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Journal of Essential Oil Bearing Plants
ISSN: 0972-060X (Print) 0976-5026 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/teop20
An Analysis of World Lavender Oil Markets and
Lessons for Turkey
Fatma Handan Giray
To cite this article: Fatma Handan Giray (2018) An Analysis of World Lavender Oil Markets
and Lessons for Turkey, Journal of Essential Oil Bearing Plants, 21:6, 1612-1623, DOI:
10.1080/0972060X.2019.1574612
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/0972060X.2019.1574612
Published online: 11 Mar 2019.
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An Analysis of World Lavender Oil Markets and Lessons for Turkey
Fatma Handan Giray·
Isparta University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture Sciences and
Technology, Department of Agricultural Economics, 32260, Isparta, Turkey
Abstract: There has recently been an increase in lavender plantations in Turkey. More people are
interested in lavender farming for essential oil production and rural tourism, and it brings many questions
regarding production and marketing. Turkey is traditionally a medical and aromatic plant and essential oil
producing country but has a corner in the world market only for rose oil, jasmine oil and oregano oil. Current
interest in lavender production in the country has exposed a need to understand and analyse the world lavender
oil markets. However, there is an information shortage and no regular dataset for world lavender oil production
and trade. This study aims to consolidate information, data and expertise in order to understand and conduct a
qualitative analysis of dynamics of lavender oil prices and actors in the world markets. In Turkey, almost all
lavender production is from Lavandula intermedia (lavandin), as is the majority of world lavender production.
Although the quantity of essential oil of lavandin traded is five times more than L. angustifolia (true lavender)
oil, the most qualified and sought after lavender oil is produced from L. angustifolia. The largest lavender oil
suppliers in the world are Bulgaria, France and China, and there are also many other countries which have
recently increased their production. World lavender oil supply has tended to increase based on increases in
plantation in Bulgaria, but quantity and quality depend on weather conditions. Demand for lavender oil, as the
main driver for price determination, does not vary a lot from one year to another. However, it is expected that
increases in consumer awareness towards healthier products associated with natural and organic ingredients
may create an additional demand. The question is whether Turkey can become a player in the world lavender
oil market. Low production costs, high profit rate and its role in rural development make lavender production
attractive, but small farm sizes and a complex value chain make lavender oil production far from being eco-
nomic for farmers working alone and force them to stay at the beginning of the value chain. However, as there
will always be a place in the market for quality lavender oil, Turkey should focus on quality and organization of
lavender value chain in order to be competitive in the world market.
Key words: Lavandula angustifolia, lavender oil, lavender oil markets, value chain.
Introduction
Lavender is one of the best known essential oil-
bearing plants, and is grown for oil, fresh flow-
ers, dried products, food and other purposes 1,2. It
has been appreciated since ancient times for the
attractive colour of its flowers, smell, therapeu-
tic and cosmetic features, and more recently has
been included among the special ingredients giv-
ing flavour to various foods 3. It is stated in some
sources that etymologically the name “lavender”
comes from the Latin verb “lavare” which means
“to wash” or “to bathe”, as lavender was used for
cleaning and disinfecting externally in addition
to its internal use for disease treatment 3,4. Lis-
Balchin 5 indicated that lavender cultivars in the
world started to increase in the early 1600s and
underlined the difficulties in naming species, hy-
brids and cultivars because the same plant grown
in different geographic locations under different
conditions may look totally different. Misnam-
ISSN Print: 0972-060X
ISSN Online: 0976-5026
*Corresponding author (Fatma Handan Giray)
E-mail: < handangiray@isparta.edu.tr; handan.giray@gmail.com > © 2018, Har Krishan Bhalla & Sons
Received 09 November 2018; accepted in revised form 27 December 2018
TEOP 21 (6) 2018 pp 1612 - 1623 1612
ing lavender is a challenge for lavender oil pro-
ducers and traders. Cristea and Boros-Iacob 3
based on Lis-Balchin 5 refer to 132 scientific plant
names of species rank in the genus Lavandula.
Only 47 of these have been accepted as species
names 4,5.
