KH International · Tamil Nadu, South India

India's Vetriver, Grown with Purpose. Distilled for the World.

KH International is a vertically integrated vetriver oil producer from Tamil Nadu, South India — from farmer partnership and cultivation through to steam-distilled oil, ready for perfumery, cosmetics, and wellness markets worldwide.

Golden steam-distilled vetriver essential oil droplet with botanical root detail
Pure Steam Distillation

Chrysopogon zizanioides

100% Pure & Natural Vetriver Essential Oil · Tamil Nadu Origin

Founded in 2012

Over a decade building rural livelihoods through vetriver

Active Canada Exporter

Now building our France & Europe trade partnerships

500+

Women empowered directly in vetiver farming

400+

Women empowered in vetiver craft production

100% Full Traceability

From planted root to laboratory-verified distilled oil

Hands cradling freshly harvested vetriver roots in Villupuram, Tamil Nadu
Villupuram, Tamil Nadu · Est. 2012

Rooted in Purpose & Regenerative Agriculture

Organizing farming communities around low-water vetriver to build resilient livelihoods and prevent soil erosion.

Our Story · Page 2

About KH International

Founded in 2012 in Villupuram, Tamil Nadu, KH International began with a simple conviction: that vetriver — a hardy, unglamorous grass most farmers overlooked — could become the foundation of a fairer, more resilient rural economy. Vetriver asks for almost nothing: little water, no chemical dependency, and a root system that holds soil together where erosion would otherwise win. What it gives back, when a farming community is organized around it properly, is a great deal.

What started as a partnership with a handful of local farming families has grown, over more than a decade, into a structured livelihood network. Today, more than 500 women are directly engaged in vetriver farming across our partner network, cultivating over 100 acres of farmland using regenerative, low-water practices. Alongside that farming partnership, we built a second, parallel program around traditional vetriver root craft — more than 400 women artisans handweaving mats, screens, and fragrance products from surplus root, keeping a centuries-old craft tradition alive while creating income that doesn't depend on any single harvest.

From that foundation, KH International now distills export-grade vetriver oil for global perfumery, cosmetics, and wellness markets — currently supplying Canada, and building toward France and the wider European market. Every litre we export carries the same story: a rural economy built on women's livelihoods and regenerative farming, not extracted from it.

The Product · Page 3

Our Vetriver Oil

Botanical Name: Chrysopogon zizanioides (syn. Vetriveria zizanioides)

Origin: Tamil Nadu, South India.

An earthy, woody, smoky-sweet base note prized in fine fragrance, and a foundational ingredient across cosmetics, aromatherapy, and traditional Siddha and Ayurvedic medicine.

Etymology & Tamil Roots

Vetriver — a Tamil word that has travelled far beyond Tamil Nadu, now known and valued across the world. Proudly rooted in Tamil மொழி and heritage, it carries our land’s fragrance into global homes.

Vetriver roots with amber essential oil vial in natural light
Extraction Method100% Pure Steam Distillation
Harvest OriginVillupuram, Tamil Nadu, South India

Applications & Key Use Cases

Fine Fragrance & Perfumery

Renowned for its extraordinary tenacity, adding deep, woody, earthy, and smoky warmth while fixing lighter volatile notes.

Cosmetics & Skincare

Provides natural botanical toning, skin conditioning, and characteristic luxury fragrance in high-end personal care.

Aromatherapy & Wellness

Used in luxury aromatherapy blends, diffuser oils, and spa preparations for its grounding, stress-relieving scent profile.

Siddha & Ayurvedic Medicine

Deeply rooted in traditional South Indian Siddha medicine for its natural cooling, restorative, and skin-soothing properties.

Functional & Cooling Beverages

Utilized in traditional summer cooling infusions (Khus water) and functional botanical beverage formulations.

Strategic Sourcing · Page 4

Why India, Why KH International

Pillar 01

Supply security, not just an alternative source

Global perfumery has depended on a small number of source regions for vetriver — principally Haiti, Java, and Réunion — and that concentration has become a real vulnerability. Haiti's political and economic instability in particular has repeatedly disrupted supply in recent years. KH International offers what the market currently lacks: a scalable, traceable, quality-consistent source outside that fragile supply concentration.

