The government announced that it is providing 500,000 euros for the equipment of a specialized laboratory at the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency, which should be able to establish the authenticity of Bulgarian rose oil by the end of the year. Legislative changes related to guaranteeing the origin and quality of the product are also planned. What to expect… Tsvetelina Vatovska, who owns a mobile installation for processing essential oil crops, spoke to FACTI.
- Ms. Vatovska, the cabinet provided 500,000 euros for a laboratory that should guarantee the authenticity of Bulgarian rose oil. Does this finally solve one of the most serious problems of the sector – the lack of sufficiently reliable state control?
- The construction of a state laboratory for 500,000 euros will not in itself solve the problems in the essential oil sector if the state continues to control mainly the final product, and not the entire process. The quality and authenticity of Bulgarian oil do not start from the test tube in the laboratory - they start from the root of the plant.
From the seedling, from the variety, from the method of cultivation, from processing and distillation. The laboratory is necessary, but it should be the last, not the only link in a comprehensive control system.
In Bulgaria, and at the present time, there are enough laboratories that can carry out checks for the authenticity of rose, lavender and other essential oils. Investing in such a laboratory in itself is not a wrong step, because we are talking about a state laboratory that will have control functions. But this laboratory by itself cannot exercise control over the producers of lavender, rose and any other essential oil. Here, the issue is rather not to go towards populism, when it is simply claimed that something is being done in this industry. Because this industry has been left to its own devices for many years. Without taking into account the fact that rose oil and lavender oil, and essential oils in general, are key industries for Bulgaria. Rose oil in particular is a calling card of our country. These industries cannot be left without a clear state policy and expect that the market itself will solve all the problems.
What I have seen over the last five years in the essential oil sector is complete ruin.
One of the reasons why Bulgaria is falling in the production of essential oils is precisely the lack of state policy in this direction. For several successive governments, I do not see a policy that is in any way distinguished in its attitude towards roses and the essential oil industry. Our country in no way protects or creates conditions for creating good and high-quality production of rose, lavender and other essential oils. Over the years, various plans and strategies have been written, but they are very often not in line with practice and reality. The main emphasis is on EU subsidies and administrative measures that in practice do not solve the real problems.
- You have long been insisting on stricter control over the purity and authenticity of Bulgarian essential oils. What specifically should the new laboratory be able to establish in order to be truly useful to producers and not remain just another state structure?
- The laboratory alone will not solve the problem. It is necessary, but it is only one part of the whole system. Control should start much earlier - from the seedlings. There must be control over the production of seedlings itself - who produces it, how it is produced, who are the people and companies that have the right to produce certified seedlings. Because this in itself will also guarantee the quality of our oils.
Regarding lavender seedlings, I am absolutely convinced that the complete lack of control, the chaotic creation in every yard by every person who has no qualifications, of seedlings, different varieties - Sevtopolis, Raya and whatever else they were called - which, however, are not truly pure varieties, have led to the fact that Bulgarian lavender oil does not meet the standards it should meet.
And this is one of the first problems that must be emphasized.
The Rose Institute, which exists in Kazanlak, has an extremely important role. However, in my opinion, it has practically abdicated the role it has. None of the varieties and seedlings for the essential oil industry are controlled in the way they should be controlled. There must be rules. These institutes must be operational. Experimental fields must be prepared. The varieties must be seen - what they yield, how they yield, what yield they have, what quality of oil they yield.
Specialists in this field need to be created who can give professional assessments and recommendations. Because the quality of the oil starts with the plant. The laboratory is at the end of the chain.
After the seedlings, there must be control over the production itself, over the distillations. And there must also be control, but also support. Processing plants must be supported, because they are one of the key links in the chain. The producers themselves must also be supported.
- Currently, there is official talk specifically about a laboratory for the authenticity of rose oil. And what about lavender oil - should the same control model cover it too?
- Of course. The control should not only be on rose oil. It should cover lavender and all other essential oils. When we have no control over the planting material, when different people produce seedlings without the necessary qualifications and when there is no guarantee of varietal purity, then we cannot expect that the final product will be the same and will meet the requirements. The quality of the oil starts with the plant.
- You have spoken about cases in which low-quality or diluted oils harm the entire industry. Can the new laboratory really stop the practice on the market of selling products that compromise the name “Bulgarian oil“?
- The laboratory can be a very important tool for this, but it will not stop it by itself. If we want to protect the name “Bulgarian oil“, we must have control over the entire chain. We must know where the seedlings come from, who produced them, what the variety is, where the raw material was produced, where it was distilled, who the producer is and what is in the final batch. We cannot only check the last step and think that we have built a control system. And here I must say something very important - in order to have something to control, we must first preserve the industry itself.
Unfortunately, what I see is that the essential oil sector is disappearing.
- What should the system look like - should each batch, each distillery or only the production intended for export be checked?
- In my opinion, there should be a comprehensive control system, and not control only a certain part of the production. But this system should start from the very beginning. I say again - first there are the seedlings. Then there is production. Then there are the distillations and processing plants. Then the finished product and laboratory control. We cannot start from the end. And to lighten the mood a little, I will tell you an anecdote that my uncle loved to tell. He was a farmer, he produced grapes and peaches and he loved the land very much.
