HUNGARY'S ESSENTIAL OIL INDUSTRY Csaba Fodor ... - IFEAT

Prior to 1990, Hungary was considered an agricultural economy and the main crops were wheat and
corn. In the past decade, however, a large amount of foreign investment arrived in the country and
changed the orientation to an industrial profile. Hungary succeeded in attracting the largest foreign
investment per capita in the region up until 2001. This was due to the relatively cheap and skilled
manpower resource, the advanced banking system, plus a stable economic and political environment.
This inward investment trend stopped in 2002 as, probably due to the sharply increasing cost of skilled
manpower, some large multinational companies moved their operations to cheaper developing
countries, in several cases outside of the region.
The Essential Oils Industry
My discussion of the essential oil industry in Hungary examines the following time periods:
• Before WW II.
• The Communist era, 1945-90.
• The transition period 1990-94.
• The years of a market economy, 1994-2002
• Future challenges
Before WW II
It is possible to trace the industry back to the 13 th century and the manufacture of the famous ‘Hungary
(or Rosemary) Water’ but, instead, let us start with the birth of commercial essential oil production in
the 1920s.
The renowned Schimmel Co. of Miltitz in Germany established a subsidiary in Budapest in 1923. The
company held a very strong position in supplying local users by offering a full range of aromatic
products: liqueur and rum essences, essential oils, flower oils, perfume compounds and aroma
chemicals.
In the early 1920s, Dr. Jules Bittera introduced several new selected crops from abroad, including
French lavender, English Mitcham peppermint and Dutch caraway. Next, he initiated a continuous
crop selection programme to increase oil yields and qualities. As a result, the production levels grew
year by year all products were exported and were praised as of very high quality (as recorded in Ernest
Guenther’s The Essential Oils). Additionally, Dr. Bittera made products from wild grown plants.
By 1941, production was as follows:
From
cultivation
From wild
plants
Product Output (tonnes) Main producing areas
Peppermint oil 8.5 Zalavár & Deáki
Dillweed oil 3 Dömsöd & Deáki
Lavender oil 0.6 Tihany
Marjoram and caraway oils
Kalocsa
Juniper berry oil
Oak moss extract.
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