Bulgaria is among the world’s top producers of lavender oil and even passed France a few years ago. Traditional markets Bulgaria exports lavender oil to are the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, China, the Middle East, as well as Vietnam, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Turkey and others. This year growers are in no hurry to make forecasts about the harvest, which starts in early July. Issues are related to the Covid-19 pandemic which became a reason for huge amounts of unsold produce from last year's campaign. Petar Hristov is chair of the National Association of Essential Oil Producers in Bulgaria, which has about 100 members. He told us more about the situation:

"Every producer faces the low purchase price and the inability to sell some quantities of last year's produce. I dare say that we have members who suffered health problems because of the inability to sell their produce. It is important for people to work for some profit so that they can feed their families. Currently, at a purchase price of 13-25 euros per kilo of oil, this becomes impossible. Some colleagues have given up, plowed the fields or rented them out. The varieties of lavender are also important, as higher quality means higher price.”

Hristov himself takes care of about 300 decares of lavender plantations. Bulgaria hopes to support producers by subsidizing them with sums between 25 and 50 euros per decare of lavender.

The members of the Association take care of a total of 1400 hectares of lavender, which are mainly located in the region of Dobrudzha. This is one of the regions, along with the Rose Valley and Stara Zagora region, in which the largest number of producers are concentrated.

The potential for development of production of lavender and other essential oil crops in this country is great, as Bulgaria has very suitable climate, soil, enough specialists, high quality varieties and most of all it is well recognized on world markets. In addition to the production of perfumes, lavender is widely used in many cosmetic products such as creams, toothpastes, face products, as well as various medicines and ointments.

Lavender can also be used for treatment of wounds and burns, as it contains tannins that kill bacteria and prevent infection.

Author: Yoan Kolev

English: Alexander Markov