Iran’s rose water export sector is facing the potential for rapid expansion now that the country can trade freely globally after the bulk of international banking and economic sanctions imposed over the Iranian nuclear programme were lifted last January.
For makers of this important personal care ingredient this could mean big new business. The country is “the world’s biggest producer of rose water, distilling about 26,000 tonnes per year”, said Iran’s state-owned English language broadcaster PressTV in a September 2015 report.
Making rose water is not just a business for Iranians but a tradition: production dates back more than 2,500 years. According to a report on Iran’s state radio (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, IRIB), there are nearly