Consumers will prefer fragrances that become their own signature

Jacqueline Reynders, global marketing manager (laundry & home care), Sensient Fragrances.

In an interview Jacqueline Reynders, global marketing manager (laundry & home care), Sensient Fragrances with Chemical Today magazine describes how the formulae of fragrances has changed over the time with customers becoming the main ingredient of aroma choices.

By Shivani Mody

Tell us about the Sensient Fragrances group?

Sensient Fragrances SA is part of the Sensient Flavours & Fragranc­es Group, a unit of Sensient Tech­nologies Corporation. We hold a global position defined by leverag­ing our fragrance compounds, aro­ma chemicals and essential oils to provide best in class, sustainable and integrated solutions to fra­grance and flavour industries. We engineer the sweet smell of success through creative and technology platforms. Our mission is to create fully integrated fragrance solutions that boost the sensorial, emotional and functional benefits.

What is the future growth and expansion plans for the fragrances group?

Our headquarter in Granada, Spain has been successfully leading the overall fragrance business un­til last Autumn when we opened a new global fragrance innovation & creative centre in the Paris, France. A team of experts is currently work­ing in the new state of the art prem­ises being fully dedicated to design fragrance solutions for personal care & signature fine fragrances. The vision is to make Sensient Fra­grances a significant fragrance and beauty player in the coming years.

The Granada site continues to fo­cus on laundry, home & oral care along with activities to enhance the growth in essential oils & aroma chemicals. Marino Papazouglou, appointed General Manager last September 2015, has been leading the expansion program which in­cludes new centers of excellence in key regions.

Mexico & Brazil have been operat­ing successfully providing solutions to the most demanding consumers. Asia-Pacific is another region where Sensient gains momentum with the new creative centre in Singapore leading the area with tailor made products designed to their specific needs. Markets such as Indonesia, China and India deserve our full attention; new strategies are in placed to serve all those markets from local creative centres. Africa & Middle East next to Eastern Eu­rope are markets to be developed further at short term.

What are the trends and advances in the fragrances market?

Today´s consumers are more de­manding than ever. Though there is an ongoing trend towards glo­balization, many still desire for a customized and personal experi­ence. For Sensient, “one fits all” is not applicable. We rely heavily on market and consumer understand­ing to design inspiring fragrances to touch consumers’ heart, wherev­er they are. See, Touch, Smell, Feel the emotion, are the pillars inspir­ing our fragrance designers and technical teams to create perfumes with selected precious ingredients to achieve a great hedonistic appeal without neglecting performance.

In the past there was a clear trend towards efficacy and performance, today they are perceived by many as a given. In recent years, con­sumers´ preferences are moved by sensorial experiences driven by fra­grances and their power to enhance moods next to becoming a trigger on long gone feelings and unforget­table emotions.

Successful olfactive profiles in­clude:

• Delicate Blossoms and Exotic Fruits being layered to re-create precious sensations.
• East meets West continues to fascinate the senses delivering on memorable creations that will make your heart beat faster.
• Expect further focus on Prove­nance and Destinations to have you traveling the world without leaving the comfort of your home.
• New Freshness translated by the Ocean Breeze in remote Islands and the cool breeze from unex­plored mountain peaks.

What are the key market drivers for fragrances in­dustry?

Innovation is the primary driver to success and Sensient holds an important position by offering a synergy of skills, technologies and expertise between our fragrances and cosmetics teams. For example: In galenic texture we are capable of developing complex encapsulation products (a sector in which we have a lot of expertise) and controlled fragrance release.

Our on-going pursuit of global growth makes us stronger by com­bining our capabilities. The market is also driven by func­tional needs determining the suc­cess of many products. Delivering on the promises for cleaner, fresher, whiter, softer, better product per­formance is a top priority.

Emotional needs take a more prom­inent role creating a new environ­ment for product design where the priority is to enhance beauty, pro­vide a caring edge and deliver a warm & happy feeling. It is all about feel good and do good factor. The new successful products will address both these needs to guarantee success. Consumers do not want to choose, they want the best of both worlds.