Lavender is in the family of Lamiaceae which
is known also as the mint family. Many familiar
herbs and culinary plants are in this family, such
as mint, thyme (oregano), rosemary, sage and basil
6. Within this family, the genus Lavandula is di-
vided into three sections as follows: Spica,
Stoechas and Pterostaechas. The main commer-
cial species are L. angustifolia (lavender), L.
intermedia (lavandin) and L. latifolia (spike) of
the Spica section 7. The species of the Stoechas
and Pterostaechas groups also have essential oils
but there is no demand for them in the world cos-
metics and perfumery markets, and they are used
for dried flowers or domestic gardens 8. Laven-
der doesn’t contain only essential oils but also
anthocyanins, phytosterols, sugars, minerals,
coumaric acid, glycolic acid, valeric acid and its
esters, ursolic acid, herniarin, coumarin and
tannins. However, the most valuable substance
extracted from L. angustifolia is essential oil 9.
Essential oil of lavender (lavandula) is derived
from plants of the genus Lavandula by steam dis-
tillation of the flowers 10,11. Lavender oils contain
more than 100 compounds, with the two major
constituents being linalool and linalyl acetate 12.
Other constituents include α-thujene, α-pinene,
camphene, sabinene, β-pinene, myrcene, p-
cymene, limonene, 1,8-cineole, (Z)- and (E)-β-
ocimene, 7-terpinene, camphor, terpinen-4-ol,
lavandulol, lavandulyl acetate, β-caryophyllene
etc.12. Kara and Baydar 13 reported that nearly 250
kg ha-1 stemmed fresh lavender yield was taken
from “Super A” lavandin variety grown in Isparta
province in Turkey. They obtained about 1 kg
essential oil from 50 - 5 kg of stemmed fresh lav-
ender flowers with the water vapor distillation.
According to another study conducted by Baydar
and Kineci 15, essential oil content ranged from
1.0 - 1.5 % in stalked fresh flowers to 5 - 6 % in
the stalkless dry flowers, and lavender oil con-
tains linalool between 30 - 45 % and linalyl ac-
etate between 20 - 30 %. Alatrache et al.16 re-
ported that linalool (47.8 %), camphor (11.8 %)
and linalyl acetate (10.7 %) were the principal
constituents of the flowers oils of L. angustifolia
Mill. in Italy 17; linalool (32.8 %), linalyl acetate
(17.6 %), lavandulyl acetate (15.9 %), α-terpin-
eol (6.7 %) and geranyl acetate (5.0%) were found
to be the major constituents in Iran 18; major com-
ponents were camphor and 1,8-cineole, up to 80.9
and 76.7 % in leaves; 87.8 and 85.2 % in flowers
in Spain 19. Various sampling techniques used for
the study of many Lavandula species showed that
linalyl acetate (35.44 %) and linalool (18.70 %)
as predominant components in South Korea 20;
and a study of essential oil of L. angustifolia from
Australia showed that linalool (41.2 %), linalyl
acetate (16.1 %) and terpinen-4-ol (12.1 %) were
the principal compounds 21. Alatrache et al.16 iden-
tified forty components in their own study and
found that the main constituents of the oil were
linalool (32.3 %), 1,8-cineole (11.7 %), camphor
(12.4 %), lavandulol (8.7 %), terpinen-4-ol (7.7
%) and bornyl acetate (4.2 %), methyl carvacrol
(1.9 %), linalyl acetate (1.8 %), β -pinene (1.6 %),
α-terpineol (1.5 %) and p-cymene (1.5 %) were
other notable constituents of the oil in Tunisia
while Archana et al.22 reported that L.
angustifolia’s essential oil has major aroma con-
stituents linalool and linalyl acetate up to 60 %
from India, whereas oil of L. stoechas is rich in
camphor and fenchone and as a good source of
pharmaceutical products.
Previous studies show that principal constitu-
ents of lavandula essential oil are different. Table
1 presents linalool, linalyl acetate and camphor
contents were found in different studies conducted
in different countries. These three components
were selected for the purpose of this study be-
cause linalool and linalyl acetate contents are two
major constituents 12, and low content of cam-
phor is very important because it gives lavender
oil the undesirable odor 23. Linalyl acetate is high
in the lavender oil while linalool is higher in the
lavandin oil. Lavender oil is mostly used for per-
fume, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries
13,14. According to the European Pharmacopoeia
reference values, lavender oil must contain lina-
lool between 20-45 %, linalyl acetate between
25 - 46 % and less than 1.2 % of camphor 23.
