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BUSINESS DAY
C002D5556
Thursday 20 September 2018
Investing in Rivers State
Nigeria’s first perfume compounding lab now in Port Harcourt Valerie Young-Harry says it takes up to N100m to achieve such feat and that there is huge investment opportunity in growing the plants that give the rare oils and setting up the extraction business that may replace imported oils Ignatius Chukwu
T
he Woji section of Port Harcourt, near the Trans-Amadi Industrial zone, may fast be transforming into a continuation of the industrial range. Just last week, this newspaper unveiled ALCON centre in Woji where power equipment especially low voltage accessories are being manufactured to ABB standards. Now, we uncover Nigeria’s first perfume compounding lab which take between N30m and N100m to set up. Welcome to Valia Calleries Limited where oil and perfumes meet for a handshake that leaving lingering scents almost forever. This all due to the decades of untiring
strives of a woman known as Valerie Young-Harry, formerly Valerie de La Fontaine. Under the brand name of Euphoria Scents, Valia Calleries rolls out a range of oils and perfumes that compete with the best odours anywhere in the world, including the home of alluring couture, France. She brought this discovery to the 2018 exhibition of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Port Harcourt in August at the Atrium Event Centre on Stadium Road. Euphoria Scents range is said to be founded in 2015 as a range of specially blended, long-lasting perfumes, and aromatherapy products. They are said to be from handcrafting production techniques and procedures. The experts at
Valerie Young-Harry with MAN national VP, E.E. Akpan
House of Nigeria’s first perfume compouding lab in Nigeria located at Woji, PH
Euphoria are said to top delivery service, and specialize in research and development. This is said to be for continuous improvements in the finest traditions of perfume production, utilising dedicated production hand-operated tools, and maintaining strict quality control for every production process, which includes incoming material checking, in-process checking, semifinished products checking and finished products checking. “This is meant to eliminate any quality problems during production, and to ensure product quality. Euphoria Scents is NAFDAC-approved and IFRA-compliant.” Euphoria Scents are said to be from natural plant-based products to the exclusion of harmful chemicals. In an exclusive interview, the CEO said Euphoria Scents is a range of highly differentiated, specially blended, long-lasting perfumes, and aromatherapy products, all delicately blended and exquisitely bottled in Nigeria by Valia Galleries Ltd. Euphoria Scents is NAFDACapproved, IFRA-compliant, and a council member of MAN. On whether Euphoria line is locally made, the CEO said: “Yes, our fragrances are fully blended, cured and bottled in our laboratory in Port-Harcourt. We are equally NAFDAC registered as our Standard Operating Procedures conform with international best practices, Euphoria Scents result from several months of culturing. Our basic ingredients include pure essential/perfume oils cultivated from rare plants extracts; stabilizers; and bases selectively sourced from different parts of the world, including Africa, Europe, UAE, the Middle and Far East. Essentially, we produce “Esprit de Perfum” and “Extraits de Parfum” to the exclusion of aqua. This means that water; an oxidation trigger, is excluded from our fragrances. Our perfumes are thus not just concentrated and long-lasting but will neither oxidise nor expire. Indeed, they will last for millennia. We are writing history.” She went on: “It is important to note that this is the first time somebody is compounding perfume in Nigeria. It is a slow process. And, you know this attitude of oh, this is made in Nigeria, but when they come and test, they fall in love immediately. That is why we allow people to sample the perfumes here at the exhibition so as to come to terms with the reality of quality made in Nigeria fragrances.” It was made clear that perfumery is a new industry in Nigeria with gaping holes of opportunities. Port Harcourt seems to grab the first slot with the setting up of Valia Calleries. She said; “Sadly, most of the extracts are sourced outside the country, as local farmers concentrate on
Valerie Young-Harry
agriculture. There are no known large scale horticulturists; hence the production of perfume extracts from flora is still a dream. We are at the end of the value chain, and sourcing our extracts outside is driving up our costs. We will therefore be happy should people start thinking about how to engage in activities that would broaden the perfume production activity in Nigeria; and that includes production of polished bottles.” She said that extraction would create another layer of business in the value chain. “If you plant a large farm of jasmine, lavender, rose etc, you will extract some little oil from it. It’s a whole lot of process but whoever wants to go into such farming will also be able to acquire the plant that would extract and bottle the oils. It is however lucrative as perfume oils do not come cheap; and to produce a fragrance could require up to 30 different extracts.” She was reminded that most mothers advise their daughters not to spray perfumes in some areas of the body (especially armpits) because of breast cancer. It was important to hear from an expert in the field. She said: “When perfumes started last century, I think they were using some dangerous components but lately, regulatory agencies have excluded all of that. So, there is nothing dangerous in perfumes anymore. All the components now are all organic. There is nothing synthetic in them.” Valeria Young-Harry is a fragrance designer and founder of Euphoria Scents. With over 30 years’ experience in the perfume industry and market, she has indeed enjoyed a life-long relationship with scents. From a very early age Valerie has been fascinated by scents. She started experimenting with flowers, spices and special oils in a bid to culturing the ultimate perfumes, and often she kept her results to a select few. Sequel to decades of
pursuing an informal obsession with fragrances, and her exposure to the Parisian society, (with its intense romance with huate couture and sweet, long-lasting scents) in the mid-eighties, Valerie’s love for unique perfumes blossomed to even greater heights, propelling her into a becoming a full time professional perfumer. In the same vein, being an MBA (Liverpool) holder, Valerie, as she is popularly called, is ever conscious of the importance of meeting the value expectations of customers. Frustrated by increasingly diminishing odour life of a great number of available perfumes in today’s marketplace, she expanded her scope and started culturing perfumes for a larger audience in 2015. The result is Euphoria Scents’ multi-note, multiproduct fragrance creations; made possible by rare and exquisite natural ingredients, and acute olfactory talents. Valerie is in charge of fragrance design and quality control. For Alcohol-Based Products: We use specially Denatured Alcohol or SD is a high grade ethanol; in essence super refined vodka. It’s also called “perfumer’s alcohol”. The inclusion of Bitrex in SD, gives a uniquely bitter taste that acts as deterrent for those who would want to consume it. For Oil-Based Products: Oilbased scents are the most ancient form of perfumes, being the perfume of choice for ancient GrecoRomans, and Egyptians. Indeed the earliest perfume yet discovered was found in Cyprus in 2003 and was dated to over four millennia. These priceless perfumes of antiquity were observed to have been oil based! More interestingly, they very aptly were discovered on the island reputed to be the birthplace of Aphrodite-the ancient Greek symbol of love and attraction. Special oils such as sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, and fractionated coconut oil, are used as carriers as it was then, and as it is now at Euphoria Scents.