What will be the future global demands for fragrances market?

The markets continue to develop towards a more re­sponsible and sustainable future. The 3 “P”s (Prof­it, People & Planet) is seen as the solution but is still a challenge in some regions. Companies are not just telling a story but they are all supposed to live it. Tak­ing all this into consideration, the global demand for fragrances will continue to increase at a fast pace in emerging markets where the novelty factor, the new added benefits and the diversity in products and ser­vices will nurture a healthy environment for product development and healthy competition. For fragrances, the sky is no longer the limit. A new world has opened to be fully explored.

It is a different story for mature markets in Western Europe and North America where the demand will remain stable. Product development will rely on high tech products delivering the ulti­mate convenience factor for con­sumers having more money but less time to enjoy it. Ease of use, full automatic, sensor driven, in­telligent & wireless gadgets will emerge further with fragrances to become your own signature. Mix and match, fragrance layering, do-it-yourself (DIY), will be in more demand. You will be more involved in the development feeding the

manufacturers with your needs and preferences.

In Asia Pacific and South East countries, which sec­tors have a greater growth potential in the fragrances markets?

Countries with blooming econ­omies (China, Indonesia, India) will be a safe nest for the fragrance markets and have eminent growth, but they will also witness the most wanted democratization of fra­grance. Increase of disposable in­come and the search for new fra­grance experiences will contribute to a growing demand for products and services hardly known in their rich past.

A wide array of opportunities is for laundry care where there is room for innovation in product format and technologies. Cleaning prod­ucts will open a new way of life leaving behind the traditional and basic products and growing urban­ization will accelerate the growth. Personal care will definitely trans­late into new rituals to enhance a lifestyle yet to be discovered. Dish­washing will provide some oppor­tunities with fragrances to convey more than just superior degreasing power.

There is a growing demand for the usage of natural in­gredients in the fragrances industry. How is Sensient adhering to this trend?

The use of natural ingredients is a successful cross-category trend, seen prominently in personal and oral care but also in day-to-day segments such as laundry, cleaners, air care and others. As industry pi­oneers, coming from a long history of natural essential oils production,

Sensient delivers an all-encom­passing portfolio of high-quality essential and organic essential oils with complete traceability. From controlled cultivation and process­ing of aromatic plants to the dis­tillation of essential oils, we con­tinuously deliver a great legacy of natural raw materials successfully used in flavours, fragrances, cos­metics and pharmaceuticals.

Natural ingredients are key to un­derline the green trend and Sen­sient with its proud heritage of 100 years in essential oils combines na­ture and science to offer exception­al products to underline this mar­ket positioning.

Sensient 89 Allergen Free Fragran­cescame to life as a result of antici­pation to the market needs, deliver­ing perfumes to comply with future regulations. This is in terms of de­livering superior efficacy and high performance. Also manufacturers are looking into friendly alterna­tives, therefore we provide selected essential products with proven an­tibacterial effects which have be­come an interesting alternative to synthetic bactericides.

Tell us about the R&D and innovation activities car­ried out at Sensient Fra­grances?

Innovation is part of our DNA and we always look for tangible ways to add benefits with our top-notch creative teams and state-of-the-art fragrance technology being an in­tegral part of our perfumery cre­ation. We continually strive to find the best balance between creativity and functional needs to develop fragrances with the highest accep­tance and the best release perfor­mance in the final product.

A continuous investment in state-of-the-art equipment, R&D tools and talent makes us a leading and reliable partner. Our added val­ue fragrance solutions serve as a spring-board for growth to our cus­tomers brands and portfolios.

New product development is a key element of our strategy. To that end, we have:

- A product development steering committee with high-level corpo­rate exposure

- A strong pipeline, tracked with quarterly launch targets

- A focus on fragrance delivery sys­tems, regulatory and legal require­ments and special functional odour effects

Tell us about some of the fragrance technologies used at Sensient.

