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Albanian essential oils company finds cost-effective technology that increases competitiveness and employment
Technology Expands Competitive Agribusiness
Photo: Brittany Lynk
Xhevit Hysenaj, owner of Xherdo
Medicinal Plants and Essential Oils near
Durres, Albania, beams proudly next to
the essential oils distiller he was able to
design and construct with the help of a
USAID-funded grant
“Thanks to USAID, we were
able to design, construct,
and put into operation a
cost-effective distiller for
essential oils,” said Xhevit
Hysenaj, owner of Xherdo:
Medicinal Plants and
Essential Oils
From humble business beginnings buying and selling
blueberries, Xhevit Hysenaj, owner of Xherdo: Medicinal Plants
and Essential Oils, is now dealing in berries, herbs, and oils. He
has not only successfully tapped into the Albanian and export
markets; but he has also been pivotal in adapting technology, as
well as promoting his product: essential oils.
Hysenaj is more than a business man; he is
an innovator. While developing his product, he
realized that larger essential oil distillers were
needed to increase production, improve quality,
and make the process more efficient and costeffective.
Research into foreign oil distillers returned only
exorbitantly high price quotes. Affordable distillers
were of unacceptably low quality. Sustainability,
efficiency, and economic sense made it clear to
Hysenaj that the best thing to do was adapt the
technology himself in a way that would fit his
company’s needs as well as further empowering
Albania’s agroprocessing industry.
With the help of a small grant from USAID, Hysenaj was able to
bring in three engineers to advise on the design, construction,
and operation of a larger-capacity, cost-effective distiller for
essential oils. He saved money by making the equipment in
Albania, while also developing oil distiller technology. This newly
adapted technology has increased production and sales, leading
to more local employment, coupled with increased income for
growers and collectors of raw materials.
“From one small grant from USAID, there remain huge effects
for my company,” said Hysenaj in his native Albanian. “This
USAID grant allowed Xherdo Company to design and build an
essential oils distiller with European standards that cost three
times less than any distiller of similar quality we could have
purchased.”
With the first prototype of the distiller designed and operating,
further improvements are being made. Once fine tuning
to perfect the technology is completed, Hysenaj hopes to
consolidate and document the knowledge in a manual, to be
made available to other essential oil distillers in Albania.
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