Kuwaiti perfume makers prosper on quality Chinese products

Al Hamad spends one to six months on developing new perfumes every year

KUWAIT CITY: "We cannot stop going to China to buy products for perfumes," Adel al Hamad, a Kuwaiti perfume maker, said on Tuesday at the Kuwait International Perfumes Exhibition.

The exhibition, held at the Kuwait International Fairground, aims to showcase beauty products, cosmetics and perfumes from major companies in countries such as Saudi Arabia, France, the US, Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

Al Hamad, who established his own perfume workshop 28 years ago, spends one to six months on developing new perfumes every year.



"The Arabian Peninsula has been closely connected with incense since ancient times, and Arabs are known for their speciality in planting, making and using it," al Hamad said.

"Each perfume maker has his unique technology, and the recipe for making perfume is only passed down from generation to generation in the family," he noted.

But 18 years ago, the Kuwaiti perfume maker began to go to China to buy various products for his perfumes, such as bottles, packaging boxes and incense burners.

"Every year I will go to China once or twice. The place I usually go to is the Canton Fair, as there are a variety of bottle manufacturers that can meet the needs of my products," he explained.

"China is the best country in the world to buy good things, and with good prices also," he said.



"Now I have a small factory to make perfume and have many agents in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries. About one third of our perfume bottles come from China," al Hamad added.

There are also dozens of perfumes displayed at the booth of Ali Dalil, also an owner of a perfume shop.

"These bottles are all from China," he said, pointing to some tall and thin glass perfume bottles.

He pointed to a beautiful golden metallic incense vessel which attracted attention of many visitors to the exhibition.

"It was also from China," Dalil said while smiling.

Ali, a shop assistant at another perfume booth, said almost 90 per cent of his shop's bottles come from China.

"China is a good friend of our Kuwaiti people. Almost all of our perfume bottles and mist sprayers come from China," he said.