![]() In fact, Morocco is especially known for its fields of roses that are used to produce some of the most fragrant rose water available - indeed, some "French" rose water is produced in Morocco.Įxotic as Moroccan rose water seems today, many people forget that it was a common and popular flavoring in this country as well, until vanilla extract became readily available a century ago. Until that, lemon and rose water were used to flavor baked goods, which were often made with ingredients like pork fat and maple sugar (cheaper and easier to obtain than butter and white sugar) - strong flavors that needed the strong scents of rose or lemon. It has the intense perfumelike flavor and fragrance of its source. Rose water has been a popular flavoring for millennia in the cuisines of North Africa, Middle East, India, and China. Rose flower water is, to put it simply, a distillation of rose petals. Her "pure and natural" rose water has quickly found customers who are "looking for something more" in Canada, China, Britain, France and the Netherlands.Essential Pantry Rose Flower Water - 3.0 oz - Morocco The 30-year-old Franco-Moroccan set up her own business, Flora Sina, in 2016 on the back of a university degree in chemistry, banking on the appeal of organic produce, small volumes and "traditional" distillation in copper stills. "We're looking for more and more investors," says Hafsa Chakibi. The downturn came after a buoyant period, driven by the agriculture ministry's efforts to develop the sector. With the pandemic, the price of fresh flowers has sunk by about 30 percent in the past two years. The 40-year-old started with a still, and he now employs 30 people in his company, "La Valle des Roses", specialising in cosmetics.īut "unfortunately, Covid-19 is blocking everything," he says. "Here, the main buyers are tourists passing through," explains Mohamed Kaci. Moroccan rose exports are currently restricted mostly to rose water and dried flowers.Įssential oils account for only about 50 kilos of annual exports and "concrete" for 500 kilos, a fraction of the industrial volumes sold by Bulgaria and Turkey, according to Fimarose. To increase income and combat an exodus from rural areas, Morocco must "develop the derivatives that bring in the most" income, essential oils and "concrete", an extract obtained by solvent which, once filtered, is highly prized by the luxury perfume industry, Bouker added. "We don't treat our valley, or very little - (it) isn't filled with pesticides or insecticides". It aims to register an "organic" label for the valley to boost the value of local roses on a world market dominated by Bulgaria and Turkey, the leaders in rose-based perfumes. Rochdi Bouker, head of the Moroccan growers and processors association, Fimarose, sees the rose as "an engine of local development", banking on the global vogue for natural raw materials and organic products. The distillery produces rose water and essential oils sold in the cooperative's store, along with cosmetic derivatives such as soap, creams, perfumes and ointments. The work is much better paid, 2,500 dirhams ($280) a month, almost the official minimum wage in Morocco, instead of 400 dirhams a month at the factory.Īnd the unit of five employees feels "like a family". The 35-year-old happily left her job in a packaging factory to manage the Rosamgoun cooperative, a small distillery set up by two sisters who grow roses. "The rose is the only way to work in the valley," says Najad Hassad. The annual festival in the town of Kelaat Mgouna - with a rose statue at its centre - attracted thousands of visitors before Covid-19. The heady aroma of the Rosa Damascena, a variety introduced in the days of the caravan trade, perfumes hedges and fields irrigated by two wadis between the mountains and the Sahara desert.Įverything revolves around roses: the names of hotels, cosmetics sold in countless stores, necklaces offered by children in the streets. The work allows her to feed her family of five, picking 20 kilos (45 pounds) to take home just under $7 a day during the short April-May season.Ī kilo of essential oils requires between four and five tons of flowers. ![]()
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