious damage as we observed drying out of serious plant masses, especially of older lavender plants, throughout Southern as well as Northern Bulgaria.

Weather conditions, field and factory yields, labor cost and at last, but not least, price of lavender flowers, are the important factors influencing the production of lavender oil in Bulgaria. Here are the current figures:

▪ approx. 30 - 40% lower field yields

▪ 10 - 20% worse factory yields

▪ at least 40% higher price for lavender flowers - tough negotiations with farmers still continue

▪ labor – it was difficult to keep a high efficiency ratio for this link of the chain due to the prolonged field work during the preceding rose crop and the very hot mid-summer temperatures

Another disturbing fact is that in Northern Bulgaria the young lavender plants did not give the expected high yields which farmers have seen in the past couple of years.

Based on all the given information, preliminary expectations are for short supply combined with substantially higher prices for 2017 crop Bulgarian lavender oil.

We, at Enio Bonchev, are glad to re-confirm that our experience and rigorous quality control of lavender sorts and agricultural practices in our fields and the fields of our suppliers enabled us to distill an excellent quality lavender oil both in terms of GC profile as well as aroma. Many other producers in the central Balkan area and Northern Bulgaria could not accomplish this due to the fact that in the past years they have been randomly planting lavender, without any sort selection, just aiming at high yields. But by underestimating the careful selection of the good old traditional Bulgarian sorts they failed to achieve both the desired quality and a fair yield.

In conclusion, considering all the aspects of 2017 rose and lavender campaigns, we could safely state that we have further strengthened our position on the market as a company focused solely on genuine, 100% pure and natural essential oils and floral waters of the highest quality grade. Striving to be a reliable partner, we value our clients who share our vision about integrity and sustainability of relationships on every level – from the workers on the fields to the end users of our products.

© 2017 Enio Bonchev Production Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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