Why Jasmine Oil Is So Expensive | So Expensive | Business Insider

right now these jasmine buds don't smell like anything but once they bloom producers in india process their coveted aroma into one of the priciest oils in the world just one kilogram of jasmine oil can cost over five thousand dollars it's a key ingredient in luxury perfumes but to get one kilogram of some jasmine oil these women need to pluck over 5000 buds so what does jasmine smell like and why is the oil so expensive for hundreds of years jasmine has been used in india to make garlands and headpieces for special occasions its scent is sweet fruity and floral blending well with other fragrances and while india grows over 80 varieties of jasmine jasmine grandiflorum and sambac are two of the most commercially valuable it's been considered very divine and samba especially even amongst other flowers is considered one not superior it's the most preferred flower jasmine sambac has this ease this friendliness this happiness it is a joyful scent jasmine sambac thrives in materay the jasmine capital of india like any flower jasmine produces a strong scent only after it blooms but local sellers don't want jasmine flowers they want the buds that's because once the flower blooms the scent only lasts a few days the buds last longer so they're easier to transport whether it be for garlands or oil extraction raja runs a jasmine oil company but before raja can produce the oil he'll need to wait for the day's harvest [Music] jasmine is a night blooming flower to maximize the harvest and ensure the buds make it to the markets in time harvesters head to the fields early rati is one of a handful of women tasked with plucking the buds [Music] it's not as simple as grabbing each bud she sees only the right bud blooms that day otherwise it's not going to bloom so if it doesn't bloom no fragrance deciphering which buds to harvest requires a keen eye one that rati has trained over the last 10 years in these fields thousands of buds before she collects a kilogram of jasmine gathering that much takes her about an hour the work must be done gently by hand so as not to damage the buds damage or wilted buds mean more work for atti jasmine is a very laborious picking process a kilo of jasmine just to give you a perspective will have about 5000 to 6000 independent flowers so to pick one kilo they have to move five thousand times you know the hand moves back and forth five thousand times to pick just one kilo of flowers but that's still a tiny fraction of the buds needed to produce a kilogram of oil for one kilogram of jasmine oil raja needs one metric ton or one thousand kilograms of flowers as she works rati collects the buds in her sari to protect them and preserve their fragrance m she'll harvest for about five hours straight it's tedious and tiring but it's critical for her to keep moving before it gets too hot then the buds head to the local market [Music] [Music] marugan is used to the market's chaotic energy he's been sourcing jasmine for oil production for 18 years practically all corners of the market are full of buyers bags of jasmine buds and scales to determine the proper quantity for sale [Music] the rate today is 500 rupees per kilogram before buying he assesses the buds closely to determine if the size will be worth the price smaller [Music] when the sun has set raja's employees begin unloading bags full of jasmine buds back at the factory the first step is to spread them out with rakes and then again with their hands and feet spreading out the buds is crucial to preserving them leaving them in a big pile would generate heat which would again cause them to will then raja's team waits until the flowers begin to bloom the minute it starts blooming it starts emitting the fragrance and then after some time you can see em it's a bad fragrance so you know there's a constant chemical reaction that's happening in the flower for us it's so important to capture the fragrance at the right moment which is soon after it blooms which is the best in terms of yield and the spell like several other white flowers jasmine is rich in indole ironically intel is found in feces too in the case of feces there's too much indole so it produces an unpleasant smell but in limited amounts it creates an appealing aroma as it does with jasmine when the jasmine has bloomed rasha's team loads the flowers into four 5000 liter extractors the flowers then soak in a solvent once the solvent absorbs the smell of the flowers they remove all of the liquid they're left with this waxy hard substance called concrete it's what raja uses to finally extract the oil you add alcohol into the concrete and then the concrete is separated off the waxes it's filtered and then we get the option jasmine sambac is the most coveted of all jasmine flowers hence the high price at its peak jasmine sambac flowers can cost 10 times more than other types of jasmine and when it comes to the final price of the oil the majority of it depends on the cost of the flower itself about 60 the bulk of the cost is attributed towards the flower cost itself so it varies depending on the price of the flowers every year the cost of one kilo of concrete is around two thousand seven fifty to three thousand dollars and the absolute is almost a double like five thousand five hundred plus per kilo of absolute but jasmine sambac oil wasn't always this valuable in fact raja says it was rarely harvested before the launch of dior's jadore fragrance that was when the sambac became the in thick before that sambac was grown in india but it was not really extracted today jasmine oil extracts travel from india all the way to paris where they will be used in many high-end fragrances particularly at garland galan sources jasmine sambac oil directly from raja the signature of the house is made with jasmine and five other ingredients so jasmine is almost everywhere the company produces all of its fragrance blends in-house including monkeyland jasmine sambac is the star of mongala you have the top note of lavender blend then in the jasmine sambac florals he enjoy then comes the sandalwood and the vanilla this is such a soft and beautiful fragrance you know it's weird sometimes you even surprise yourself smelling memories

Channel: Business Insider

Views: 7,323,697

Keywords: Business Insider, Business News, INSIDER, so expensive, jasmine oil, jasmine, india, perfume, fragrance, oil, essential oil, essence, flowers, buds, luxury perfume, j'adore, dior, guerlain, shalimar, chanel, chanel no. 5

Id: Rt16uOqImI0

Length: 9min 11sec (551 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 16 2022