Fatma Handan Giray / TEOP 21 (6) 2018 1612 - 1623 1613
Table 1. Linalool, linalyl acetate and camphor contents
of lavender essential oils in previous studies
Source Principal constituents (%)
Country Material Linalool Linalyl acetate Camphor
Turkey 15 L. x intermedia Emeric ex Loisel var. Super 47.7 34.0 -
Tunisia 16 L. latifolia 32.3 1.8 12.4
Italy 17 L. angustifolia Mill 47.8 10.7 11.8
Iran 18 L. angustifolia Mill 32.8 17.6 -
Spain 19 L. luisieri L - - >80
S. Korea 20 L. species 35.4 18.7
Australia 21 L. angustifolia 41.2 16.1
India 22 L. angustifolia 23.6 35.8 1.4
India 22 L. stoechas - - 52.1
India 23 Commercial brand 33.7 42.0 0.3
India 23 Commercial brand 30.8 46.6 0.3
France 23 Commercial brand 42.2 37.3 0.6
France 23 Commercial brand 30.6 36.6 0.4
France 23 Commercial brand 30.8 41.0 0.7
Hungary 23 Commercial brand 32.4 41.9 0.5
China 23 Commercial brand 38.0 27.2 0.3
Bulgaria 23 Commercial brand 29.0 32.5 0.3
Russia 23 Commercial brand 29.5 34.5 0.3
Turkey 24 L. angustifolia Raya 37.3 19.7 -
Turkey 24 L. angustifolia Munstead* 37.8 8.98 -
Turkey 24 L. angustifolia Vera* 43.9 5.38 6.99
Turkey 24 L. angustifolia Silver* 43.6 11.20 8.35
Turkey 24 L. x intermedia Dutch 42.5 4.46 10.00
Turkey 24 L. x intermedia Giant Hidcote 42.8 3.76 5.28
Turkey 24 L. x intermedia Super A 41.8 39.80 5.87
India 25 L. angustifolia Mill 28.06 47.56
European Pharmacopoeia’s reference values 23 20-45 25-46 <1.2
Lavender is cultivated in a number of countries.
The main producers are Bulgaria, France, the
United Kingdom, Spain, China and Russia. Italy,
Morocco, countries of the former Yugoslavia,
Hungary, Romania, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine,
Moldova, South Africa and the USA have also
lavender production 26,27.
In line with the interest in lavender, the num-
ber of scientific studies has also increased. Medi-
cine is the area with the largest number of pub-
lished scientific articles on lavender, followed by
the agricultural and biological sciences. Examin-
ing the studies in agricultural economics and eco-
nomics, one can see that the majority of these are
focused on economic analysis. For instance, ac-
cording to a case study conducted in Turkey by
Gül et al.28, relative profit was 1.65, the average
yield of lavender was 1 636.70 kg/ha, the pro-
duction cost of 1 kg of lavender was $0.95 (around
•0.83), and the net profit per hectare was $1
018.37 (around •895.05), which is quite high com-
pared to other agricultural products. A similar eco-
nomic analysis study conducted for organic lav-
ender in Bosnia and Herzegovina by Peco et al.29
calculated total profit per hectare as •1 018.77
(around $1 237) and the cost of one kilogram of
Maillet oil hybrids as •60 (around $68) on aver-
age. Singh et al.11 also concluded that lavender
Fatma Handan Giray / TEOP 21 (6) 2018 1612 - 1623 1614
production was profitable in the Chamba District
of Himachal Pradesh, and that the lavender oil
business could generate high profits for farming
providing that good agronomic management prac-
tices were adopted. Previous academic studies
focused on farm analysis and were far from mar-
keting and marketing related issues, or dealt only
with the local market and remained generally lim-
ited. Lavender production is important not only
for its economic contribution to farmers but also
for its social and environmental role in the com-
munity and ecosystem.
