Most of the people who use essential oils live within the North America (United States and Canada). Europeans from many countries also utilize a significant abundance of essential oils. Increasing numbers of people in Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, and Japan enjoy the benefits of essential oils. These are countries of wealthy. The price of land in these countries is expensive. Interestingly, these countries only provide a small percentage of the total volume of essential oils.

Most of the essential oils used in these “wealthy” countries are imported from developing countries. The “caretakers” of these oils usually have little knowledge of the handling of the essential oils in the country of origin. These “caretakers” typically rely on chemical analysis to prove the purity and quality of the essential oils.
Figure 1. The supply chain of essential oils the Country of Origin (below the horizontal line) and the Destination Country (above the horizontal line).

 

Sources in the Destination Country
Exporting aromatic products has been transpiring for thousands of years. They Egyptians, Romans, Hebrews, and Babylonians exported frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, and other spices from Somalia, Yemen, Oman, and Ethiopia. Anciently, China and India exported aromatic spices from Africa, Arabia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

As early as the 1500s the Holland, England, Spain, Italy, and Portugal exported aromatic spices from India, Oman, Somalia, Indonesia, South Africa, Madagascar, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Japan, and Taiwan. These “trading companies” provided spices to the growing demand of wealthy people in Europe and eventually North America.

These same trading companies were the first exporters of distilled essential oils. It became more profitable to distill in the country of origin. However, some companies (to this day) still export aromatic products and distill them in the destination country.

  • Import Brokers: Companies who purchase large volumes of essential oils from Export Brokers from the country of origin
  • Country Brokers: Companies who purchase essential oils from Import Brokers
  • Local Brokers: Companies who purchase small volumes of essential oils to supply local Bottlers
  • Bottlers: Companies who bottle essential oils for Retailers or Customers
  • Retailers: Companies who purchase bottles of essential oils from Bottlers and market them to Customers
  • Customers: The final consumers of the essential oils

Purity and Quality
The purity and quality of every essential oil is always in question in the Destination Countries. How many companies handled the essential oil in the Destination Country? Did one of the companies in the Destination Country dilute or extend the essential oil to increase their profits? Perhaps more than one company compromised quality?

Author: Dr. Cole Woolley PhD