Team:Toulouse INSA-UPS/Implementation

Overview

Before commercializing a product, it is first necessary to know the market, the different actors of the business as well as the ethical and ecological problems related to this business. For this purpose, we have established the perfume life cycle with the three main methods of production of fragrances. This life cycle allowed us to visualize the most polluting stages of each type of production. Thanks to a table of issues, these steps were deconstructed to understand how to circumvent these problems via synthetic biology. Finally, we evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of our project in the fragrance market. We were then able to reach a positive conclusion for our project: it can meet the needs of the market and consumers while offering an ecological and innovative solution.

The challenges of the fragrance industry

Life cycle of a perfume

Preamble: composition of a perfume

A perfume is composed of two main ingredients. The most important ones are fragrance ingredients, also called perfume juice, which give the product its pleasant smell. The seconds are functional ingredients for preserving and applying the perfume, such as ethanol usually used as a solvent, or preservatives added to the composition to allow the perfume to last longer (“IFRA Transparency List,” n.d.).
In perfumery, an accord is an assembly of a couple of fragrant molecules. To create a perfume, it is necessary to assemble several accords (“L’accord en parfumerie,” n.d.). Thus, the violet accord that we want to create is composed of six molecules and will be used to create many different perfumes.

A little bit of perfume history

Figure 1: jasmin flowers

The first making of perfumes could be dated back to the Neolithic period. In the beginning, perfume and fragrances were made from plant and animal materials. However, these natural techniques have many limitations. First, the yields are low. For example, 1 kg of jasmine absolute requires 600 kg of jasmine flowers (approximately 6 million flowers) (“About the ingredients | DIOR,” n.d.). Second, some natural resources have been exploited to near extinction. This is the case for Agarwood from which is extracted oud oil. Agarwood is nowadays an endangered species and oud oil commerce is strictly regulated (“Reforestation to make Oud oil production sustainable,” n.d.). Finally, some flowers are called “mute flowers” because it is near impossible to recover their fragrance from a natural source.

To address all these limitations, organic chemistry has been used. The development of organic chemistry at the end of the 19th century made it possible to recreate the odors of mute flowers but also to create new and entirely synthetic odors. The development of organic chemistry has led to a drastic reduction in the cost of raw materials for perfumes and thus made perfumes affordable for the lower social classes. Perfume became an everyday object for everyone (Briot, 2011).
However, these synthetic compounds are petroleum based (Mustila et al., 2021). In order to meet current market demands for environmentally friendly and natural products, industries are moving away from these petroleum-based ingredients (Fernandez and Antoniotti, 2016). To this end, biotechnologies have been increasingly used since the beginning of the 21st century (“Givaudan presents a new biotechnology approach for synthesising the most widely used biodegradable fragrance ingredient, Ambrofix,” n.d.; “Technology transforms materials into creative ingredients,” n.d.). It is indeed possible to consider products from biotechnologies as natural (“COSMOS - Trust in organic and natural cosmetics,” n.d.) and there is no need for fossil materials with this manufacturing method.

Today situation

The fragrance market is controlled by four companies worldwide, which represent 50% of the market. These companies are Givaudan (Switzerland), International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF, United States), Symrise (Germany), and Firmenich (Switzerland) (“Flavors and Fragrances Market Size,” 2020). These multinational companies, also called perfume houses, produce fragrances using all three existing methods (chemical, biotechnological and natural).

The construction of a perfume life cycle will allow us to identify the limiting stages for each production method (note that this life cycle is not really a cycle since perfume is literally sprayed in the air when used and thus it cannot be recycled).

Life cycle details

Click on each step of the cycle to learn more! For a better display, use Chrome as browser.

Synthetic odorant molecules are produced by chemical reactions from petroleum resources. For example, α- and β-ionone, the main molecules of the violet fragrance, are produced from isobutene which mostly originates from fossil resources.

References: (Cataldo et al., 2016), (Mustila et al., 2021)

The main oil producing countries are the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. These countries respectively account for 15.92%, 12.34% and 11.43% of world oil production. The refined oil must be transported to the manufacturing factories of perfume houses. They are located mainly in Europe, Asia, and North America. For example, the market leader Givaudan owns 77 production sites including 32 sites in Europe, 22 in Asia and 12 in North America.

References: (Turgeon and Morse, 2018), (“petroleum - Major oil-producing countries,” n.d.), (“Givaudan - Our global presence,” n.d.)

The chemical synthesis of fragrances takes place under harsh conditions (strong acid or base, high temperature...). Then a combination of enantiomers is obtained. The enantiomers of the molecule of interest do not have the same olfactory properties. The enantiomer combination can be used as it is, but the fragrance will have a lower intensity and quality. They can also be separated to recover only the pure compound of interest, but this means using even more resources (energy, chemicals...).

