Agroforestry Group has signed an exclusive partnership with Original Oud, a company based in Malaysia that produces a wide range of oud-based products. The company manufactures fragrances, essential oils, candles, beaded bracelets, and more, domestically in Malaysia.

Oud is an oil that has inspired many luxury fragrances, such as Tom Ford Oud, shown above. Oud is made from agarwood from the aquilaria, a genus of 15 different species of trees.

When the tree becomes infected by instects or mold, it produces agarwood—the dense inner part of a tree trunk produced when the tree is under stress, to beocme stronger. Agarwood is fragrant and resinous, because the tree produces oud resin during this process, Town & Country reports.

Original Oud supplies pure natural Aquilaria and Oud oil, and the company has done a full review of Agroforestry Groups’ plantations to confirm the sustainability and quality of its plantations.

Mr. Paul Martin, Agroforestry Group’s MD says, “Sustainable professionally managed Aquilaria plantations such as ours are rare in the industry and we are glad to be working with Original Oud.”

Martin continues, “The majority of manufactured products, including high-end luxury brands found in department stores, come from fake Oud oil produced in laboratories rather than plantations.”

Due to high demand, Aquilaria trees today are nearly extinct, and are listed by the United Nations on its critically endangered list. Agroforestry Group operates privately managed forests and agarwood plantations.