Pillar 02

Regenerative by nature, not by marketing claim

Vetriver is one of the few crops where sustainability and commercial quality point in the same direction. It requires minimal irrigation, tolerates drought, and its root system actively prevents soil erosion — every acre under our cultivation is land that improves rather than depletes while it produces.

Pillar 03

Full traceability & field-level documentation

Because we manage the relationship with our farmer partners directly — from seedling quality and soil testing through to harvest timing — we can tell you exactly which fields, which season, and which harvest any given batch of oil came from. That traceability is increasingly a requirement for European buyers, not a nice-to-have.

Social Impact & Regenerative Sourcing · Page 5

Sustainability & Farmer Partnerships

Two distinct, countable livelihood programs in Tamil Nadu — providing direct traceability and audited ESG impact for global trade partners.

Program 01

The Farming Partnership Program

500+ Women100+ Acres

Every litre of KH International vetriver oil is connected to a farmer partnership, not an anonymous commodity purchase. We provide our partner farmers with quality seedlings, soil testing, and cultivation guidance — and in return, we secure a stable, quality-controlled supply of mature root, harvested at the right time for optimal oil yield. Today, more than 500 women farm vetriver across more than 100 acres of partner land under this program — earning stable income from a crop that restores the soil it grows in, rather than depleting it.

Program 02

The Vetriver Craft Program

400+ Women

Not every part of the harvest goes to distillation. Alongside oil production, we run a parallel livelihood program built around traditional vetriver root craft — more than 400 women artisans handweaving root into mats, screens, and fragrance products using techniques passed down for generations. This program gives artisan families income that doesn't depend on the oil market alone, and keeps a genuinely traditional craft economically alive rather than letting it fade out.

900+ Women's Livelihoods Supported

Together, these two programs put KH International's direct impact at over 900 women's livelihoods — a real, specific number worth stating plainly rather than folding into vaguer "community impact" language. This is a genuine commercial asset for a French buyer, not just a values statement: European due-diligence and sourcing-transparency expectations, and buyers' own downstream ESG reporting needs, make a documented, numbered impact story a real differentiator rather than a nice-to-have.

Farming community harvesting vetriver at golden hour in South India
Vetriver farming & artisan craft highlight 1
Vetriver farming & artisan craft highlight 2
Vetriver farming & artisan craft highlight 3
Vetriver farming & artisan craft highlight 4
Vetriver farming & artisan craft highlight 5
Vetriver farming & artisan craft highlight 6
French perfumer atelier formulation laboratory
Proven International Trade

Supplying Canada · Opening France & Europe

Active, compliant export operation offering direct-from-source pricing to global ingredient distributors.

Global Trade & Partnerships · Page 6

A Proven Export Supply Chain — Now Open to France and Europe

KH International currently supplies vetriver oil to the Canadian market — a live, working export operation, not a first-time attempt at international trade. We're now building the same long-term relationships with trade houses, buying houses, and perfumery ingredient distributors in France and across Europe.

Direct-from-source pricing, consistent laboratory-verified quality, and a supply chain story ready to support your own brand and sustainability narrative.

How a Partnership Starts

01

Request a sample and current lab specification sheet

02

Review our GC-MS report and traceability documentation

03

Place a trial order at agreed terms

04

Move to a long-term supply agreement with agreed volumes and pricing

Laboratory Verification

GC-MS Chromatogram & Key Compounds Data

Detailed gas chromatography-mass spectrometry peak analysis confirming essential oil purity and chemical composition.

