Jasmine Absolute - pricing and availability problems

We were restocking some of our Indian oils and absolutes, and received the following information from our producer (when we went through a bit of "sticker shock" at the cost of his beautiful Jasmines!)

"Jasmine : Pls note the current market scenario for Jasmine both Sambac & Grandiflorum:
Jasmine Grandiflorum Jasmine Sambac

As you all know that South India is the major producer for Jasmine flowers. This year due to climatic conditions, the production of flowers was less compared to previous years. These flowers are not used only for processing but also for making garlands & other needs. Actually after satisfying the local market needs, the surplus of flowers is normally taken for processing so that the cost of concrete & absolute is competitive. But since the production of flower itself is very less, a limited quantity of flowers is available for processing.

These are obtained after paying very high cost. Much above $ 1 per Kilo which is our highest bench mark for processing.

Also this year, demand of Jasmine concretes & absolutes is much higher than expected whereas the supply is less so there is scarcity of material in the market.

Jasmine Grandiflorum Bud Jasmine Sambac Bud

The flower suppliers have increased their cost for flowers & since the flowers i.e. raw material is procured at high rate, the price for the resultant product i.e. Concrete has increased directly.

The situation is also worsen due to less availability of labor in the production area because of migration of literate people from the production area to metro cities in search of better Job Opportunities so the limited labor available there have more demand & thus they have increased their labor cost from $ 2 per day till last year to $ 3 per day.

The overall impact of all these factors has affected the cost of Concrete & absolute & cost of the same have already increased. We would like to inform you all that looking at the current scenario, if the situation remains the same, there is possibility of further increase in the cost of Concrete & Absolute in near future.

We want you all to make sure that you have sufficient stock of the material to cover your requirement so that you don't have to pay very higher price later this year & perhaps you may not be able to procure the material after paying high cost also."

Side note from our website:8000 individual blossoms (carefully hand picked) are required to produce one gram (approx one ml) of absolute. No bruised flowers may be used for extraction, since their aroma is ruined by bruising or mishandling.

I'm glad that we still have a fair amount of our Jasmine Auriculatum left from last year. I really couldn't justify this year's pricing for that rare and exotic specimen!