Ylang ylang

With its rich, heady fragrance, ylang ylang is widely considered the ‘flower of flowers’. Its potential as a fragrance was noted in the nineteenth century by French perfumers. Ylang ylang oil is distilled from the yellow, star-shaped flowers of the ylang ylang tree. This plant is endemic to the lush, tropical rainforests of Indonesia and the Philippines. Ylang ylang trees have been cultivated for centuries on the islands off the east coast of Africa, namely The Comores, Reunion and Nosy Be (Madagascar). Fairoils grows ylang ylang across two key projects—one on Nosy Be, an island off the north coast of Madagascar, and one on the south coast of Kenya. Ylang Ylang is also planted at the Fairoils Landless project, in the middle of the Lunga Lunga outgrowers group. Ylang ylang production and extraction The ylang ylang tree belongs to the Annonaceae family, which is the largest group within the magnolia species. This fast-growing tree grows up to 35 metres and requires pruning and training to keep flowers low and harvestable from the ground. Ylang ylang flowers all year round. Across our farms, the flowers are picked each day, early in the morning. Harvesting before sunrise helps preserve the blossoming flowers from the heat of the day. Ylang ylang flowers can only be picked by hand, once the flowers have reached the right maturity. This skill is traditionally undertaken by the females within our partnering African communities. Often, you can hear collectors singing together during the early morning harvests. Ylang ylang flowers are hydro distilled for five hours in purpose-built, stainless steel distillation units. We produce four oil fractions (ylang ylang extra, ylang ylang grade 1, ylang ylang grade 2 and ylang ylang grade 3) and a complete oil (containing all fractions) within our processing facilities. Ylang ylang extra and first grade are considered the highest quality fractions and are used in perfume-grade fragrance products. These highest-grade fractions are captured during the early stages of distillation, while the lower, heavier fractions are extracted later in the distillation process. We also produce a complete oil which contains all fractions.