Fair Trade incense sticks? Is there such a thing? These and many more questions sprung to mind.
After all, I’d never used incense before and didn’t really know what they were or how it all worked.
Wasn’t it something hippies used at music festivals? Was it anything to do with smoking or drugs? The questions kept coming…
Burning incense sticks
I’d noticed that a number of retailers, both online, in stores and at market stalls were selling incense. Perhaps this was an area my business needed to look closely at? But where on earth do I begin?
As it happens, the answer to that last question was to be…. India.
Thank heavens for Google search. (Oh.. and for feed back from some of my more knowledgeable friends!)
Spending a few hours searching Google taught me that there is a massive range of different fragrances, brands, importers and quality levels out there.
I’d also seen from visits to a couple of nearby markets that retail prices varied considerable. Just how were retailers able to sell bundles of incense sticks (joss sticks) for under a pound?
Well, now I know and, as usual, it’s all down to quality of the raw materials and the method of manufacture.
For the actual product itself, the use of nasty, artificial ingredients makes a huge difference to not only the fragrance quality, but the burn time too. I found this out by sampling dozens of different products at home and keeping a detailed log of my findings.
Time-consuming (and at times, unpleasant) stuff, but very necessary if I was to be making the right business decisions.
Armed with this research, I decided that incense was a product area I wanted to move into, but as a Fair Trade business, needed to be very careful about the provenance of any products stocked.
Luckily, one of my existing Fair Trade suppliers also included incense in their range.
The brand name is One Aromatics and they are imported from a village in southern India, where traditional methods of manufacturer are still used and only natural raw materials are used.
Additionally, I was able to get guarantees as to the trading practices adopted and could see that Fair Trade principles were being strictly adhered to.
I liked their story and was happy to move to the next stage….
Having tried some samples myself, I could see that I had stumbled upon something special and decided to place my first order with them.
I haven’t looked back since. My customers are telling me that, in their opinion, these are the finest incense on the market and I have now built up a loyal customer base who refuse to buy anything other than these One Aromatics incense sticks.
From the range of fragrances I now stock, my personal favourite is Vanilla –
“essence from the pods is combined with oil from sandalwood to produce a fragrance that is wonderfully calming, consoling and soothing.
A great relief in tense or stressful situations.”
One Aromatics Incense Sticks from India – Vanilla fragrance
“If anyone would like to know more about the importer/wholesaler of these incense and the great work they do in supporting the producer group in southern India, please leave a comment at the bottom of this Blog post, or contact me directly.
Thank you for reading this Blog – please look out for more “Secret Diary of a Fair Trader” posts soon” – Paul
Hello Paul,
Very nice blog post you got here. I myself am a big fan of incense, and I recently travelled to India to find high quality merchandise.
I found a fair trade incese supplier in Pondicherry, it’s called “Cottage Industries”, the owner is called Manob. I couldn’t recommand them more.
I can provide you with more info if you need to.
Ronny
Hi Paul,
Yet again, a really interesting blog – Thank You ! You piece was actually quite evocative as well, so as an incense lover I will forgive you your initial prejudice.
I’m going to visit ‘Crafty Mare’s Bazaar’ in Liverpool this week, they sell incense as well. Will be interesting to see where they get theirs from; I will definitely draw their attention to your Fair Trade Store !
Kiki x
Thanks Paul, this is an interesting article, and we always enjoy reading your posts.
BUT….have you actually checked out the sources of the fragrances used in these incense sticks? We use and deal in essential oils and always become suspicious when seeing fragrances such as Sandalwood and Vanilla which are incredibly expensive. Additionally, over the years we have had issues in buying good quality essential oils from India, even from reputable dealers, and these are often adulterated with fragrant oils which are synthetic.
Not wishing to detract from this product or story…which is great, but just a word of caution based on our experience.
Thanks.
Dr. Mike Thair
Managing Director
Indochine Natural
Thanks for your thoughts on the fragrances used, Mike, which is something I will follow-up with One Aromatics.
Your complimentary comments about the blog post is also much appreciated – Paul
Thanks for reading the blog post, Ronny and leaving a comment. If I ever look to re-source my incense sticks supplier, I will bear what you say in mind – Paul.
Thanks for your continued interest and support, Kiki – Paul