As part of its sustainability program, Symrise is providing financial support to help the French Research Institute on Aromatic and Perfumery Plants CRIEPPAM [1] in its environmental efforts to improve energy efficiency during the harvest and distillation processes of lavender, an important ingredient for perfumery.
Symrise is mainly interested in the research activities aimed at improving a harvesting machine prototype developed by CRIEPPAM and named “Espieur” that can pick up flowers without their stem thus enabling up to 30% energy saving during the downstream distillation process.
Furthermore, the new harvesting machine considerably increases the quality of the essential oil, as the scent is mainly concentrated in the blossoms. “The Espieur oil smells more modern and contemporary. That makes it perfectly suited for sophisticated perfume creations. We are very lucky to have this quality in our palette,” explains Alexandra Carlin, Fine Fragrance Perfumer at Symrise in Paris. According to Joachim Correll, Symrise Master Perfumer in Brazil, “the Symrise Espieur Lavandin has tremendous effects on naturalness and freshness.”
Symrise is committed to decreasing its carbon footprint by 33 % by 2020 as well as to involving upstream supply chains, with a long-term goal of ensuring that 100 % of its strategic raw materials are sustainably sourced. As Symrise purchases large quantities of lavender essential oil for its perfume creations, decreasing the energy consumption of lavender harvest and distillation processes may substantially improve the environmental footprint of the natural raw material.
