Perfumers preserve natural scent amid synthetic onslaught

In the narrow, congested alleys of Bada Bazar of Kannauj, where the hustle and bustle of elections permeates the air, a compelling debate unfolds. While politicians discuss Samajwadi and saffron perfumes, a deeper narrative emerges among the local artisans.

Beyond the political rhetoric, they champion a cause close to their hearts: preservation of natural fragrances against the encroachment of the synthetic alternatives.

Concocting the natural essences is now a costly affair-- 95% of perfume makers are into mixing synthetics with essential oils to bring down the cost considerably. And the rest are sticking to the time-tested ‘Deg-Bhapka’ (hydro-distillation) method to extract scent from flowers and even soil-- the unique ‘mitti ka attar’.

As for the Kannauj perfume, in the last one decade or so there has been a sharp decline in quality of pure ‘attars’ and essences, as the increased demand for synthetics has elbowed out the traditional players.

Khalil-ur-Rehman, a fifth generation perfumer, said the demand for pure essences had been falling. “The natural perfume is derived from the flowers and the essential oils-- zero synthetics are used-- but in the last 10 years the demand for synthetic alternatives has hit the roof, naturally it has given rise to contamination,” he said. His firm is one of the oldest and working since 1880.

He explained that these manufacturers mixed 50% pure oil with 50% synthetics, which for some reasons did not show up in lab test. “The synthetic form is ₹100 to 200 a kg as compared to ₹75000 to 1.5 lakh for ‘khas’ ( a natural coolant herb),” said Parag Tandon, another perfumer, adding when 50% of essence was replaced with synthetics it caused huge fall in prices no one could compete with.

For the tradtionalists like Rehman and Tandon, the natural resource is extremely hard to procure due to policies and high prices. In Kannauj, Haji Rais is the only person with a licence to procure sandal wood-- he gets it from India and abroad and supplies it to all. People close to him say the Australian sandal is much cheaper than the one in Assam and south India.

The other natural resource that is rapidly dwindling is jatamansi or spikenard, a precious ingredient used in perfumery and as sedative in Ayurveda. Rehman said 60 to 70% of its reserves in upper Himalayas had been lost because they were not preserved properly. Similarly the price of ‘khas’, particularly the one found in the river Ganga, has gone up to ₹1.5 lakh from ₹20,000 a decade ago.

On the other hand, even less than one ml of natural perfume or oil could produce a litre of synthetic based perfume.

Kannauj has been concocting attar for 400 years-- more than two centuries before the Grasse in France became a perfumery hub. But the town’s fragrant past goes back a long way. Kannauj was a kingdom in the sixth century and the seat of Harshvardhan’s empire. Kannauj has been mentioned time and again in history. Traveller Huan Tsang has written about Kannauj, its perfume and aromatics.

It because of Kannauj’s affiliation with attar making that Harshvardhan under his rule called Kannauj as Kusumpura-- the city of flowers.

Abdullah Malik, another manufacturer whose firm has been in business since 1850s, said a handful loyally stuck to pure essence using the ‘deg-bhapka’ technique to extract fragrance. Unwilling to make any compromise many renowned perfume houses in Europe still use Kannauj attar, be it rose, jasmine or shamama, as a compelling element in the making of modern perfumes.

Two global brands, last year, chose a Kannauj firm established in 1981, for natural perfumes and it shows the optimism and trust the people have in Kannauj. Just below the office of this firm is a small computer centre showcasing how torn is the quaint town between tradition and modernisation.

Though the UP Government has rolled out several schemes to boost the industry, the perfumers say that there is a lot more to be done. One such scheme, ‘one district, one product (ODOP); was started to make small-scale industry workers self-reliant. It was tasked with assisting medium, small and micro enterprises in selling their products online on a larger scale. But the scheme does not seem to be reaching the actual beneficiaries.

The GI tag for Kannauj natural perfume has boosted its international profile as the Grasse of India. In 2014, the then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had led a delegation to Grasse, France, the perfume capital of the world for a tie-up between the two cities. The Kannauj-Grasse pact was to facilitate the technology exchange, ingredient sourcing and partership among the manufacturers.

A international perfume park was proposed in Kannauj in 2015-- the first phase of it has been completed on 31 acres in 2024. It awaits investors and the local manufacturers said their primary demand of having a gas pipeline was not met-- they would still have to depend on burning wood and cow dung cakes for the distillation process that pushes the costs higher.

Similarly, another demand is about lowering the 18% GST on essential oils, which the 1200 crore industry uses. Rajan Mishra, a social scientist said the gutka/pan masala flavouring formed the core business in Kannauj, while others were engaged in synthetic scents or had moved to soaps, shampoos and cosmetics.

Only a few families go on with the tradition of producing ‘attar; in its purest form.

Kannauj has 350 small and big distillation units engaging 8000 farmers as far as Aligarh and Bulandshahr. It engages 40% of the local population in this business directly or indirectly.

Mishra demands creation of pressure groups and work like they did in banning of single plastic use to phase out the synthetics, which indeed have harmful chemicals like phthalates or else Kannauj would lose its USP of producing pure and lasting attars.