The nation’s oldest Fragrance and Cosmetic Sampling Company proudly celebrates our 150th year of business. It all started in the mid 1800’s when a young entrepreneur set out to change the face of printing. Edward Parke Coby started as an apprentice for the New York Sun and in 1865, established his own printing company on the corner of Gold and John Streets in New York City. According to historians, his early work included all kinds of mercantile and publication printing, wholesale and retail. By 1902, his business reached “mammoth” proportions and it was reported that his workmanship had no superior and his plant was equipped with all the latest improved presses, machinery and accessories known to the business.
As the Industrial Revolution progressed, so did the company. In 1915, our capabilities were expanded by developing a proprietary paper that became the industry standard for perfumers, fragrance chemists, and fragrance marketers. Frank Orlandi joined the company in 1927 and by all accounts was the impetus behind Orlandi’s venture into the world of fragrance sampling. According to his son Richard, Frank “was fascinated and intrigued by scents’ ability to be absorbed by a variety of substrates.” Early exploration involved immersing leather, stone and foliage in fragrance to determine its’ retention rate.
By the 1930’s and 40’s, Orlandi was beginning to make a name for itself in the Fragrance arena. Early perfumers, Nettie Rosenstein, Tuvaché, Ann Haviland and Patricia Murphy contracted with Orlandi to produce scented samples of their oils and fragrances. By the 1950’s, Orlandi had begun to partner with many major Prestige fragrance brands of the day. Our products were primarily used in-store in the form of scented blotters and mailed with credit card statement enclosures. Orlandi expanded into contract packaging in the mid 1960’s. In the 1970’s, we diversified our scented paper products to include paper air fresheners, drawer liners, cards, stationery and sachets, eventually expanding into gel air fresheners, scented plastics, wood and ceramic. In 1980, our TruEssence scent strip division was born. Ken Kane initially set up our Paris, France sales office and then later lead our U.S. sales success in the scent strip market.
In 1988, Orlandi was acquired by Jefferson Smurfit. Sven Dobler was responsible for the initial valuation and coordinated the due diligence and acquisition closing. Soon thereafter, he became the general manager and in 1996, he and his brother Per, (who had previously worked at L’Oreal Germany), bought Orlandi from Jefferson Smurfit.
Over the years, Orlandi’s capabilities have vastly broadened to include a plethora of fragrance and cosmetic sampling technologies, air care products, packaging and state-of-the-art printing and manufacturing services. What started as one man’s dream, became a global corporation located on three continents dedicated to servicing the beauty, personal care and gift industries. Though there are many contributing factors, our success is greatly due to our unwavering commitment to meet the needs of our customers. We continue to be a privately owned company and have been under the same management for nearly three decades. The Orlandi team is honoured to celebrate our 150th year in business and look forward to continuing our founders’ legacy of quality, service, innovation and excellence.