Lavender oil as a commodity
Description of lavender oil from the point of view
of marketing
Just as there are many different species of lav-
ender, there are many different types of lavender
oils as well, and more than 30 different types of
lavender oils and blends are traded on world mar-
kets 30. For instance, in a study conducted to de-
termine the key volatile components for the seda-
tive effect of lavender essential oil on human be-
ings, 27 different lavender oils were purchased
for the analyses in the Japanese market alone 12.
The main species used for essential oil are L.
angustifolia, L. latifolia and L. intermedia, which
is a hybrid of the first two. In addition to these
Latin botanical names, they are known by differ-
ent names in the markets. These names and the
main features of the plants are described in Table
2 and main features of the Lavandula essential
oils traded in international markets are summa-
rized in the Appendix 1.
L. angustifolia is known as true (common) lav-
ender and also called English lavender. Recently
most of the world production of L. angustifolia
is produced in Bulgaria and it is known as Bul-
garian lavender. L. intermedia, the hybrid between
angustifolia and latifolia, is widespread, and is
known as lavandin. There are differences of
colour, flower or leaf shapes, smell and sturdi-
ness even between these species, and between the
same species grown in different geographic loca-
tions 3. There are a number of growing locations
associated with the names, from the traditional
English lavender, the modern day French and
Bulgarian, to ‘special’ Australian and New
Zealand lavender 12. The essential oil of L.
angustifolia is more expensive than that of other
lavender species on the market because of its high
quality and the plant’s low yield of essential oil.
The qualitative and quantitative composition of
essential oil from L. angustifolia is variable and
depends from genotype, climatic conditions, re-
production, or morphological characteristics 9. L.
latifolia yields around three times more oil than
L. angustifolia. Thanks to its higher yield and
ability of growing at lower altitudes its essential
oil price is cheaper but the oil is of lower quality
because of its dominant of camphor odour 31.
The hybrid lavandin, L. intermedia, produces
the largest quantities of oil of all species, but the
oil is of lower quality as it has a distinct camphor
scent 31. Tomi et al.12 reported that mixtures of
essential oils obtained from different species
(adulterated essential oils) are not generally con-
sidered to have desirable aromatherapy effects on
human beings, although scientific evaluation of
the differences is insufficient. However, it is clear
that the essential oil of L. angustifolia is preferred
in the markets, and although the amount produced
is low, it is the type of oil demanded by related
industries while lavandin oil is considered of dif-
fering quality in part due to its relatively higher
camphor content. Lavandin oil is used as an adul-
terant or a substitution oil because pure lavender
oil is more expensive and periodically in short
supply. There are also lower priced synthetic lina-
lool and linalyl acetate used as and adulterated
of lavender oil 12.
Therefore, from this point of the study onwards,
“lavender oil” is used to refer to essential oils
obtained from L. angustifolia, “lavandin oil” to
refer to the rest, and “lavandula oil” for both lav-
ender and lavandin oils, for clarity and to avoid
any confusion.
World lavandula oil markets
As there is no database for lavender/lavandin
oils, the statistics used in the study were consoli-
dated from various sources, such as national re-
ports, country studies and global market reports
of private companies in order to take a snapshot
of world lavandula oil markets. Markets and mar-
keting issues are presented below under the is-
Fatma Handan Giray / TEOP 21 (6) 2018 1612 - 1623 1615
Table 2. General information on lavender essential oils sources in the market*
Spica Known as Notes
L. angustifolia Lavender, angustifolia, true lavender, High quality of oil, low oil
British lavender, Bulgarian lavender, yield, low production, highly
Lavandula officinalis, Lavandula vera, demanded, high price; in
fine lavender, popular lavender, practice the name “lavender”
clonal lavender (Maillette, Matheronne, usually refers only to this one.
Diva), Blue lavender
L. intermedia angustofolia X latifolia
Lavandin (grosso, super, abrialis, Mostly called “lavandin”; high
sumian), French lavender, Lavandula yield, high production, low
hybrida quality of oil, low price
L. latifolia Spike, Spanish lavender, Portuguese Requires warmer and lower
lavender areas than the others, has
higher oil yield and cheaper
price.
