Rasasi Perfumes

Haji Abdul Razzak Kalsekar arrived in Dubai from the Indian subcontinent in the 1970s as a humble businessman. While the surrounding traders focused on importing European scents, Kalsekar took a different position: honour the olfactory traditions of the Gulf by blending traditional Arabic ingredients into compositions of luxury and quality. He opened a small shop in Murshid Bazar in 1979 — the same location that still exists today. He raised six sons who each took on specialised roles in the business. The eldest, Saleem Kalsekar, served as Managing Director for decades. Today the second and third generation runs the company together, with Saleem as Chairman, Omeir Kalsekar as CEO, and Talha Kalsekar as Chief Marketing Officer.

Rasasi opened its first manufacturing facility in Jafza (Jebel Ali Free Zone) in 1986 on a 5,000 square metre plot dedicated to oud oil distillation. A second factory followed in 1989, and an aerosol manufacturing unit was added in 1999. The company's first Western-style fragrance, Blue Lady, became the brand's commercial breakthrough and the flag-bearer of its global expansion. The brand was the first Arabian perfumery to introduce the mono-brand retail format — what is now standard at perfume malls across the GCC. The relaunch as Rasasi Perfumes 1979 in the mid-2020s emphasised its heritage and family-business origins. Today the total manufacturing footprint in Jafza is around 12,500 square metres.