Herbs and Essential Oils business proposal

Immortelle (also called Everlasting or Curry plant, lat. Helichrysum Italicum) is indigenous
plant for Herzegovina. In order to meet market demand, activities on the promotion of
cultivation of immortelle have already been taken. The seeds from nature were taken and
transplants were produced. Due to controlled production, cultivated plants show even
better characteristics than the ones collected from nature. Due to the huge market demand,
the price for fresh plant material tripled, triggering mass cultivation in Herzegovina region.
Although initial costs of planting are relatively high depending on the type of the soil, the
interest for cultivation is significant, as the investment pays off relatively fast.

As immortelle is used in cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry as well as in aromatherapy

and sales to this industries is done mostly directly from domestic companies that are always
in search for new potential customers.

Introduction offers:

 Access to international market is the key to successful business, preferably through a

wholesaler, where current situation is that there is a lot small producers that try to
sell directly to international market.
 There is a sufficient surface of free land and working force to farm other herb than
immortelle, but farmers need clear instruction which herb to be chosen so there is
possibility to create connection with customers that need other herbs.
So it is necessary to identify the need for medicinal herbs as well herbs for teas in the
world market by the wholesaler as well as the link with local production in order to
be able to insert new plants needed for the market in production. Proposal is to
identify demand in India for plants from this area.
Additional clarification on financial potential

List of plants popular for farming and/or free collecting in Herzegovina and Croatia, including
an estimate of annual production of each plant.
o Immortelle (Helichrysum italicum) – here they have a too fast growth,
without possibility to sale all what they produce. They believe it is not due to
the market saturation, but they do not have better connections to
international market selling it all. Estimate for next year production is about 6
tons of essential oil.
o Sage – huge production in Albania, Hercegovina and Croatia where leaders in
Sage production until 1991.
o Heather (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calluna)
o Juniper
o Bay leaf
o Rosemary
o Lavender
Possibility to produce enormous quantities for plants that market can provide demand for
especially from the list above.
 Number of existing distilleries with estimated sizes
o <100m3 total capacity – individual distillery up to 3m3 (no bigger ones) –
common conclusion of participants is that there are too many distilleries
(huge growth in last 2 years). However, this comes from lack of market (a
participant’s observation)
o Main issue – unknown market and no guaranteed prices, individual producers
spam the market with their own products.
o Young Living https://www.youngliving.com/en_US capacity in nearby Croatia
(they have defined 56 different plants that could be farmed in Herzegovina)
 Number of existing farmers with size of farms/production – In the last two years the
amount of planted area with immortelle is over 2,000 hectares. There are tendencies
further increase since in the summer large areas are prepared for planting that will
follow in the autumn. For the next year overproduction is expected. Usual size of
land planted with immortelle is 1 hectare for small producer and about 15 to 30
hectares for a larger ones.
 Annual production of immortelle in Herzegovina? –3.000.000,00 € of essential oils in
6 months of export (official register) (to be checked – this figure may be registered
prior the first harvest of immortelle, which happened later during the year), Price on
the market was 1700-2000 EUR/kg for immortelle; expected 6 tons in year 2017.
 Market is in need for
o Customers that will buy essential oils in big quantities
o A cooperative in higher levels of processing, standardization, laboratory and
QA & QC and all this to be provided and financed by the buyer;
o wholesaler to define how to proceed and to issue standards that they need to
implement;