Hedging their bets on daisies
For generations, residents of Zadar, an idyllic town on the Adriatic coast of Croatia, used the dry, stringy stems and yellow blossoms of a common variety of a wild daisy as kindling, mostly to singe the hair off pigs destined for the spit.
But about five years ago, cosmetics manufacturers and the essential oils industry started using a rare extract from the flower — known as the curry plant for its spicy aroma — as a critical ingredient in high-end creams, ointments and tinctures, sold for their purported rejuvenating powers.
So let the pigs shave themselves, local residents decided, turning their attention to gathering bushels of the once widely ignored weed, in hopes of creating a new local industry to add to an economy based on construction, fruit farming, olive oil and a touch of tourism. So far, they haven’t had too much success. “I should start putting some of this stuff on my own face,” said Nino Simunic, 48, ignoring the bucolic vista of yachts and ferries crossing Zadar’s channel.
Instead, he scanned the harsh ground from atop his tractor, putt-putting across a moonlike limestone hillside, for any signs of a curry plant, also known as “immortelle” for its ability to survive in dry terrain and to remain alive long after being plucked.
In 2015, Simunic, a veteran of Croatia’s early-1990s war for independence, ended a tumultuous 15-year career in local politics and joined the ranks of residents seeking some sort of financial boost from the curry plant. A local monastery of Benedictine nuns became partners with him, providing the 12 acres of land he’s farming in exchange for a cut of revenues, he said. If there are any.
It’s Simunic’s first harvest, and he’s not saddled with any expectations.
“If it covers at least some of the fuel and lunch costs, I’m happy,” he said.
The search for profit from the curry plant is driven by Croatia’s continuing economic troubles. The global financial crisis was largely responsible for a six-year recession.
And the country’s 2013 move to join the European Union brought competitively priced goods from elsewhere in the bloc onto store shelves, adding to the woes of the struggling agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
These days, the nation of 4.2 million relies on a tourism boom, mainly on the Adriatic coast, with the summer season responsible for nearly a fifth of its economic output.
So farmers in inland regions and towns like Zadar are always on the lookout for a new avenue of cash.
So far Zadar’s farmers have had little luck creating a direct partnership with a cosmetics or essential oils company. Instead, they sell their curry plant harvests in raw form to nearby distillers, who act as a bridge to manufacturers that have relationships with larger cosmetics firms.
Selling immortelle to distillers is somewhat profitable; the plant’s oil fetches up to 2,500 euros, about $3,800 (Canadian), per kilogram, or about 1.15 litres.
Zadar’s immortelle farmers think the quantity and quality of their individual crops will become too great for the cosmetics industry to ignore. Their hope remains as resilient as the immortelle.