Perfumer is almost as rare as astronaut; understand – 06/03/2023 – Market

Legend has it that there are more astronauts than perfumers in the world. The maxim seems to be a bit exaggerated: to date, about 500 astronauts have gone into space since 1961, when the Russian Yuri Gagarian became the first human being to travel into space, informs the international database of astronauts of Aerospace Security, a project of the American non-profit organization CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies).

Quantifying the number of perfume makers is much more difficult. This millenary art, which had Cleopatra (69 BC-30 BC) as one of its greatest followers, but which was only born in the modern version, in glass, in 1714, to have Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) as one of its main propaganda figures. , requires many years of dedication. According to consultant and specialist in perfumes Renata Ashcar –author of “Brasil Essência –acultura do perfume” (Best Seller publisher, 2001), and of the biennial edition “Guia de Perfumes”– there are around 1,000 trained perfumers throughout the world.

“In Brazil, they total less than 40”, says Renata. Professionals need to spend a season, of at least three years, in one of the four great perfumery houses in the world: the American IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances), the French Givaudan, the Swiss Firmenich or the German Symrise, says the expert. “After this period, they have the chance to engage in an internship at the perfumery house itself, where they complete their training”, she says.

There is also the renowned French institute ISIPCA (Institut Supérieur International du Parfum, de la Cosmétique et de l’Aromatique Alimentaire), in Versailles, founded by perfumer Jacques Edouard Guerlain. “There you learn perfumery in French, it’s something very restricted”, says Renata, remembering that the entire perfume manufacturing process is exclusive. “It takes three tons of May rose petals, which are born in Grasse, in the south of France, or damascena, which grow in Bulgaria and Turkey, to produce a single liter of rose oil, whose price reaches 12,000 euros [R$ 64 mil]”, it says.

‘I learned to trust my nose, not my brain’

In Brazil, there is no technical or higher education course for perfumers. But the candidate to create new fragrances must have training in Chemistry or Pharmacy. This is the case of Cesar Veiga, 55 years old, a perfumer from the Boticário group, who has just completed his training in the area at ISIPCA. With 26 years at Boticário, the bachelor in Pharmacy spent about six years abroad taking courses in France, Germany and the United States, funded by the company (which does not reveal the value, but is around tens of thousands of euros and dollars ).

“In perfumery, we are compared to the maestro: we direct the raw materials to tell a story, as if it were a symphony”, said Veiga to Sheet, at the headquarters of Boticário, in São José dos Pinhais (PR). “We work with sensations, our role is to transform the invisible into the tangible, they are the smells”, she says. “I learned to trust my nose, not my brain.”

Sharp noses like Cesar Veiga’s have managed to make the perfumery industry make concrete not only feelings, but growing profits. According to the consultancy Euromonitor, worldwide, the perfume market moved in 2022 US$ 57 billion (R$ 282.5 billion), an increase of 7.5% over the previous year. The expectation is to reach US$ 79 billion (R$ 391.5 billion) by 2027.

Brazil is the second largest perfumery market in the world, only behind the United States. Turned over US$ 6.8 billion (R$ 33.7 billion) last year, an increase of 24% over 2021. It is a market so resilient that not even the beginning of the pandemic, in 2020, was able to slow it down : that year, domestic consumption grew by 8% (in dollars), while global consumption fell by 13.5%. For 2027, the forecast is to reach US$ 10 billion (R$ 49.5 billion).

According to specialist Renata Ashcar, perfume in Brazil reveals the cultural roots related to indigenous peoples, religious habits and African influence.

Euromonitor analyst Mariana Teixeira points out that the Brazilian woman has the habit of using a perfume for every occasion – day, night, parties, which contributes to increasing consumption in the category, which represents more than three times the sales of makeup. Last year, face, eye and mouth painting totaled US$ 2 billion (R$ 9.9 billion).