* Photos by Sabri Erbas in his experimental lavender fields at Isparta University of Applied Sciences,
Faculty of Agriculture Sciences and Technology.
sues of supply, demand, prices and trade, with
particular attention to lavender oil (L. angusti-
folia).
Although lavender is grown in many countries
only a few countries are dominant in the supply
and trade of lavandula oil. Commercially France,
Bulgaria, China, Russia and some other Eastern
European countries are the most regular suppli-
ers of lavandula oil, and New Zealand can be
considered as a newcomer to the world market 32.
However, the biggest lavender oil producers in
the world are Bulgaria and France. These two
countries together produce two thirds of total
world lavender production. Bulgaria is a leading
lavender oil producing and exporting country fol-
lowed by France, and France is the first country
for lavandin oil production followed by Spain.
Europe is the major market for lavender and
lavandin oils, but the USA and Asian markets are
developing, too. Figure 1 shows approximate
shares of main lavender oil producing countries
in the world.
Fatma Handan Giray / TEOP 21 (6) 2018 1612 - 1623 1616
Recently, the biggest lavender producer coun-
try, Bulgaria, has about 4 500 ha of production
area and produced 200 tonnes of lavender oil in
2017. As Bulgaria continues to increase its lav-
ender plantation, lavender oil production in-
creases significantly from one year to another.
Bulgaria produced 45 tonnes in 2011, 120 tonnes
in 2013, 140 tonnes in 2014, 200 tonnes in 2015
and 280 tonnes in 2016. Based on increases in
production area, it was predicted to be around 350
tonnes in 2017, but poor climatic conditions led
to some very low yields in certain parts of the
country, and production of lavender oil in 2017
was 200 tonnes 33,34. It is usually said that Bul-
garia increased its production area when France
had a problem with the bacterium Stolbur
phytoplasma and decreased its production at the
beginning of 2000s, but in fact Bulgaria had been
working on this for many years. The first laven-
der varieties in Bulgaria were improved in the
1960s at the Institute of Rose and Essential Oil
Cultures, and as a result of intensive lavender
breeding research in the country, seven cultivars
were created, five by hybridisation and two
through chemical mutagenesis, during the 1970s
and 1980s 26. Also, the quality indicators of Bul-
garian lavender oil were found to be high, such
as the high level of linalyl acetate content (50 %)
and the ratio between linalyl acetate and linalool
(1:0.7), and these are important for market de-
mand 1. Both the deficit in the world lavender
market and the good quality of Bulgarian laven-
der oil have gradually made Bulgaria a leader
since 2005. Easier farming, a moderate climate,
the soil demand of the plant and high yield com-
bined with state support have attracted many grain
producers to become involved in the lavender
business. Recently, there were 1 600 farms in-
volved in lavender production and this is four
times more than the number of farms in 2017.
Farmers are not only dealing with lavender pro-
duction but are also interested in essential oil pro-
duction as steam distillation technology of the
flowering tops is not expensive 1. Despite the fact
that the local market for the pharmaceutical and
cosmetic industries is developing, the domestic
consumption of the country is very low and the
main target of Bulgarian lavender oil is foreign
markets 26.
France, the traditional producer of lavender in
the world, still keeps its importance in lavender
and lavandula supply despite long-standing chal-
lenges experienced with Stolbur phytoplasma. As
can be seen in Table 3, although the number of
lavender farms is lower than in 2000, the area of
lavender production is higher than in the past. It
shows that in the present, lavender farms are larger
and their interests in this business are increasing.
In lavandin oil production, France is well ahead.
While some studies refer to world lavandin oil
production as around 1 400 tonnes, it can be seen
that France alone produced 1 439 tonnes in 2016
35. Its distribution according to plant of origin is
as follows: 89 % was grosso and the rest were
from sumian (4 %), super (4 %) and abrial (3 %).
