Sunday, 06 August 2006

JEDDAH: Different people come to Saudi Arabia with different dreams some to find security and refuge, others to make money and fulfill their ambitions.

Mushir Alam, an Indian post-graduate from a small town in Northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, too came here with a dream to make it big.

Now an owner of a perfume manufacturing company, Alam had to go through quite an ordeal to reach where he is today.

"As I have seen hunger, faced hardships, lived on streets, worked as a daily-paid laborer, been cheated by friends yet it was the trust in God, perseverance and hard work that saw me through the rough-patch of my life," he said sitting behind the huge desk in his office in the city's industrial zone.

According to him perfumes have a special place in the life of people of Saudi Arabia. These include Saudis as well as expatriates.

Kingdom enjoys a seven percent share of the world's perfume market. Saudi Arabia's share of luxury perfumes is estimated at 60 to 65 percent. The Kingdom has the largest market with 30%, or $300m, of the Mideast's total perfume market.

Thus, it all started with this little man with big ideas to start a small scale trading in perfumes. He is among the few foreigners who fully own their businesses, much before the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) opened gates for foreign investors. "I have spent more than three decades in this country," he said.

Mushir Alam bought perfumes from India and the local wholesale market and sold them in different towns of Saudi Arabia and earned a little profit. Trade went on well. This encouraged him to expand his business. From selling to retails he started selling to the wholesales. After some more success and a little more confidence he went on to open his own manufacturing unit of perfumes.

"Each bottle of perfume has a 3-6 months of manufacturing history," he said. It is very fascinating to see how that little drop of fragrance takes so long to make.

Mushir Alam's factory of perfume abounds with boxes and containers of all sizes, turbines and filters, test-tubes to mixing machines, chemical laboratory, a mixture of modern technology and traditional know-how.

Taking a round of the factory Mushir Alam explained how different fragrances are captured or created.

"Attar or perfume is made from essential oils along with sandalwood oil, Khas, jasmine oil etc.," he said.

Fragrances can be classified into several olfactory families, by the themes, or accords, of these fragrances.

A mixture of alcohol and water is used as the solvent for the aromatics. On application, body heat causes the solvent to quickly disperse, leaving the fragrance to evaporate gradually over several hours. The rate of evaporation (vapor pressure) and the odor strength of the compound partly determine the tenacity of the compound and determine its perfume note classification.

Perfumes' oils, or the "juice" of a perfume composition, are diluted with a suitable solvent to make the perfume more usable. This is done because undiluted oils (natural or synthetic) contain high concentrations of volatile components that will likely result in allergic reactions and possibly injury when applied directly to skin or clothing.

Although dilutions of the perfume oil can be done using solvents such as jojoba, fractionated coconut oil, and wax, the most common solvents for perfume oil dilution is ethanol or a mixture of ethanol and water.

There are varieties of perfumes (attar) available like oily non-alcoholic one in the Saudi market. "Amber", as put by Alam is the most complicated kind of perfume.

Plants have long been used in perfumery as a source of essential oils and aroma compounds.

"It is a mixture of many essential oils and spices. It takes six months to manufacture it and is an excellent perfume. It is also called spicy perfume," he explained.

Synthetic aromatics are created through organic synthesis from various chemical compounds that are obtained from petroleum distillates, pine resins, or other relatively cheap organic feedstock. Synthetics can provide fragrances which are not found in nature.

Alam said preferences of perfumes vary from nation to nation. Saudis mostly prefer Oudh, amber and rose which are a little more expensive than Firdous, habsoos, etc. preferred by Yemenis.

Egyptians and Lebanese prefer light perfume whereas sandal and majmua are favorites with Sudanese. Africans prefer strong fragrances.

Alam after tasting success in the field of perfume manufacturing has now extended his business to manufacturing of Bukhoor, oily creams, moisturizers, cream gel, cologne, body lotion and after-shave. Now his factory churns out more than 100 different products.

His three sons, professionally qualified from various international institutes are following in his footsteps and contributing in their own way to the family business. "Without education a man is not complete, my father taught me this," Alam smiles as he concludes the factory tour.

With a modest turnover, a simple life-style, high ideals, Mushir Alam is an interesting story of success.

By Sadia Khan

© The Saudi Gazette 2006