References: (Cataldo et al., 2016), (Fernandez and Antoniotti, 2016)

Perfume plants can be grown and harvested industrially. This is the case for lavender in France and rose in Turkey. Almost 90% of the world lavender production is French and it represents about 26,000 hectares. This represent less than 0.1% of the total French utilized agricultural surface*. The lavender is distilled at the place of harvest. The annual production of natural lavender essential oil is about 1,600 tons. In Turkey, 8,000 tons of roses are harvested annually which allows the production of 2,000 kg of essential rose oil. As a mute flower, the violet is not extensively cultivated for its smell. The existent violet farms are intended to produce ornamental flowers.
Another way to obtain fragrant plants is to harvest them directly from the wild. Agarwood, from which is obtained oud oil, is a typical example of exploitation of nature. The fragrance of agarwood is obtained from the resin of the tree only when it is infected by a bacterium and it is very difficult to artificially infect the tree. The agarwood is poached in order to recover its precious fragrance, which has led to the near extinction of the species.

References: (“Filière PPAM,” 2020), (Bousquet, 2014), (“Marché PPAM Panorama 2018,” n.d.), (“Statistique agricole annuelle 2018,” 2020)

Once the aromatic plant has been harvested, odorant molecules have to be extracted. To do this, the plants must be transported to the extraction factory. In most cases, the extraction factory is located on the site of the crop because flowers, once cut, does not keep their fragrance for long. This is the case of the flower farms of Grasse (South of France): the odorous molecules are extracted directly on the site of their growth. Some tropical plants that grow in the wild (sandalwood, veliver…) must however travel around the world to the factory site.

References: (“Raw Materials - Robertet,” n.d.), (“‘Naturals at Origin,’” n.d.)

There are many techniques to extract odorous molecules from plants. The conventional methods consist on solvent extraction, distillation or hydrodiffusion . To improve yield and energy efficiency, new methods have been developed. These technics are solvent free or supercritical fluid extraction.

References: (Aziz et al., 2018), (“From leftovers to luxury,” n.d.)

Genetically modified microorganisms are used since the beginning of the 21st century to produce fragrances. To generate these compounds of interest, a source of carbon and energy must be provided to the microorganisms. This substrate is generally sugar obtained from sugarcane cultivated in South America or corn starch from Europe.

References: (“BASF and Isobionics launch Isobionics Santalol, an alternative to sandalwood oil,” n.d.), (“Givaudan presents a new biotechnology approach for synthesising the most widely used biodegradable fragrance ingredient, Ambrofix,” 2019), (“CLEARWOOD®,” n.d.)

The substrate must be transported to the fragrance production sites for further use in bioreactors. They are located mainly in Europe, Asia, and North America. For example, the market leader Givaudan owns 77 production sites including 32 sites in Europe, 22 in Asia and 12 in North America.

References: (“Givaudan - Our global presence,” n.d.), (“Our Company,” n.d.), (“Locations in Grasse and around the world - Robertet,” n.d.)

The principle of the biotechnology production method is to use the metabolism of the microorganism to produce the fragrances or convert precursors into products of interest (bioconversion). These ingredients are formed through fermentation.

References: (Fernandez and Antoniotti, 2016), (Bomgardner, 2021)

Once fragrances are produced, it is crucial to separate them from the culture medium. The extraction technique to be used depends on the physico-chemical properties of the molecule produced. Simple methods, such as gas chromatography or high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), can however be used to recover small molecules. The products of fermentation can also be recovered directly from the culture medium using liquid-liquid or solid-liquid extraction techniques.

References: (“Analytical & Extraction Chemistry,” n.d.), (Lukin et al., 2019)

A perfume is composed of different "accords" or notes that give the perfume its uniqueness. A chord is a mixture of a few simple fragrant raw materials. The note of the accord depends on the intensity and the smells of the raw materials that compose it. The accords must therefore be carefully assembled to obtain the desired perfume. The accord assembly is made by the so-called perfume houses. Here work the famous "noses", the experts in perfumes and scents. Their role is to compose the best perfumes based on the client's specifications, called a “brief”. The clients of the perfume houses are companies or brands that want to launch their perfume. However, luxury brands, such as Dior or Chanel, have their own master perfumer in charge of inventing the brand's creations.

References: (“Nos expertises parfumerie - Robertet,” n.d.), (Fernandez and Antoniotti, 2016)

There are 4 types of perfumes: perfume, eau de parfum, eau de toilette and, eau de cologne. They differ in final fragrance concentration as fragrances are diluted with water and ethanol to facilitate their application and their conservation. A perfume is composed up to 30% of fragrance raw materials and is the most concentrated product. In contrast, eau de cologne is much less concentrated, containing less than 10% of odorants.

References: (“Parfum, eau de parfum ou eau de toilette, quelles différences ?,” 2020)

A perfume packaging is divided in two parts: the primary packaging which contains the perfume and the secondary packaging which allows the product to be safely transported and contains the primary packaging. The primary pack is classically made of glass or metal. The secondary pack is mainly made of plastic or cardboard.

References: (“Perfume & Fragrance Packaging Market Size | Industry Report, 2025,” n.d.)

Slightly more than 30% of perfume sales take place online, while the rest of the sales are made in shops (malls or specialized shops).