“In the country, 90% of perfume consumption is massive brands, especially Brazilian ones, with more competitive prices”, says Mariana. “Are brands that support consumption, even in times of crisis,” she says. By way of comparison, in the main market, the United States, 88% of perfume sales come from premium brands such as Dior, Lancôme and Chanel.

Technology team jumped from 200 to 2,500 in four years at Boticário

In the country, the perfumery leadership is disputed equally between the Brazilian companies Natura and Boticário. “But Boticário had an accelerated growth in 2022, taking advantage of the reopening of stores”, says Mariana. In addition to O Boticário, the group owns the brands Eudora, Quem Disse Berenice?, Vult, OUi, Truss Professional, Dr. Jones, from the retailers Beleza na Web and Beautybox, in addition to having the license in Brazil for brands such as Australian Gold and Revlon.

The group entered a new moment, with the reopening, at the end of last year, of its product research and development center, called “Laboratory of the Future”. The company was the first to use artificial intelligence to produce a perfume – Egeo, launched in 2019. Since then, investments in technology have accelerated.

In the last four years, the company multiplied by ten the investments in the area (not disclosed). In personnel, the team increased from 200 to 2,500 people, in an effort to bring more innovation and quality to the products. The use of artificial intelligence to create new fragrances continues, often combined with traditional techniques, such as headspace, created in the 1970s to absorb a few micrograms of molecules responsible for producing odors.

“In 2018, on a trip to Cuba, we went to the Botanical Garden and discovered a palm tree with a woody smell, a bit citrusy. We quickly used headspace to capture this smell”, says Cesar Veiga, referring to the most recent scent he discovered.

The new scent is translated into a formula or ingredients, which become part of a database, stocked with other formulas, ingredients, perfumery history and consumer research. From this analysis, artificial intelligence is able to identify patterns and new combinations for that new smell. Nothing that intimidates Veiga, on the contrary. “A perfumer has around 3,000 ingredients available, with 350 of natural origin and more than 2,500 of synthetic origin”, he says.

To build a formula, the perfumer can take from six months to two years, he says. “But in 24 hours the computer shows me several ideas with the potential to work. I select and go to the bench to give the final touch, the human sensitivity”, he says. “The machine is a tool, not a substitute for the perfumer.”

Artificial intelligence is used to provide beauty services

At Boticário, artificial intelligence has also been used in product quality control, says Juliana Canellas, quality director. “We have a digital product developed internally, the Lyra, which is ready to cross data on formulas and packaging with the stability tests of a product, before it is launched”, says Juliana, referring to the tests to check the effectiveness of items such as creams and makeup.

The objective is to reduce the time for the product to reach the final consumer, in addition to reducing testing costs. “We gathered data from the last 14 years, involving 3,000 stability studies, with 7,500 tests carried out a year, and we are going to start crossing this information”, he says. “Our expectation is to advance the launch of a product between 60 and 90 days, in addition to generating savings of R$ 6 million per year with stability tests.”

The competition, in turn, is also moving when it comes to artificial intelligence, but with use focused on services. Consumers arriving at one of Natura’s nine stores can have a personalized diagnosis of the damage suffered by their hair. A device attached to the cell phone, associated with a proprietary artificial intelligence algorithm, magnifies the image of the hair strand by 20 times to observe the damage. From then on, the consumer has access to more than 15,000 product combinations from the Natura Lumina line for treatment.

The multinational perfume and cosmetics company L’Oréal bought, in 2018, the artificial intelligence company ModiFace, specialized in augmented reality. Since then, more than 1,400 services have been offered. One of them is the Effaclar Spotscan, from the La Roche-Posay brand.

“The client takes three selfies and receives a personalized recommendation of the beauty routine she needs to adopt”, says Guilherme Eler, director of new business and innovation for the group in Brazil. “After the tool was launched, the sales conversion rate doubled and the average ticket was 25% higher.”

The reporter and photographer Eduardo Knapp traveled at the invitation of the Boticário group