The production of lavender or lavandin oil in
other countries follows that of Bulgaria and
France. China, has 1 500 ha of lavender produced
Figure 1. World lavender oil production by countries (2017)
Fatma Handan Giray / TEOP 21 (6) 2018 1612 - 1623 1617
Table 3. Lavandula areas and essential oil production in France 35
Essential oil
Years Number Production production (tonnes)
of farms area (ha) Lavender oil Lavandin oil
2000 1739 16274 - -
2010 1362 15994 35 950
2011 1258 17483 40 1144
2012 1311 19306 53 1087
2013 1324 20274 50 1028
2014 1390 19788 63 1226
2015 1443 20922 82 1374
2016 1496 22213 109 1439
by collectivist units in Xinjiang Autonomous
Province. Its potential is quite high at around 40
tonnes, but China supplies less than 10 tonnes to
the international market. India produces tens of
tons of lavender, but these are sometimes genera
other than Lavandula and it is mostly for internal
consumption, with very little supplied to interna-
tional markets. Ukraine is also a major producer
with a production potential that reaches several
thousand hectares, but it is currently estimated at
around 1 000 ha because of negative climatic
conditions, and lavender oil production has been
between 10 and 15 tons in recent years 31,33,34.
Spain is the second big producer of lavandin
oil behind France. They plant 2 000 ha and pro-
duce about 80 tonnes. The country is a dominant
producer of the essential oil of spike lavender (L.
latifolia), with less than 10 tonnes a year. Mo-
rocco, a traditional supplier of aromatic and me-
dicinal plants to world markets 37 also has more
than 1 000 ha for the essential oil of lavandin.
The United States is in a development phase, with
many agro-tourism projects, but also some pro-
duction of clonal lavender and lavandin grosso.
New Zealand and Australia also have important
development projects for lavender plantation,
with producers organized in The Australian Lav-
ender Growers Association (TALGA). They still
have a very modest amount of essential oil pro-
duction. Italy cultivates 150 ha of lavender and
lavandin. Moldova is also reported as a lavender
oil producing country although its production has
declined 36.
Turkey has increased its lavender plantation in
the last decade, although the country has no share
in the international market. Production was less
than 50 ha before 2000, but is approaching 700
ha today 38. The majority of the plantations are
allocated for lavandin as the difference between
L. intermedia and L. angustifolia in terms of es-
sential market requirements is not yet well enough
known among producers. The most important
advantages of lavender production are that it has
a low cost, and that so far there has been no prob-
lem regarding lavender oil export. According to
a case study 39 conducted in the main lavender
production area in Turkey, the main disadvantages
of lavender producers are difficulties in finding
new markets and delays in receiving payments
after selling. The same study stated that produc-
ers have to accept the price given by traders or
processors due to their low bargaining power.
Also, lavender producers depend on lavender pro-
cessing companies since they are very small farm-
ers with not enough financial sources. This situa-
tion results in generally not equipped well to
perform the distillation of lavender oil on their
own 39.
Both lavender and lavandin essential oil are sold
in two major ways: i) local and niche markets
and aromatherapy outlets run by smaller produc-
ers; ii) international markets. International mar-
kets can only be targeted by larger producers or
in cooperation with international companies. For
those who intend to sell in international markets,
it is necessary to follow established buyers,
flavour and fragrance houses or companies in the
essential oils business. A growing number of dis-
Fatma Handan Giray / TEOP 21 (6) 2018 1612 - 1623 1618
tribution channels, particularly digital marketing/
online selling, has also contributed to the devel-
opment of this sector. Consistent quality is needed
to be a sustainable player in the market 2.
There are huge differences between lavandin
oil and lavender oil prices. Demand for lavender
oil, as the main driver for price determination,
does not vary a lot from one year to another. In
order to analyse prices in the international mar-
ket, a dataset was prepared based on the price
data in various market reports 6,33 and is presented
in Table 4. As is seen, the most expensive laven-
der oil is always from lavender originating in
France. This oil receives higher prices depend-
ing on the method of plant propagation. If it is
fine lavender, prices go up to •220 a kilogram,
while Diva lavender oil is •40-60 cheaper than
Fine. The variations in the price of Bulgarian
lavender oil are because of variations in supply.
During the first years of the period investigated,
Bulgaria constantly increased its production and
the price decreased. After that, production de-
creased due to weather conditions, and prices
rose.
