SPC reports from the Palais des Congrès in Grasse on the various issues raised and developments highlighted at the sixth edition of Centifolia, where sustainability was the word on everyone’s lips
Has the industry turned a corner or has creativity become so removed from the business of perfumery that the major preoccupations these days are socio-political? At Centifolia 2002 the subject of sustainable development had an hour’s airing, whereas this year it is was the theme for the three full days of debate and presentations. The message was stark and clear: the world’s climate has changed and there is now real urgency to protect the planet’s meagre resources. The perfume industry cannot afford to deplete them for the sake of art and beauty.
The 6th Centifolia conference was opened by the Maire of Grasse, Jean-Pierre Leleux, who believes passionately in the future of the industry that put his town on the world map. Many of the projects discussed at the 2004 Centifolia are well underway, namely the World Naturals Observatory Project with the creation of a Research and Development Laboratory as well as the revamping of the Inter-national Perfume Museum, due to reopen to the public in September 2007. Leleux extolled the virtues of the Provence area, a region that has a serious commitment to promoting the use of natural raw materials in perfume, cosmetic and aromatic compositions, thereby supporting its own agricultural production and providing much needed employment.
The region is recognised as the Competitiveness Pole Parfums, Arômes, Senteurs, Saveurs (PASS - Perfumes, Aromas, Fragrances, Flavors), an accolade that gives weight to all the local efforts of research and development while at the same time addressing the global issues of health, consumer safety and environmental protection. As an influential sector, the raw materials growers have an important role to play in the Grasse area as well as in the concept of added value through naturals.
Leleux set the scene of the changing face of the fragrance industry and juxtaposed it with the need to embrace the realities of our endangered world. Creativity must in future be conducted within certain parameters and the levels of research conducted must be implemented alongside respect for the need to ensure the planet’s survival. A variety of scenarios were played out by ministers, heads of companies and lifestyle gurus, each with a common thread: identifying the urgency of addressing the problems facing the planet and our future.
Ethics and sustainability are key to the planet’s future and have become major issues for the perfume industry. Setting the scene for the three-day Centifolia event, the former French minister for the environment, Corinne Lepage, eloquently evoked the bleak global future if we as a society, and in this particular instance an industry, do not address the environmental issues immediately. We are no longer dealing with a far, distant future under threat; it is the planet we are creating for our own children. “We need to adopt new ways and change our lifestyles and expectations if we are to survive,” Lepage stressed.
The fragile planet
The common axis for all the presentations was the Earth’s fragility in the face of exponential development and worldwide globalisation of demand, despite shrinking resources and the vast disparity between the north and the south. Globally by 2050 we need to multiply the economy by two and divide by five our general usage levels of resources.
We are currently in the grip of a three dimensional problem:
- A crisis of human relationships (epitomised by the social exclusion of certain groups, be it youth, ethnic migrants etc)
- A relationship problem between the human race and the biosphere
- Public opinion, which is frequently dictated by emotions and/or fuelled by media hysteria.
For an industry sometimes perceived as shallow and frivolous the debates could not have been more serious or intricately concerned with the great problems of this 21st century.
Specific examples in each presentation gave weight to the arguments. If the experts are to believed, time is already running out for us to address the situation. There is also a need for ethical partnerships.
The African, Brazilian and Indian richness of new materials is undeniable and in many cases yet to be fully understood. While indigenous people’s intellectual and property rights are now recognised as part of the international human rights’ charters, these must be addressed alongside sustainability. Legislation is now in place to avoid the issues that have arisen in the past. For example, in India in 2003, up to 70 patents were taken out on the products of the neem tree by western companies for their own profitable exploitation, without any respect for the indigenous population’s moral or ethical rights. To most people using traditional plants and herbs for healing purposes, the concept of patenting is unheard of and, even in the west, patenting the products of nature is a new but invaluable strategy if local rights are to be protected. As a responsible society, we owe it to these local communities to develop long-term meaningful relationships for the benefit of both sides. Bio-piracy and bio-exploitation must be avoided if there is to be harmonious and productive development of long term business partnerships.
Lauro Barata, Professor in Phytochemistry at Brazil’s Institute of Chemistry, gave a concrete example of how the perfumery use of rosewood has affected the Brazilian Amazon. The Amazon shelters a thousand species of aromatic plants used by its local people in ethnomedicine, condiments, cosmetics, and perfumery. The industry is always on the lookout for new sources of essential oils and extracts. The potential in this Amazonian cornucopia is incredible. Meanwhile, human incursion into the region over the last 20 years has resulted in the degradation of about 650,000km2 of the natural forest, an area bigger than France. Odoriferous plants are part of Amazonian daily life, regardless of social class, religion or ethnic group. They are used in meals, medicines, natural cosmetics, perfumes, religious rituals and aromatherapy. However, the most important commercial essential oil from the Amazon is still rosewood, which is now in danger of extinction. Used by Chanel and in the main important fragrances of fine perfumery, it is one of the poignant examples of unsustainable exploitation. The studies on the comparative analysis of rosewood leaf oil revealed that it will likely be necessary to replace the rosewood wood oil in fine perfumery. Its chemical profile and sensorial evaluation through Es-GC-O and its aroma is sweet, floral rose/petit grain-like. Rosewood can be cultivated in modules of 30ha in an intercropping system, producing 1,000kg of rosewood leaf oil by steam distillation from the coppicing of three to five year-old trees of green leaves, representing a minimum of US$50,000 cash flow for local producers.