Fragrance Technologies are part of our added value solutions to con­quer the local, regional and global markets. Our teams combine tech­nological developments with their inspiration and creativity with mood trends, fashion and market factors that are valued by consum­ers. Our added value technologies/ scents are part of successful launch­es around the globe:

Fragrance Compaction

Our compaction technology offers lower logistical costs, which make your products more competitive. It uses fewer chemicals and less packaging and thus weighs less— making it less costly to ship. All of this translates into a smaller car­bon footprint. Our technology re­lies on value-driven design, and it results in financial and ecological benefits for our customers in the production of fragrances. We offer top-class, highly concentrated fra­grances with unique profiles, which also enables us to amplify the per­fumistic spectrum and, at the same time, comply with challenging reg­ulatory demands.

Active Odour Control Fra­grance “ AOCF”

Freshness is a key driver for fra­grance success in international markets and is also one of the ma­jor differentiators across segments. Consumers demand products that deliver ultimate freshness as they control and manage bad odors. Sensient designs tailor-made fra­grances with dual benefits: high sensorial value and excellent mal­odour control. Sensient Fragrances has patented this state-of-the-art

technology that gives us complete creative freedom to design per­fumes in a wide range of olfactory profiles for all the categories where radiant freshness is a decisive attri­bute. Our patented AOCF® tech­nology consists of one fragrance system with complementary neu­tralization mechanisms to actively control odors

Micro Encapsulation Fra­grance Technology “Sensi­Caps”

Extensive market demand for fra­grances and perfumes that have a significant long-lasting effect is the basis for the development of an innovative Sensient Micro-encap­sulation technology that relies on extending the sensorial experience/ duration for weeks. Micro capsules have become a differentiator for long-term fragrance-release prod­ucts for many companies in the fra­grance industry around the world.

Our technology allows the con­trolled release of a complex per­fume, occurring upon capsule breakage (generally by friction), providing a long-lasting fragrance benefit. In laundry care, our fragrance cap­sules deliver the “just washed” sen­sation even weeks after washing. In air care, the technology will provide an extra burst of perfume, enhancing the fresh-and-clean air percep­tion.

NeutraSensiCaps™

A two-in-one technology that helps deliver optimum odor control. It is a true market innovation, in that it brings our micro encapsulation process together with our odor-neutralizing technology. Specifically de­signed for any product that comes in contact with fab­rics, the NeutraSensiCaps capsules provide long-last­ing odor control through the combination of unique ingredients inside and outside the capsules, which break over time to deliver extra bursts of fragrance with odor-neutralizing properties.

How does Sensient adhere to the indus­try standards for sustainability?

Sustainability scores high in the International markets and Sensient has a strong management commitment with a policy that fully supports sustainable architec­ture.

We go further than just talking about sustainability and the trends. We are one of the first companies to design Sustainable Fragrances which are Unique in the market, all designed with Sustainable ingredients underlining our Sustainable Program.

Sensient holds a certification issued by the Chain of Custody of Forest Based Products for Sustainable al­pha & beta pinene. With this new source to produce “sustainable” versions of these aroma chemicals we de­liver raw materials designed in a social and environ­mental responsible way. Our fragrance designers made use of this unique palette of ingredients composed ex­clusively of 100 percent PEFC Certified ingredients to devel­op sustainable perfumes for home, laundry, dish care. etc.

What are the challenges in the fragranc­es market?

The fragrance market faces different challenges; one of them is the increased raw material costs being the result of global warming and climate change. Over the last few years, measures have been taken to address this issue but it’s still not enough to guarantee a real solution.

Regulations classify as one of the top concerns for the industry. Until we manage to get a global harmoniza­tion of chemical classification and labeling, there will continue to be an uncertainty factor at different levels.

The international markets present indeed some chal­lenges but looking into the bright side we will witness how the world-wide consumer continues to look for their fragrance identity and ability to relate emotion­ally and personally to their own fragrance world.

© Chemical Today Magazine

See the Interview Coverage in Chemical Today magazine (Pg 28)

https://www.worldofchemicals.com/digitalissue/chemicaltoday/chemical-today-april/5 

View the interview on Mobile, download the Chemical Today magazine app

http://bit.ly/21W5H0z

http://apple.co/1ZwID77