“Grasse is the Mecca of perfumery. You cannot be taken seriously in this industry without a presence here. In Madagascar, there are vast plantations, but Grasse is where the expertise and production know-how are found,” says Alexandrine Demachy, president of SFA-Neroli.
After decades of declining production and fading prestige, Grasse has successfully reinvented itself by focusing on quality and, above all, by capitalizing on its centuries-old craftsmanship. Growing consumer demand for authenticity and natural ingredients has helped convince the fragrance industry’s leading players that the city is once again an essential destination.
Eager to support both their perfumers and their clients, major fragrance houses have invested heavily in local estates, transforming them into research and innovation hubs as well as prestigious showcases for visitors. Following the opening of Louis Vuitton’s Les Fontaines Parfumées creative center in 2016, Lancôme established its Domaine de la Rose in 2023, a seven-hectare estate dedicated to rose cultivation.
In 2020, the Dutch-Swiss group dsm-firmenich, which employs around 30,000 people worldwide, inaugurated Villa Botanica, an olfactory haven overlooking both Grasse and the Bay of Cannes. Surrounded by citrus groves, jasmine, verbena, roses, lavender, iris, and exotic species, the estate serves as a destination where the company hosts key clients and where perfumers from Paris, New York, São Paulo, and Dubai gather to explore innovations, and draw inspiration from the region’s botanical heritage.
“In this industry, the real asset is talent. And you don’t attract perfumers to Holzminden,” emphasizes Jean-Yves Parisot, president of Symrise, referring to the central German town where the fragrance and flavor group is headquartered. In 2022, Symrise strengthened its foothold in Grasse by acquiring and combining the local companies SFA and Neroli, before inaugurating a new headquarters in the city last year.
The momentum shows no sign of slowing. Following the two-day International Exhibition of Raw Materials for Perfumery (SIMPPAR), the American group International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) inaugurated its Domaine des Naturels on 28 May, a field designed as an open-air laboratory. The group also wants to make Grasse a hub of creation and innovation.
The rose war
Although the region now accounts for only a small share of aromatic plant cultivation, it has preserved a remarkable concentration of expertise in extraction, processing, and formulation, cementing its status as a global hub for natural fragrance ingredients. According to Prodarom, the French association representing manufacturers of aromatic raw materials, the perfume industry still employs around 4,600 people in Grasse.
The city’s resurgence has been driven by several factors: the continued commitment of major luxury houses such as Dior and Chanel; the preservation of centuries-old know-how, recognized by the inscription of Grasse’s perfume-related expertise on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2018; and sustained support from local authorities, particularly under the leadership of Jérôme Viaud, who has served as mayor since 2014.
In 2018, the municipality allocated an additional 70 hectares to the cultivation of aromatic plants, including rose, jasmine, tuberose, and mimosa. Production of centifolia roses — also known as May roses, a signature Grasse variety whose scent currently fills the region — has since rebounded to around 120 tons per year.
The Grasse region has made quite a comeback! For several decades, mounting land pressure along the French Riviera, the rise of synthetic alternatives, and growing competition from other regions severely weakened the local industry. Flower cultivation collapsed, and many international companies gradually withdrew from the area.
“In the 1980s and 1990s, nothing was guaranteed,” acknowledges Julien Maubert, head of the perfume division at Robertet, one of the leading Grasse-based groups alongside Mane.
The production of centifolia roses, which reached around 3,000 tons per year at the beginning of the 20th century, had fallen to a historic low of 59 tons in 2011, virtually supplanted by the damascena, or Damask rose, mass-produced in Turkey, Bulgaria, and Morocco. Both are similar, with their yellow centers and ruffled pink petals. But "the centifolia has a floral touch and a vegetal effect, with a hint of spice. The damascena is more honeyed, almost animalic, and liqueur-like," explains Fabrice Pellegrin, perfumer at dsm-firmenich.
For Dior and Chanel, for which centifolia rose remains a cornerstone of their historic fragrances, substituting it with damascena was never an option. Major manufacturers have followed suit: dsm-firmenich has strengthened its presence in the region with a natural ingredients development facility employing around 250 people; IFF has nearly doubled the size of its Grasse headquarters last year; and the Swiss group Givaudan has announced the creation of a multi-hectare innovation center.
Building on this momentum, the city aims to consolidate its position as a global hub for perfumery. Mayor Jérôme Viaud has partnered with the Messe Frankfurt group — organizer of major industry events such as Beautyworld Middle East in Dubai — to launch a new initiative: the Beautyworld Summit. Scheduled for 10–11 May 2027, this two-day international gathering will bring together key fragrance industry stakeholders in Grasse for discussions and exchanges. “It will not be an event imposed on the region, but one co-created locally. What will make the difference tomorrow is above all the authenticity, excellence, and identity that our region is able to embody,” the mayor said.
