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

All distilleries delivered the oils to KHV in Budapest, where they were blended, filtered, packed and
prepared for export.
The oils produced in the mid-1960 were:
Main products:
• lavender and lavandin (8-10 tonnes)
• peppermint (4-5 tonnes)
• dillweed ((8-10 tonnes)
• Pinus sylvestris (6-8 tonnes)
Minor oils:
• clary sage
• tarragon
• hyssop
• fennel
• coriander
• caraway
It is interesting to note that at this time the yields of almost all essential oil crops were low, usually
half or one third of recent yields. The profitability of the 1960s industry in a market economy context
would have been questionable, even with heavy subsidies - but it was the soviet system.
Chart 4: Production of the main oils in
1967 (tonnes)
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Lavender and
Lavandin
Peppermint Dillweed Pinus
Sylvestris
In 1977 the organizational arrangements changed. One of the cooperatives (Szilasmenti) took over the
business of KHV and all distillation units of several cooperatives were delivered to Kerepes, creating a
huge concentrated capacity there. Additionally, exporting was transferred from Medimpex to
Pharmatrade, another state owned company. This change was smooth, although production figures in
the 1970s were slightly lower than in the 1960s, around 30-35 tons/year, the major crops remained the
same.
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