Our Argan Oil and Damascus Rose Absolute have obtained Fairtrade's international certification. Purchasing this product can directly help the Moroccan female workers responsible for production and improve their backward living environment. Learn more...
Rose picking and arranging
Rose Harvest Season
玫瑰通常於5月至6月為收成期，對玫瑰農民來說這是一年中最快樂和最有活力的時間，因為這是她們全年投入辛勞的成果。
由於天氣關係2018年之收成期提早於4月20日開始，5月25日結束，農民表示今年亦算是豐收一年。
Rose Picking Period
Rose pickers start harvesting blooming roses at around 5am and continue until around 8am. The main reason why workers start harvesting before daybreak is that they need to harvest all the available roses while the morning dew is still on the roses and before the hot weather starts, to prevent the essential oils in the roses, which are already very low, from evaporating into the atmosphere, so as to improve the distillation effect. According to the person in charge, roses picked in the afternoon have about 50% less essential oil than those picked in the early morning. When the humidity is very high, roses can provide more essential oil. Of course, the content of rose essential oil also depends on the variety of roses. Damascus is the rose that can extract the most and the highest quality rose essential oil among many roses. Days with more rain can slow down the flowering or evaporation of roses, prolong the picking process, and the labor of rose pickers can be reduced accordingly.
Rose Picking Method
Only the upper part of the rose will be picked, and the lower green part will not be damaged to continue the growth of the rose. The person in charge taught the correct way to pick rose petals. First, use the thumb, index finger and middle finger to hold the rose bud, and then press upward with the thumb. The whole bud will fall smoothly into the hand. A skilled worker can pick 4-8 buds every 10 seconds. It is particularly important to note that the workers will be wrapped with thick cloth from the wrist to the palm to prevent the rose thorns from pricking their hands. Of course, it is inevitable that they will be covered with thorns when they leave.
Delivery from Rose Garden to the production plant
The 17 full-time employees of the manufacturer all have their own rose gardens. They each arrange workers to pick roses, and then put all the roses into bags made of natural materials (plastic or other non-natural bags cannot be used to prevent the broken bags from accidentally falling into the distiller when the roses are poured) and load them onto trucks, which are then transported from the rose garden to the production plant for processing. After unloading dozens of bags of roses from the trucks, they will first weigh the flowers, and the manufacturer will calculate the amount to be paid per kilogram based on the principle of "fair trade". Of course, this amount of roses alone cannot meet the huge annual supply of the producer. The producer will also purchase roses from more than 20 women. Similarly, under the principle of "fair trade", each woman's income is proportional to the harvest, and they will never be exploited for their hard work like some small factories.
Natural evaporation Decomposition
When the roses arrive at the production plant, they are taken by workers to a cool place at room temperature, spread out on a matted floor and left there for several hours to allow the roses to naturally evaporate excess water, helping to produce more rose essential oil in the petals.
Sometimes, to prevent the moisture of roses from evaporating too much due to overheating, workers will spray an appropriate amount of water on the roses before they are sent to the distiller.
整理及揀選玫瑰Rose sorting and selection
Workers will sort out the roses that are left on the ground to evaporate naturally, removing the calyx, pollen and pollen sacs, leaving only the petals for selection. Healthy petals will be used to extract rose essential oil and dew, while unsuitable ones will be used as feed or fuel. The buds will be dried and purified so that they can be sold as dried buds in the future.
