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The celebrations marking Fragrance World’s presence in 150 countries began with a grand event at Expo City Dubai. The celebration logo was unveiled through a spectacular drone show that painted the sky with colors and narrated the history of Fragrance World, carrying the digital signature of Chairman and Founder Poland Moosa. The logo was unveiled in the presence of popular Indian film actor Mammootty, CEO P. V. Salam, Joint CEO P. V. Safeer, and Mr. Labeeb. This was followed by the premiere of the docu-fiction film “Kunjon,” based on the life of Poland Moosa. The film was directed by Jeevan Jose and shot across several foreign countries, featuring nearly 200 actors in major and minor roles. It is scheduled to be released on digital platforms in the coming days. The cover of the book “Fragrance of Legacy,” written by Sebin Paulose based on the biography of Poland Moosa, was also unveiled on stage. The author, along with his friend Abdulla who inspired the work, was present at the event.
More than 2,000 people attended the celebration, including distributors from around 150 countries, leading business personalities from Dubai, and the company’s employees. Among the special guests were Elizabeth Szczyglowska, the Polish woman who first supported Moosa’s business in Poland; Liliya Petrova from Bulgaria, who placed the first foreign order in 1989; Konstin Vazniko, the Russian who helped him enter the Russian market in 1993; and Rishad Sahverdiev from Azerbaijan, who has stood by him like a brother since 1995. Poland Moosa honored all of them at the event.
A parade involving around a thousand factory workers was also held at Dubai Expo. In addition to a special reception, valuable gifts were distributed to the workers. Employees who completed 30, 20, and 10 years of service, as well as those who delivered special performances, were honored during the ceremony. Gifts worth more than 3 million dirhams were distributed among all employees and workers.
The story of man behind the brand
A child who was once declared to be on the verge of death by a traditional healer on the fiftieth day after his birth has today grown into The King of Perfume spread across over 150 countries. This may sound like a folktale, but it is the true story of the life of Poland Moosa, a leading perfume entrepreneur in Dubai. He was born in 1959 in Kerala India, at a time when a deadly smallpox epidemic was sweeping across the country. Moosa too was affected by the disease. When his mother wrapped the sick child in a banana leaf and took him to a traditional healer, the healer, seeing the child’s condition, asked her to go back, saying the baby would not survive and should be abandoned in a nearby stream. But the mother was not ready to surrender her half-alive son to death. With courage and determination, she cared for him, and he slowly recovered from smallpox.
From then on, Moosa’s life unfolded like a film filled with dramatic twists. At the age of nine, following a minor disagreement with his brother, he left home and went to Mysuru. He began working as a cleaning boy in a restaurant. When he lost that job due to his short height, he took up several other jobs to survive.
In 1977, Moosa arrived in Dubai for the first time by sea. He started working as a domestic helper in the house of police officer Abdul Raheem Mohammed Yousuf. With his support, Moosa later secured a job in a shoe shop in Deira, Dubai, where he learned the basics of business. He then began small trading ventures with friends. In 1988, he decided to take a major risk in life and started his own enterprise under the name “Al Ghuroob.” In search of new business opportunities, he flew to Poland. At that time, very few Indians traveled to politically turbulent Poland. That journey became a major turning point in his life, opening up vast business possibilities. Until then he was known simply as Moosa, but people began calling him “Poland Moosa,” a name he accepted with affection. His business soon expanded to many countries, with Poland, Bulgaria, and Russia becoming key markets. Though he has only a third-grade education, Poland Moosa today can speak more than fifteen world languages.
In 2004, he founded his own perfume company under the name Fragrance World. Poland Moosa soon became an indispensable figure in Dubai’s fragrance trade. Each year, the company expanded into new international markets.
In 2012, a new brand, French Avenue, was launched under Fragrance World, and it too went on to conquer global markets. Later, he established his own perfume manufacturing facility. Today, Fragrance World offers well over 4,000 perfume variants and produces hundreds of thousands of perfume bottles every day.
Starting from absolute zero, Poland Moosa has built Fragrance World into a brand present in more than 150 countries—an achievement attained by only a few Indians.