“Health and beauty with natural and organic products” – this is the motto of the exposition of producers from the country, the first of its kind, taking place at the oldest shopping centre in Bulgaria – the Central Department Store in Sofia.

The aim is to bring together, in one place, producers of high-quality organic food and drink, herbal and organic cosmetics, essential oils and natural products. The highlight in this first exposition of its kind, organized by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry are the aromatic oils, extracted from lavender and roses.

The stand run by Zyumbyul Fouchedjieva from Shoumen entices visitors as soon as they step inside the exposition doors with its intoxicating fragrance. Zyumbyul’s work is connected with lavender growing. The cycle is closed, starting with preparing the land for sowing and ending with packaging the finished cosmetic products containing essential oils, dried blossoms or even whole sprigs of lavender. Zyumbyul says that she is a ballerina by profession, but that she gave up art. Now lavender takes up all of her time and her professional plans. She sells her products mostly on the Bulgarian market, but she has regular customers in Great Britain, the Netherlands and in France. The young woman monitors the markets and says that at this time, Bulgaria is world leader in the production and export of lavender. In her words, lavender is a crop very much in demand in cosmetics, pharmaceutics, in the manufacture of detergents, as well as in interior and exposition space decoration.

“From growing lavender to the end product, I do everything myself,” says Zyumbyul Fouchedjieva and lists all products made using lavender. She says her favourites are soaps and the bath salts she herself uses as an energizer every single morning. More from Zyumbyul Fouchedjieva:

“People in Bulgaria do have an interest in lavender though they do not know its healing properties very well. When we want conserve our energy for the coming day or to gain our strength back, lavender is an excellent helpmate. The products I use most often are lavender soap and bath salts. Combined with sea salt, lavender eliminates pathogenic bacteria and toxins. The most important effect of the lavender I grow is the sense of wellness it gives me in the morning when I get up and the strength lasting the entire day. This kind of essential oil production can provide a livelihood to an entire family as long as one has a desire to invest one’s time and energy – but it is usually a seven-day a week job.”

Kalina Ilieva is a miller with many years of practice. Her mill is in the village of Gorna Kremena near Vratsa. Some time ago she opened a small bakery in Sofia’s Strelbishte residential area. She is taking part in the exposition of organic products in the hope that the voice of small producers like herself will be heard. Kalina Ilieva wants to know how she can gain access to the market, next to large flour traders and the money they have from leading financial circles. Nonetheless she believes that there will come a day when experience and knowledge in bread-making will count for more than they do now. In her bakery, Kalina explains to each individual customer what the health value is of good quality flour that is not made to last but to give bread a fine flavour. 

“We make pure, organic flour because we believe in using natural products", Kalina Ilieva explains. "The technology we use has been in existence for thousands of years, combining the experience accumulated by different nations through the ages. I have learnt from our own, Bulgarian tradition, but I have also used the knowledge of other nations in the selection and grinding of the wheat. I have studied the composition of wheat and I can safely say that the bread made out of our own flour is balanced. People are rarely able to tell the difference. Dieticians talk of wholemeal flour. As a matter of fact whole-wheat bread is made out of flour that is ground with everything in it, including the bran that is used as animal feed. We do not use the coarsest bran, we leave that for the cows. What we have in our flour is wheat germ. That is why I can say that our flour is balanced. In modern flour milling the wheat germ is thrown away. But it is precisely the wheat germ that lends the flavours that make the bread tasty. That is why our flour contains the finer fibres but also wheat-germ.”

English version: Milena Daynova