3 minute read
2020 WILL BE Our Best Year
Emiland Skora, President and Director of Operations at Mediterranean Exports Imports Albania (MEIA), a leading essential oil exporter in Albania, says that 2020 looks great for the company with 25 % increase in sales.
SKORA SAYS IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH TRAILBLAZING MAGAZINE.
He started the company in 2011 in Albania once he was back from California, USA.
“I was working in finance in California, USA while planning on opening a business back home in Albania.
Given Albania’s rich history and tradition of producing high quality essential oils and combined with our family’s farming experience,
I decided to start an essential oil distillery,” MEIA President says.
Aiming to expand in cold pressed oils as well as herb and spice exporting, MEIA produces as main oils: Helichrysum, Lavender, Juniper Berry, Bay Laurel, Myrtle, St John’s Wort and Rose Hip oil.
The company has one distillery in Northern Albania, near the city of Koplik while it will build a new distillery in the south Albania, nearby the city of Sarandë.
Emiland Skora with his spouse, Lauren.
When does your story begin?
MEIA started their production in 2011 at their first distillery just outside of the capital city of Tirana.
Where does your company - Mediterranean Exports Imports Albania stand and how much is it expanded over the last 10 years?
As of today, MEIA is the leading essential oil exporter in Albania and we are well on our way to became a leader in the region. 2020 will be our best year yet with a 25% increase in sales.
Can you share some of the main essential herbs’oils that you produce with our readers and how can they sample them? What are their benefits?
Our main oils are; Helichrysum, Lavender, Juniper Berry, Bay Laurel, Myrtle, St John’s Wort and Rose Hip oil. For everyone that would like to sample our oils, they can visit Aromatherapy Store near downtown Tirana, where they also try other natural products made with our essential oils. And of course, they can also visit our beautiful distillery in Northern Albania, near the city of Koplik.
How did you get into oils? What were you before starting MEIA?
I was working in finance in California,USA while planning on opening a business back home in Albania. Given Albania’s rich history and tradition of producing high quality essential oils and combined with our family’s farming experience, I decided to start an essential oil
distillery.
What does your production process look like? How does MEIA go from plants into a product in your customers’ hands? How do you market them?
We are a unique company in Albania as we control the entire process from seed to oil. We start growing our plants at our nursery where they stay for a period of 6-8 months and after that we plant them in our fields. Most of our herbs take about 2 years to get in production, time which we use to take care of them in order to grow the best essential oil yielding and the highest quality. During harvest and distillation, plants go through a quality check before they are loaded in the distilling tanks to ensure no other herbs are mixed with the distilling material. As for the distillation process, we make sure that the oil is distilled on a low temperature and pressure without being rushed so that we can capture all the best components. After distillation, we send all necessary testing results which we do pre-harvest and during distillation, which our clients compare to their own test results. We pride ourselves on producing the highest quality essential oils in the market.
What is your next focus of area for MEIA?
We are expanding in cold pressed oils as well as herb and spice exporting. Soon we will also build a new distillery in the south Albania, nearby the city of Sarandë.
