Perfumery: Producers of natural ingredients join forces at the WPC show

Premium Beauty News - What unites these companies that are offering a strongly diversified palette of fragrance ingredients?

Virginie Gervason - For the very first time, seven major natural ingredients’ producers, coming from the four corners of the planet, will join forces to share their values and commitment.

Evolving in different contexts, they are small or medium sized, responsible entrepreneurs, committed on the long term to their customers around the globe and all actors of their value chain, taking risks and investing every day to improve their practices every day and managing demanding third parties certifications.

They know perfectly the communities they work directly with, they act for nature and biodiversity preservation in their regions, they invest in state of the art industrial facilities and produce the highest quality of natural ingredients that make the most sustainable perfumers’ creative palette.

They share the same passion, same willingness to embark actors to preserve these resources, raise the same challenges regarding the future and elaborate multiple solutions to share.

This unique “momentum”, imagined and organized by Resperfuma, in close collaboration with each of the producers and with the support and expertise of Dominique Roques, will bring together: Agroforex Company, a producer of benzoin and aquilaria from Laos; Enio Bonchev (damascena rose from Bulgaria); Jacarandas (ylang ylang and pink berry from Madagascar); Jasmine CE.Pvt.Ltd (vetiver and Indian flowers); Nelixia (guaiac wood from Paraguay, cardamom from Guatemala, etc.); SCA3P (lavenders and aromatic plants from France); Verger Naturals (cinnamon, black pepper and Sri Lankan spices).

Premium Beauty News - Natural resources used in perfumery are highly diversified, some of them come from crops, others from wild plants, but all are very sensitive to climate change and environmental shifts. Are the consequences already visible? Do small producers have the means to adapt?

Dominique Roques - Climate and environmental shifts obviously impact aromatic perfumery products.

Climate change mainly impacts water resources, which are disrupted by changing rain patterns. Thus, significant, long and costly investments are required, the profitability of which can be questioned. For examples, Lavandin producers in France, rose producers in Bulgaria and, in India, small jasmine farmers must also entirely rethink water management on their farms in order to adapt to new rainfall regimes.

As far as the environment is concerned, one of the major recurring problems is deforestation. It threatens several important perfume trees such as Styrax or Balsam Peru in Central America and especially guaiac wood in Paraguay. However, even in the Chaco forest, that has been heavily deforested to expand livestock areas, initiatives are beginning to emerge to demonstrate that the value of a perfume ingredient like guaiac can be instrumental to slow down the spiral of damages, in particular through sustainable management plans and by providing owners with a financially attractive alternative.

Small producers are the key players behind these initiatives and the future of many of these products is in their hands, as long as they are supported by the industry."

Premium Beauty News - A panel discussion on the sustainability of the natural ingredient supply chain is also at the educational agenda of the WPC. Can you unveil its main outlines?

Dominique Roques - I will moderate a debate with three panellists, Elisa Aragon (Nelixia), Filip Lissicharov (Enio Bonchev) and Raja Palaniswamy (Jasmine CE PVT) on the following question: "Naturals: what does it take to source sustainably?"

Indeed, the sourcing of natural perfumery ingredients has been going through major changes for the past ten years. The growing awareness and expectations of a significant part of perfume consumers have driven our industry (F&F companies and brands) to question former producers’ practices and drive improvements at source. This has led to significant demands and move towards third party certifications. A few years down the road, our panel will discuss the situation of leading producers from America, Europe and Asia. What is their vision and experience of this new trends? Are certifications well suited to the social and environmental realities of their countries, and is the market ready to bear the extra cost resulting of such requirements?