He told me: “Cvetanke, during communism I see some people – digging some holes. One digs, another burys. One digs, another burys them.“
And he stopped them and asked them: “People, what are you doing?“
And they told him: “We are a complex brigade.“
“What does that mean?“
“Well, we are actually planting pine trees, but the person who is supposed to put the pine tree in the hole is not here today. The person will come tomorrow. So for this reason we will not stop, but start digging and filling the holes.“
So that the same does not happen with laboratories.
In itself, this is not bad. On the contrary - a state laboratory that has real control functions can be very useful. But for it to give results, we must first preserve the entire industry.
- Who should be responsible when the laboratory finds a non-compliance?
- This must be part of the entire system that the state must build. There must be clear rules as to who is responsible - the manufacturer, the processor, the distillery or the trader. There cannot be laboratory control and then no real responsibility when a non-compliance is found. But I say again - we should not start and end with the laboratory.
– One of the big arguments is that Bulgaria risks losing international trust if it does not guarantee the authenticity of the production. How serious is this risk now and are there markets where Bulgarian butter is starting to be viewed with more suspicion?
- This is a very serious risk, because the name “Bulgarian butter“ is something that we have been building for years. If we allow products of unclear origin, low quality or diluted oils onto the market, we are not only compromising the specific company that sells them. The name of the entire Bulgarian sector is compromised. That is why we must protect the origin and quality of Bulgarian butter.
But again – this cannot be done with just one laboratory. There must be a traceability and control system throughout the chain. And then we can already talk about preserving the geographical mark of the rose oil itself and the other essential oils.
- At the same time, the essential oil sector is under strong economic pressure – you said that lavender oil has reached prices below cost and that some producers are plowing their plantations. Can the laboratory alone help this sector, or are specific measures needed for prices, financing and access to markets?
- This is exactly where the next big problem lies – economic measures. Unfortunately, what I see and what I think is already clear as a situation is that this industry is being wiped out. It is not possible for someone who has never been in this business and has no life and practical experience in the essential oil sector to sit down and write five pages of plans that have nothing to do with reality and have absolutely no practical value. Here we need to take into account several main factors – lack of labor, lack of market, lack of economic sustainability and, last but not least, administrative subsidies, which very often reach politically connected people.
There are people who have “umbrellas“ and receive support, but are not interested in actually developing this industry. And the people who actually work and try to maintain production are left without the necessary support.
The last government had adopted a program to revitalize the essential oil sector, according to which local producers should unite and go to the local mayor with a common program. But how will these people unite when processors are closing, distilleries have gone bankrupt en masse, there is no market, there are no real prices for oil and in certain years it is sold below cost? Since there is nowhere to process the production, how do we imagine these producers uniting and applying for some program? In itself, this is a wash of hands: “Here, we have a program.“ Yes, you have a program, but it is unrealistic. They are in the same area, but there is almost no lavender.
Then the mayor is always politically connected in some way, and what does that in itself decide?
Why should people unite to get subsidies if it is not economically profitable or expedient for them? The union itself does not create a market. It does not create a price. It does not create a processing plant. It does not solve the problem of labor. What the state must do is create a real economic environment in which production makes sense. Here we must also say about the admission of foreign investors who build distilleries and can make monopoly policies without sufficient control from the state. There are cases of foreign companies coming, building a distillery, signing contracts with local producers, starting to buy the production, and then stopping fulfilling the contracts and stopping buying the oils. The producer has already made his investment and there is no other market. This is something that can be prevented with appropriate legislative measures. It is not about the state setting the market price. It is about having rules that do not allow a large player with great market power to put producers in dependence.
There is also another economic instrument - targeted support for producers.
For example, as our Bulgarian statesmen did a hundred years ago - the producer should be supported before a campaign. Because if he does not have the money to collect his production, he can sign any contract and agree to sell it at cost or below cost, because he really has no choice. If the state gives him a targeted subsidy or an interest-free loan to collect his production, he will be able to be more sustainable. He will be able to wait, look for a market and not be forced to sell immediately. Of course, it is not the state's job to set the rules of the market. But creating these conditions will create a more sustainable environment for every producer.
- Can this laboratory become the first real step towards a national strategy for the essential oil sector, or will it once again remain a nice initiative that will not be followed by a comprehensive state policy?
- The laboratory can be the first step, but only if all the other steps follow it. First, we need to preserve the industry itself. Then there should be control over the seedlings - I will not stop saying this. Rules should be created. Institutes should work. Test fields should be established. Varieties should be seen - what they give, how they give, what yield they have, what quality they produce. Specialists should be created in this field. Then there must be control over distillation and at the same time support for processing plants.
There must also be support for the producers themselves so that they can survive economically.
And only then do we get to the laboratory, to the control of the finished product, to the guarantee of its authenticity and quality. Because otherwise we risk doing exactly what I told in the anecdote - one digs, another buries, everyone is very busy, everyone has some function, but in the end the pine cone is gone. And we currently have to preserve the pine cone itself - that is, the Bulgarian essential oil sector. Because if we continue to act only piecemeal - with one laboratory, with one program or with one administrative measure - we risk that in time there will simply be no Bulgarian producers and Bulgarian production to control.