Aleppo soap maker forced to leave war-torn Syria hopes to clean up with French brand

After being bombed out of his factory in Aleppo, Syria, master craftsman Hassan Harastani fled to France. There he produces the world-renowned natural cleansers his former home was known for – and demand is on the rise.

Samir Constantini, left, and Hassan Harastani, the master soap maker, who fled Syria and decided to produce Aleppo soap on French soil. Christian Hartmann / Reuters

NICE // Four thousand kilometres from the horrors of Syria’s civil war and its devastating impact on his home city of Aleppo, Hassan Harastani has rebuilt a comfortable, productive life in France.

His four grown-up children are also safe, living far from the conflict zone, and he has a good job as a master soap maker, maintaining a long family tradition but in the suburbs of Paris.

However, ask Mr Harastani, 62, what he really wants and he answers without hesitation: a return to Aleppo to revive the once-flourishing business he founded there, when – or perhaps if – a lasting peace can be found. Bombed out of his factory, Mr Harastani left the Middle East and arrived in France with his wife and daughter with just a small suitcase two years ago.

Fortunately, the wrench of having to flee his homeland was mitigated by a helping hand from France.

The lifeline was provided by Samir Constantini, who was also born in Syria but has lived almost his entire life in Paris, where his company, Alepia, produces Aleppo soaps, shampoos, shower gels and similar products.

And Mr Harastani has already made his mark following in the footsteps of his father, who was like him a master soap maker – but in an industrial zone at Santeny, 30 kilometres south-east of the French capital.

It would appear to be a good time to be producing natural soaps. While sales of mainstream bars are slipping in the United State and Europe, natural cleansers such as Alepia’s are finding favour.

"Natural ingredients have sustainable benefits, and consumers are paying more attention nowadays on products' ingredients and the risks some products' fabrication can bring to their health and the environment," Juliana Martins, an analyst for the market researcher Mintel, tells Natural Products Insider.

“The interest in using natural and organic beauty products will continue to grow as consumers are interested in living greener and healthier lifestyles, with use of natural and organic personal care products viewed as a key component of green living,” she says.

The market for natural and organic cosmetics, including natural skincare products such as those made by Alepia, is set for strong growth, according to a report by Global Markets Insight.

The researcher says the European organic cosmetics market size was estimated to be worth more than US$2.5 billion in 2015. “The organic personal care [global] market size was valued at over $9bn in 2015. The organic fragrance ingredients market was valued at $13bn in 2015 and is expected to reach around $19bn by 2023, growing at a CAGR of more than 4.5 per cent from 2016 to 2023,” the report says.

That would buck the trend of standard soap in general. According to data from the International Trade Centre (ITC), in 2015, global sales from exporters of all types of personal soap amounted to $9.8bn. That represents a 2.1 per cent decline since 2011 and a 10.8 per cent drop from 2014 to 2015.

For standard bars, “the United States is declining in value, alongside other mature European markets, where mainstream fragrance brands are struggling to gain consumer interest,” Ms Martins says.

According to the ITC, the fastest-growing soap exporters between 2011 and 2016 were: Japan (up 71.7 per cent); China (up 27.8 pre cent); and Canada (up 17.2 per cent). Of the top 15 global soap exporters in 2015, Germany led the way with exports worth $1bn, or 11.1 per cent of the global market, with France at number 10 with exports valued at $338.2 million and a 3.6 per cent share of the world market. The UAE came in 15th spot, with exports worth $152.1m and a total market share of 1.6 per cent, ITC data show.

The Alepia Premium Aleppo soap range sells for about €8 (Dh31) apiece, according to its website, although the company says its soaps can last up to six times as long as ordinary soap.

Bars of around 200 grams are cut by hand and left to dry for up to three years before being sold.

The soap of Aleppo is authoritatively regarded as the first hard, authentic soap to be created in the world, manufactured commercially since the 8th century – or long before on some accounts – and based to this day on essentially the same ingredients and techniques.

Without the misery into which Syria has descended in the worst of the violent conflicts to be seen after the Arab Spring, Mr Harastani would still be producing soap at his own factory.

"I left Syria when my factory was bombed and partially destroyed, my house robbed and my car stolen," he tells The National. "I lost everything in a few days."

Initially unsure of what to do next, he took refuge in Lebanon, where he once been a student at the American University. He is not even certain about the subsequent fate of his dozen employees. “During the bombing of my factory, there were no casualties but I do not know what has happened to them since. I do not even have any information about the state of my factory.”

Mr Harastani and Mr Constantini had collaborated on soap making since a meeting in Aleppo in 2005. Alepia, founded a year earlier, prospered and Mr Constantini gave up a medical career to keep pace with its growth.

"I took steps to bring Mr Harastani to France as a worker," Mr Constantini tells The National. "He did not want to come as a refugee."

For Mr Constantini, the presence of a master soap maker has been of huge benefit to the business, which has 15 staff and turns out about four tonnes a week for distribution to pharmacies, para-pharmacies, organic shops and internet outlets in France. The business is profitable and he sees ample scope for further development.

As Syrians, both were worried at the onset of the Arab Spring, although they had hope – in Mr Harastani’s words, a wildly optimistic hope – “the people and the government would reach an agreement without conflict”.

Prudently, Mr Constantini bought 100 tonnes of soap when the violence began, calculating that it might be enough to see his business through the duration of a conflict. That, too, proved to be the product more of hope than reality but it also gave him the motivation to step up production at his French factory.

In Santeny, Mr Harastani, who studied chemistry and specialised in oils and fats before obtaining a master’s degree in public health after a course in Lebanon, maintains the centuries-old soap making tradition. This involves blending olive oil and laurel oil with water and lye, also known as caustic soda, to produce a natural soap with what the trade website National Cosmetics News calls “remarkable qualities” for all skin types.

Mr Constantini sees no contradiction in producing Aleppo soap “made in France”, which simply describes the place of manufacture, he says. “ [In this case] made by a grand master of soap making, Mr Harastani, using the ancestral way of production transmitted from generation to generation, and therefore the authentic soap of Aleppo”.

And the company’s burst of publicity, especially a recent 30-minute documentary on French television, have boosted business. “It has made us known to the public, and given us a good image,” Mr Constantini says.

“Individual customer orders are up by 30 per cent, orders by professionals have also increased and we are recruiting three more employees to strengthen our team.”

But does either he or the master soap maker plan to one day return to Syria? “I would like to, but I don’t think it will be possible for 10 years,” Mr Harastani says.

“I have investments in Syria and would ideally like to go back, reopen the factory and manufacture both there and in France.”

Talking about his formative years, Mr Harastani says: “Life was pleasant when I was young. I remember playing in the soap factory among soaps with subtle scents.”

Mr Constantini also longs for the day he can rebuild a life in the Middle East. “My wish is to return to Syria for my retirement 15 years from now and then I hope my children would follow me,” he says.

“But I am rather pessimistic and do not think that the conflict will be resolved. There are too many clans and countries involved, too many conflicting interests.”

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