Setting the tone for the day, Philippe Ughetto, representing Fragrance Foundation France, stressed in his opening speech that innovation should from now on make sense for consumers as well as for the planet.

Mathilde Lion, Director, Global Client Development of the NPD Group, then drew up a rather positive economic assessment, highlighting perfumery - not skincare - as the sector leading the recovery in selective cosmetics. She even wondered if perfume had not become the new "lipstick effect" in North America. In fact, the main drivers of this recovery, the Z Generations and Millennials purchase perfumes to fulfil their desire to take care of themselves and treat themselves and are influencing growth levers towards higher concentrations, online sales, and sets, testers and mini-products.

The future of perfumes is responsible

Sampling as a means of discovery in the post-pandemic era was discussed several times during the day. And in particular regarding its evolution towards sustainability. Céline Boix from Sampling Innovations Europe presented Ticket Scent, a dispensing system of individual scented labels that can be opened and closed several times with 100% olfactory restitution. For his part, Maxime Caffon presented ID Scent’s Scent Touch technology, which allows using the sample a hundred times, thus extending its life span. This innovation was developed in particular for Givenchy, in the form of a cut-out card taking the shape of a mini hanger to perfume one’s wardrobe.

When it comes to sustainability, for Karine Torrent, the founder of the Floratropia brand, it was a "duty of utopia", questioning each pillar of the chain to achieve perfumes with the strongest possible impact and smallest possible environmental footprint. Result: 100% natural perfumes sold in doypack formats, the container becoming an accessory. Elisabeth Salom l’Ancien also proposed to adapt the perfuming gesture to the juice, and presented Aptar’s collection of Inune sprays. In particular, Silk, which can be either precise or enveloping, allowing to reveal more perfume facets than a classic spray.

Naturalness at the service of a more complex perfumery

Facets that evolve in all olfactory families, as Isabelle Ferrand of Cinquième Sens explained, by relying on new channels or over cycling, particularly of vegetables. This is what Symrise offers, with Symtrap™ technology, in its Garden Lab range. Hence, Pierre Guéros described the creamy and velvety notes of artichoke, the nutty and cereal facets of asparagus, or how cauliflower brings to mind ambergris.

In terms of more sustainable sourcing, Rémi Pulvérail introduced the Eden Ecosystem joint venture, which was born out of a concern to integrate farmers’ issues into the value chain, and in particular the sustainability of purchases. The joint venture provides tailor-made solutions, from plant cultivation to industrialisation, and combines extraction methods to offer more complete aromatic spectrums. For the Master Perfumer Antoine Lie, these ’full spectrum’ extracts reveal new facets, closer to the scent coming from the fields than traditional essences and absolutes.

To rethink our resources more responsibly, Jérémy Pessiot, the founder of Afyren, developed a solution for the over cycling of the lignocellulosic biomass of beetroot, allowing the production on French soils of synthetic perfumery molecules, which today come from the international petrochemical industry. The 7 platform molecules forming these molecules are manufactured using a unique, low carbon, Cosmos, Ecocert and ISO 16128 certified process, which results in 100% natural biosourced synthetics, with preserved analytical and olfactory performances.

Beyond the scent, the experience

In her analysis of free expressions on social networks, Michelle Algazi from Dynvibe pointed out that lock-downs had given rise to a new hobby: the discovery of perfumes. And for many, they were the opportunity to dare more audacious perfumes. Post-confinement, these notes remain a source of empowerment and allow attracting the attention of other people.

The approach of the ajnalogy movement (from the Sanskrit Ajna, the chakra of intuition) is in line with this spirit: Agathe Jacquinet and Éléonore de Staël develop 100% natural fragrances offering a better connection to one’s emotions and self-acceptance.

Experience is also at the heart of the DTC concept of Maison21G: to compose, online or in-store (in Singapore for the moment), one’s tailor-made perfume resulting from a personality test. The founder, Johanna Monange, has worked with IFF to make sure that each juice could be incorporated up to 21% while still complying with toxicological requirements. Integrating all the trends discussed at the Summit, she also presented a collection of candles and diffusers to personalise one’s home fragrance, as well as in-store workshops and an olfactory discovery box.

The discovery of perfume is one of the innovation levers as recalled by the consultant Laure Braive, who proposed a world tour of phygital innovations: from virtual shops to synesthetic polysensory tours, including all the edutainment options facilitated by NFTs. She also suggested putting exclusivity, craftsmanship and human values back at the heart of the customer journey. A journey that intends to facilitate Frédéric Besson, who has developed, with Perfumist, a set of mobile applications to help everyone, anywhere (online and in-store/duty-free), to find the ideal fragrance for themselves or as a gift.

China in full emancipation

An ability to inspire the customer, mentioned by Mathilde Girardon and Sylvain Eyraud, from Takasago, is one of the keys to success on the Chinese market. A market of incarnation, they believe, that one should try to understand from the inside, with its rituals and legends, to shift from ’made in China’ to ’crafted in China’.

Betty Touzaud from Panda Meetings, recalled the importance of e-commerce in China, where almost all sales of perfumes come from live-shopping platforms. And therefore the need to adopt the codes of retailnment and gamification, with impactful, fun visuals and lots of movement.