Thursday, Aug 28, 2008

Muscat: Frankincense is the unique selling point of the international fragrance house Amouage, but the worrying decline in the frankincense tree population may force the Oman-based manufacturers to look for alternatives.

"Frankincense is our USP, but getting the quality that we look for in frankincense for our use is a serious problem," David Crickmore, Amouage CEO, told Gulf News on the sidelines of the launch of a new fragrance, 'Lyric', at the Hotel Chedi Muscat on Tuesday night.

The CEO admitted that if the problem of getting frankincense gets worse, the company will have to find alternates.

Asked if the company had any plans to protect frankincense trees and help arrest their decline, he said: "We have not given a thought so far but it is something definitely worth looking at."

Crickmore, who took over at Amouage two years ago, also talked about the Omani company's plans to expand globally. "We have major plans to open our exclusive Amouage showrooms in different parts of the world," he added.

He revealed that by the first quarter of 2009 an exclusive showroom would be opened in Dubai. "Then we plan to open stores in Riyadh and London," he said, adding that in next five years the company planned to open eight exclusive outlets for this niche product.

He admitted that at the moment 90 per cent of Amouage market was in the Gulf but the company was determined to reverse that to 40 per cent in the Gulf and 60 per cent elsewhere. "Russia is currently our number one market and gradually we will capture market in Europe," he said.

Sayyid Khalid Bin Hamad Bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, Chairman of the House of Amouage, formally launched the new fragrance.

Lyric was created under the guidance of Amouage creative director Christopher Chong, from the UK, who drew inspiration from his musical background. He has created Lyric woman and Lyric man - both fragrances his interpretation of the rose.

Chong said that Lyric for Man and Woman personify the purity of sound and are based around the most loved of all fragrances, the Damascene rose.

By Sunil K. Vaidya

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