In order to compare local prices with interna-
tional prices, French national data and interna-
tional prices for 2016 in Table 4 are illustrated in
Figure 2 6,33,35. It is to be noticed that the differ-
ence between international and national prices for
lavandin oil is lower than the differences in lav-
ender oil prices. While the prices of lavandin oil
remain close to each other, lavender oil prices on
the international market are •40-50 more than
local prices.
Conclusion
The global lavandula oil market is developing
dynamically as the interests of both traditional
Figure 2. French lavandula oil prices in 2016 (•/kg)
Table 4. Lavandula essential oil prices on international markets (•/kg)6,33
Lavandin oil
Lavender oil Abrial Sumian Grosso Super
Years BG CN HR FR RU FR FR FR ES FR ES
2014 96 97 na 148 78 30 22 35 37 45 44
2015 87 116 na 148 78 25 21 30 36 43 na
2016 70 79 51 148 72 34 27 29 32 50 49
2017 82 88 54 140 81 45 Na 28 35 47 45
2018 119 117 66 188 106 48 51 32 34 46 49
Fatma Handan Giray / TEOP 21 (6) 2018 1612 - 1623 1619
producers and newcomers continue to increase.
Lavender oil production provides many opportu-
nities for adding value for farmers and farm busi-
nesses. The main adding values of lavender oil
production are the essential oil itself, fresh flow-
ers and plants, dried products, food and agro-tour-
ism.
While world total demand for lavandula oil is
more or less stationary, there is to a certain ex-
tent a change from lavender oil to lavandin oil.
This change and increasing lavender oil supply
might seem to be a challenge regarding prices.
However, good lavender oil is used only for fine
fragrances and aromatherapy, and it is not com-
mercially viable for other more commercial appli-
cations. Increases in consumer awareness towards
healthier products associated with natural and
organic ingredients may create an additional de-
mand for lavender oil.
Turkey can become a player in this market. The
sector of aromatic and medicinal plants and their
essential oils is very promising at the socio-eco-
nomic level for developing countries. Low pro-
duction costs, a high profit rate and its role in
rural development makes lavender production
attractive, but small farm sizes and a complex
value chain mean that lavender oil production
might be a challenge for farmers working alone.
However, the Bulgarian success story and expe-
riences with producers’ organizations might be a
good benchmark to learn from and follow. As
there will always be a place in the market for ‘True
Lavender’, Turkey should consider the plant L.
angustifolia, and lavender should not be consid-
ered as a product with easy farming and modest
requirements but for its value adding in order to
be competitive in the world market. Further de-
velopment will require a more in-depth under-
standing of the economics of the lavender value
chain and the essential oil business.
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Appendix 1. Main features of different lavandula oils (Anonymous, 2018b)
Origine
Features 1* 2* 3* 4*
FR BG CN RU FR ES FR ES
Harvesting July X X X X X X X X
time August X X X X X X
Appearance Pale yellow to yellow clear liquid X
Slightly yellowish mobile liquid X X X
Colorless to pale yellow X X X X
Organoleptic Sweet, floral, soft lavender X
properties Lavender, herbal, floral, sweet X X X
Fresh and floral, camphoreous, X X X X
lavender
Density 0.875 - 0.888 X X
0.875 - 0.890 X
0.875 - 0.895 X
0.891 - 0.899 X X X X
Refractive 1.455 - 1.470 X
index 1.458 - 1.468 X X
1.457 - 1.467 X
1.463 - 1.475
1.458 - 1.462 X X X X
Content Linalool X X X X X X X X
Linalyl acetate X X X X X X X X
α-Pinene X X X
Limonene X X X X
1.8-Cineole X X X
cis- and trans-Ocimene X X X
3-octanone X X X
Camphor X X X X X X X
Caryophyllene X X X X
Terpinen-4-ol X X X X X X X
Lavendulyl acetate X X X X
Lavandulol X
1,8-Cineole + β-Phellandrene X X X X
Fragrance usage max. 16 % X X X X
Flavour usage max. 220 ppm X X X X
*1: Lavandula officinalis; 2: Lavandula angustifolia;
3: Lavandula hybrida abrialis; 4: Lavandula hybrida
Fatma Handan Giray / TEOP 21 (6) 2018 1612 - 1623 1623
