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A global network of specialists
From fields and fermentation tanks to scented candles and freshly laundered towels, every fragrance passes through a chain of specialists. Farmers, biotechnologists, chemists, perfumers, consumer-goods manufacturers and retailers each add knowledge, value and creativity before a scent reaches people’s everyday lives.
An inter-connected value chain
Sourcing fragrance materials
A fragrance begins with raw materials. Natural resources such as Bulgarian rose petals, Mexican citrus peels or sustainably grown Australian sandalwood sit alongside precisely engineered synthetic molecules produced from petro-based or bio-based feedstocks. The combined palette protects biodiversity, ensures consistent quality and gives perfumers the full range of olfactory possibilities.
Creating ingredients and blends
Specialist manufacturers distil, extract, ferment or synthesise those materials into high-purity fragrance ingredients. Perfumers — often called “noses” — blend dozens or even hundreds of them into a concentrate that fulfils a customer brief, performs technically in a product and meets all IFRA Standards for safe use. These are then distrubted down-stream to consumer-facing companies.
Bringing fragrance to consumers
Consumer-goods companies dose the concentrate into fine fragrances, cosmetics, detergents, air-care products, candles and more. Retailers and e‑commerce channels then place those fragranced products in homes, workplaces and public spaces, completing a value chain that stretches from molecule to memory. Industry economists describe the three stages above as the “narrow value chain”; when upstream growers and downstream retail are also counted, they form the “wide value chain”, reflecting the sector’s full socio-economic footprint.