Report: IFF Sets Its Sights on Isparta, Turkey for Rose Oil

International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) is currently conducting work to improve the quality of rose oil in the southern province of Isparta, which is the center of rose production in Turkey, according to recent reports.

IFF Product Manager Christophe Sireyjol spoke to Turkish Anatolia news agency and confirmed the company had been conducting research in Isparta to examine the quality of the local roses and to consider their potential productivity, press reports said

Sireyjol said researchers had been taking earth samples and that the oil quality of the roses and all other details were being investigated. IFF reportedly made research developments in 16 villages in Isparta to improve the flower quality and has spent 1 million Turkish Liras. It also initiated a contractual farmer system in order to get higher quality roses. 

Meteorology stations have been established in three villages, Sireyjol told Anatolia news agency, adding that IFF aimed to produce roses in large fields.

The report also said local company Erçetin Rose Oil, which signed a US pact with IFF in 2008 and is working on research and development projects with the company, announced that while it used to produce one kilogram of rose oil a day, it now produces 200,000 tons of rose oil in its larger facilities. Erçetin Rose Oil also revealed it's set to make an agreement with a "French perfume company."