The document discusses how India is poised to become the future capital of perfumery, surpassing Grasse, France. Strict regulations in the EU have stifled artisanal perfumery. A major perfume company opening an academy in India shows they see its potential due to access to plants, a growing middle class, and less restrictive regulations. Rural communities in India could develop essential oil extraction to participate in the rising perfumery industry through sustainable agriculture and education in traditional methods.

1. Forget Grasse! The future of perfumery is in India… | Les Parfums d'Isabelle 23/02/13 2:35 PM
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Forget Grasse! The future of perfumery is in India…
Herbs and spices of India
2 years ago, I exchanged communications with Anya McCoy, President of the Guild of Natural Perfumers
about the future of perfumery and Grasse. My belief was that Grasse would eventually lose its reputation
as the capital of perfumery and one would have to look somewhere in Asia (China and India) to bring
perfumery back to the future!
The main reasons that led me to think this way were mostly the tightening of EU regulations and the
madness of IFRA (International Fragrance Association) standards that have killed the Art of perfumery,
transforming artist perfumers into nothing more than bureaucrats having to fill tons of documents to attain
distribution’s status… Octavian Coifan, the Paris-based perfumer and historian of perfumery qualifies the
actions of IFRA as being ‘a cultural genocide’ in his post entitled ‘Is fragrance Art social?‘ while
Roja Dove, the British fragrance guru and French independent perfumer, Serge Lutens have all joined the
condemnations of the restrictions dictated by IFRA in the name of ‘Health & Safety’…
But 2 events I read of recently, make my prediction even more real. First, the leak of aluminium toxic
wastes in Hungary despite the approval of the EU! Who can trust the EU when their scientists,
toxicologists and other experts are so biased that they refuse any kind of independent reviews? It seems
obvious that they have closed their eyes on the potential dangers of this obsolete factory in Hungary and I
would not be surprised to hear that some independent scientists had warned against this danger…
Back to IFRA, the restricted or prohibited materials such as essential oils of oak moss or costus are
natural but yet, IFRA promotes the use of aromachemicals to replace them! Once again, IFRA is only the
puppet of a consortium of lobbyists protecting the interests of the major chemical and cosmetics
conglomerates thanks to whom IFRA has its raison d’être. The madness of this association goes as far as
wanting to ban the use of citrus or basil… However, nobody prohibits their use in food. Not to mention
the poor bergamot which has now been so deprived of its furocoumarin that its use in perfumes is
equivalent to adding kernels of olive without the olive in a Greek salad!
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2. Forget Grasse! The future of perfumery is in India… | Les Parfums d'Isabelle 23/02/13 2:35 PM
Grasse has not been spared by the murdering of the Art of perfumery. In fact, going to Grasse nowadays
is like visiting Pompei in the aftermath of the volcano eruption… The past jasmine and lavender
landscapes are being replaced by luxury property developments; the rose de Mai (centifolia) is becoming
a rarity and the plantations are reduced to a few such as La Bastide du Parfumeur (now know as
‘Museum of International Perfumery’)with a meagre 2 hectares of cultivated land left and the only
landmark of Grasse being the mostly obnoxious odors of the fumes from the 100s of laboratories
synthesizing raw materials… Small artisan perfume studios that used to work from the back of their
garden or their garage outside Grasse, in the Valley of Vesubie have all closed down because they cannot
comply with the diktat of Brussels both financially and technically…
One of those traditional artisans explained to me that he is closing down because he has been asked by
H&E to replace the rose petals he used for his rose Eau de toilette by synthetic equivalents that are
supposedly safer and more stable (during the laboratory tests!). The problem was that his eau de toilette
had a shelf life of no more than 1 year because of the fresh botanicals he was using! Distributors want
long shelf life and huge profits and using ancient methods such as enfleurage or distillation are costly…
Quality has not been the name of the game for many years in most of the Houses of Parfums in Grasse. Of
course, the city has not yet lost its reputation as the place to go to for learning everything about the history
and the making of perfumes but this is about to disappear as well.
View of Grasse – Where are the fields gone?
Because the second event that tells me that Grasse is on its way out, is the creation by Symrise of a
Perfume Academy in India… Now, to me any corporate of this size that invests millions of dollars in an
emerging country is basically saying to industrialised countries that they have gone past the sell-by-date
and that it is time to go ”back to the future’‘…
It has always made sense that a country like India should become the place for perfumery. After all, it has
a young and dynamic population, a growing emerging middle class that will want to spend more and more
on luxurious goods but above all, its access to all the plants and flowers for essential oils and botanicals is
unlimited… For sure, plantations in India are more than the tiny 2 hectares left in Grasse! Flowers are
used for every occasions: Buddhist festivals, births, weddings and any rituals… Spices of all colours and
sorts are added to yummy and scented meals and herbs are used in Ayurveda medicine… Nature and
botanicals are part of the Indian way of life! Besides, the links between India and Africa have been
established for many years and Indian perfume and flavours laboratories are already setting up in
countries like Nigeria : they extract the wealth of botanicals available in Africa (I recommend you read
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3. Forget Grasse! The future of perfumery is in India… | Les Parfums d'Isabelle 23/02/13 2:35 PM
the blog African Aromatics by Sophia for an expert opinion on these) and develop fragrances adapted to
both markets
But in my view, the main reason why India is set to become the next capital of perfumery, the next
‘cosmetics valley’ of this world is that maybe (just maybe), it will allow old or vintage perfumes
formulations to be recreated and relaunched in order to be sold in the growing markets of Asia and the
Middle East WITHOUT any regulator on your back telling you that synthetics and GMO are the best
options! Because India is a sovereign country and does not bend to any diktat but their own… Their
closeness to Nature will probably make them realise that regulation kills industries like ours!
As small artisan perfumers, we are unlikely to be able to compete with the likes of Symrise but I see an
opportunity to position ourselves by helping smaller communities to develop and produce essential oils.
Symrise and the other big ones are only interested in big scale production and in chemistry graduates…
These companies are miles away from restoring the Art of Perfumery as they will carry on producing
synthetics and creating new odours to fulfil the demand of the industry and keep up to date with modern
technology.
Our objective should then be to focus on rural farming communities, helping them set up essential oil
extraction plants for smaller scale yields and ensuring they gain from the rise of perfumery in their
country through education about the traditional Art of perfume making, sustainable agriculture and social
enterprise.
Rural life in India/Photo courtesy of Gautam
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