In the village Bočine, some ten kilometers north from Mostar, there is a plantation of immortelle – a medical herb highly demanded throughout the world, due to exceptionally appreciated essential oil extracted from it. Young entrepreneurs, who launched this lucrative business in 2013, now own over 150,000 thousands of immortelle plants and say that the end is not near.
“We realized this idea after I came back from Zagreb where I’ve been studying. I had a job in my profession, but due to low wages I wanted to launch some business on my own. After doing some research, I realized that immortelle market is safe. Three years ago we started with first plantations of immortelle, after which we have realized that we need a distillery in order to produce oil,” Marko Galić said.
Given that demand for immortelle oil on the world market is high, business is thriving for the Galić family. “In order to produce one liter of oil, it takes between 800 kilograms and one ton of immortelle. The plant needs to be distilled within 24 hours in order to get the most oil from it. Price for one liter of oil on our market ranges between 1,500 and 1,800 EUR, while in France it is at least double of that amount,” Galić added.
Their oil is being exported for production of cosmetics to France, Germany and the USA. Except for exporting, Marko also produces oil for his sister Gloria who makes natural cosmetics and sells it in B&H and Croatia. According to them, offers are arriving from other countries as well.
Successful Marko and Gloria are a positive example of how young people can establish a business with a quality idea and efforts. With their example, Marko and Gloria introduced the trend of growing immortelle in Herzegovina since they are one of the first founders of immortelle plantations in this region.
(Source: klix.ba)