Brazil’s booming cosmetics sector has endorsed the sustainability issue with open arms and the Natura ethos is centered on this philosophy.
Natura Brasil is unlike any other company. Its creed is to do good for mankind through its cosmetic products while at the same time helping protect the planet. The Brazilian company is also the incarnation of the philosophy of a man who believes in the virtues of nature, sustainable development and truth. From Natura’s perspective, all businesses are living, dynamic organisms. The value and longevity of each is related to its capacity to contribute to its own evolution and sustainable development. Businesses exist to satisfy the needs of individuals with products, services and activities that support viable, socially just, and sustainable economic development in all environmental matters.
Sergio Gallucci, director of sourcing at Natura took the Centifolia audience through a case study on pitanga. Eugenia uniflora (myrtacea) is a well known plant throughout Latin America. It produces a delicious and aromatic fruit: the pitanga, also known as Brazilian cherry or Surinam cherry. Its unique flavour is fruity/sweet/citric with an earth note at the bottom.
The aromatic oil used for a perfumery purpose is steam distilled from the leaves, which contain about 0.5% of essential oil. Its cultivation is located chiefly in São Paulo State in Southeast Brazil. The producer is an organic farm, Fazenda Alpina, that cultivates other fruits used chiefly for pharmaceutical application, including vitamin C extraction - ie acerola, Malpighia glabra - malpighiacea. The technique used to reproduce the specimen was by selected seeds in order to maintain the linearity of quality of this essential oil. The quality of oil presented small variation according to the period of year (agricultural year). The plants are partially pruned (max 50% of aerial part) two or three times a year in order to obtain enough vegetals to distill the oil. Several studies were conducted to facilitate a wider comprehension of quality of oil as influenced by each particular period of the year, soil characteristics and the age of the plant. Regarding the olfactive profile of this essential oil, it was considered innovative by perfumers that worked on its development and has been studied toxicologically to assess its safety.
Bénédicte Menanteau, director of the Fondation L’Occitane presented a case study on shea butter. Since 1981, L’Occitane has maintained a partnership with shea butter producers in Burkina Faso. It buys the production at a fair price, which enables the producers to make the margin necessary to ensure continued business. The quantity purchased has increased every year, making it possible for L’Occitane to market a full line of shea butter products.
Dominique Roques, sourcing director at Biolandes looked at the reality of sustainable products, finding the balance between trends, paradoxes and the development of more coherent procedures. The strong trend of the demand for SOE (sustainable, organic, equitable) in the world of natural aromatic products is an explicable, inescapable and desirable trend. The SOE step must be undertaken gradually in healthy companies with good sense which operate with transparency (origins, products, distribution networks), balance (ecological and economic) and a respect for mankind from the very first step (planters/harvesters/collectors/distillers).
Demonstrating that the high end of cosmetics is also involved in this worldwide movement, Marc Olivier of Dior described the development of a cosmetic ingredient from traditional medicine, namely Anogeissus from Burkina Faso. He presented the ethnobotanical approach to discovering new cosmetic ingredients and the selection of a Burkina Faso plant based on its traditional uses.
Olivier reviewed the different steps in the field to collect, dry and prepare the bark to export it from Burkina Faso to France, where the ingredient Anogelline is prepared. He discussed some of the activities developed with the support of LVMH R&D to ensure natural resource protection around the village of Koro, where ethnobotanical surveys are conducted and the bark is harvested aided by the planting of over 1,500 trees, the creation of a botanical garden, support for local women’s organisations, local forest department relations etc.
Jean Marie Pelt, described as a biodiversity missionary, invited the scientific community to come together to defend biodiversity instead of fighting over such issues as GMOs, pesticides and cloning. One of his most poignant statements - “If plants disappeared, man would have barely two months of life before him, but if technology disappeared, man would survive” - sent a frisson through the attentive audience.
Dominique Conseil, president of Aveda and honorary president of Centifolia 2006, concluded the extended debate with a reminder that: “A formidable challenge stands before the business world - increasing consumer demand for greater authenticity coupled with the transparency provided by information technology.
“The ‘green wash’, use of public opinion which favours natural products, sustainable development and equitable trade in communication strategies, is less of an alternative with each passing day. Companies must look at themselves in the mirror and question their own authenticity.” Can they radically change and begin evolving in a culture conscious manner? Are we really moving towards a major transformation of the economic world, one that could include a spectacular shift in the dynamics on the industry playing field, or merely paying lip service to the latest in a series of global transitory trends?”
Centifolia returns to the south of France in October 2008.