Graph Image
Image: (Time vs. Voltage [mV])
Compound NameReten. Time [min]Area [mV.s]Height [mV]Height [%]Area [%]
b Vetivenene27.70770.00712.3673.7%3.116%
Khusimol33.840358.96556.08216.8%11-14%
Isovalencenol34.992245.66146.10313.8%10.935%
b Vetivone35.37972.88813.7504.1%3.244%
a Vetivone35.89374.16116.0404.8%3.301%
Compliance Framework · Page 7

Global Standards & Compliance

A European or international buyer's first real question isn't "is the oil good" — it's "can I legally and safely bring this into my market, and will it survive my own compliance review." This page answers that directly and specifically across four distinct requirement tiers.

Tier 1

Mandatory to Export From India

1

Import Export Code (IEC)

Issued by DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade); legally required for any Indian export business.

2

GST Registration

Required for all export documentation and invoicing.

3

RCMC (Registration-cum-Membership Certificate)

From CHEMEXCIL (Basic Chemicals, Cosmetics & Dyes Export Promotion Council), the relevant export promotion council for essential oils; expected by most serious buyers as a baseline credibility signal.

4

FSSAI License/Registration

Required if any product or claim touches food/ingestible use (relevant given vetriver's traditional use in cooling beverages).

Tier 2

Required by Destination Market (Europe & Global)

This is the tier that actually resolves the "can I import this" question for a French or EU buyer — treated here with the same weight as the Indian export requirements above, not as a secondary concern.

1

REACH compliance (EU/France)

Substances placed on the EU market must meet REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) requirements; compulsory for France/EU trade, not optional.

2

SDS (Safety Data Sheet) in GHS/CLP format

The EU-compliant format buyers will expect, distinct from a basic MSDS.

3

Canada-specific compliance

Requirements vary by end-use (cosmetic ingredient vs. food additive vs. industrial use) under Health Canada and CEPA; document whichever pathway you're currently compliant under.

Tier 3

Per-Shipment Documentation

1

Certificate of Analysis (CoA) / GC-MS report

Issued per batch detailing physical-chemical specifications and purity.

2

Certificate of Origin

Issued by Chamber of Commerce confirming origin from Tamil Nadu, South India.

3

Safety Data Sheet

Matching the specific shipment batch.

4

Phytosanitary Certificate

Confirm with destination customs whether required for distilled oil (often waived for processed/distilled products, but varies by country).

Tier 4

Voluntary but Valuable

1

Organic certification

India NPOP, with EU or USDA equivalence — strengthens the sustainability story from Page 5.

2

ISO 9001 / ISO 22716

Quality Management or Cosmetics GMP certification.

3

IFRA Compliance Statement

Supplier declaration, based on testing, that the oil meets International Fragrance Association usage restrictions; specifically expected by perfumery buyers.

4

Fair Trade / Fair for Life certification

Formalizes the farmer-partnership story into a certification buyers can cite in their marketing.

Livelihoods & Farmer Recruitment · Tamil Nadu

For Partner Farmers & Women Artisans

Empowering local agriculture through low-water vetriver farming and handwoven root craft. Building stable, dignified income across Villupuram district.

1. Premium Seedlings

We supply healthy, high-yield Chrysopogon zizanioides slips directly to partner farming families.

2. Free Soil Testing

Soil and irrigation testing support to maximize root biomass while conserving local groundwater.

3. Guaranteed Buyback

Assured, fair purchase prices for mature roots at harvest time for our steam distillation plant.

4. Craft Training

Over 400 women trained in handweaving vetriver root mats, curtains, and aromatic wellness products.

Farmer Partnership Helpline

Want to cultivate Vetriver on your land in Tamil Nadu?

Contact our Villupuram field team for seedling allocation, soil inspection, and contract details.

+91 95662 03297
Trade Desk & Inquiries · Page 8

Contact KH International

Direct export inquiries, sample vial dispatch requests, and commercial terms alignment with our sales desk.

Dedicated Global Trade Emailinfo@khinternational.org.in
Direct Phone & WhatsApp+91 95662 03297
Distillation Facility & Corporate Address

No 11, Murugan Koil Street, Krishnapuram, Azagiyanatham Post, Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu, India – 607402

Trade Inquiry & Sample Request Form

Please complete the fields below to connect directly with our trade desk.