References: (“Perfume Market Size, Share | Industry Trends Report, 2019-2025,” 2019)

In 2017, the fragrance market generated €7.3 billion. The largest consumers of fragrance products are Asia, North America, and Europe . Women consume more perfume than men. They accounted for 60% of all purchasers in 2018. In addition, women's perfumes are on average more expensive than men's.

A perfume is sprayed in the air; thus, no recycling is possible on the product itself. The packaging can however be reused or recycle.

References: (“Consumption value of flavors and fragrances worldwide by region, 2013-2018,” n.d.), (Fernandez and Antoniotti, 2016), (“Perfume Market Size, Share | Industry Trends Report, 2019-2025,” 2019)

Fragrance industry issues table

The purpose of the issues table is to analyze each step of the life cycle to reveal the ethical or environmental issues associated with it. However, we are only interested in the production stages of the fragrances. Our project aims at solving the problems related to the production of fragrances and not to the perfume as a finished product. Moreover, the transport steps are negligible because the volumes moved are minimal .

Issues table

Chemistry

Figure 3: Chemical pathway issues table

The production by chemical way allows to produce large quantities at lower cost, which makes accessible to the greatest number the diversity of perfumed products using these synthetic fragrances. It is furthermore estimated that 95% of all fragrance production is chemically synthesized (Gupta, 2015). But this raises serious environmental problems because the raw material to produce all these fragrances is non-renewable since it is fossil resources. Chemical synthesis requires the use of potentially hazardous chemicals. This creates waste that must be properly treated and can also endanger workers in this sector. Finally, the chemical synthesis of odorous compounds contributes to global warming and the depletion of non-renewable fossil resources.

Natural

Figure 4: Natural pathway issues table

The production of fragrance by natural means is not ecological and has three major negative points. First, the power consumption required for distillation is very high. Indeed, each year, between 40,000 and 60,000 tons of essential oil are produced (Singh Chouhan et al., 2019) and to extract 1 kg of essential oil from a natural product it takes on average 600 kWh (Rahma, n.d.). Taking a production of 50,000 tons of essential oil annually, the electricity consumption climbs to 30,000 GWh, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of Denmark (“Liste de pays par consommation d’électricité,” 2021). Secondly, the extraction methods reject a lot of water: 85 L of water are rejected to produce 1 kg of essential oil (Singh Chouhan et al., 2019). Assuming an annual production of 50,000 tons of essential oil, the volume of fresh water discharged amounts to 4.25 million cubic meters, or the annual consumption of 3 million people in the world (“Planetoscope - Statistiques : Consommation d’eau dans le monde,” n.d.). Finally, the overexploitation of natural resources, sometimes to the point of extinction of a species (“Reforestation to make Oud oil production sustainable,” n.d.), is a very negative point in the production of fragrance by natural means. However, the cultivation of perfume plants and the extraction of their fragrance allows many populations to live decently.

Biotechnology

Figure 5: Biotechnological pathway issues table

The biochemical production method has two disadvantages: the use of land for substrate cultivation and the relocation of some production plants in Europe. This last point must be nuanced, however, since the competitive situation with other production methods is not yet important. Finally, the extraction method is gentle since it uses little energy and no polluting organic solvents. It has been estimated that fermenters consume up to 30% less energy than a chemical process for the same production (Curran et al., 1989) and pervaporation consume up to 40% less energy than a classical distillation system (Castel et al., 2020).

Conclusions to be drawn

To conclude, from the main raised issues, the biotechnological processes seem to be more promising and more environmentally friendly than the other two production methods. We now need to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of our project to know how to become part of the fragrance market.

Our proof of concept in response to market needs

Market analysis: SWOT

The SWOT is a business strategy tool that allows us to have an objective vision of our project. It aims to specify the aim of the company or project and to identify the internal and external factors that are favorable or unfavorable to achieve these objectives. We also used a PESTEL analysis to determine the macro-environmental factors (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal factors).

What are the market needs? Our strengths, our weaknesses? The opportunities and risks linked to the fragrance market and biotechnologies?

Figure 6: SWOT
References: (“Cosmétiques bio et naturels,” n.d.), (Businesscoot, n.d.), (“Les organismes génétiquement modifiés (OGM),” 2021), (“Marketing in the fragrance industry | Ivory Research,” 2019), (“Synthetic Biology Market - Global Forecast to 2026 | MarketsandMarkets,” n.d.)

Conclusion

One of the major strengths of our proof of concept is that it allows us to respond to the major challenges of the ecological transition. The process and the relocation of some productions contribute to the reduction of the carbon impact. In addition, this co-culture would make it possible to mitigate the scarcity of resources (absence of petroleum-based molecules and reduction in the quantity of water used). It would also contribute to reducing the loss of biodiversity caused by the intensive cultivation of plants used in perfumery.

Our project is clearly innovative in the perfume market. Fragrances are everywhere in our daily products. The perfume market has been huge and stable for years. The market for synthetic biology is growing steadily, yet biotechnology is still only marginally exploited in the fragrance industry.

The analysis of the demand and the socio-cultural movements show a will to turn more and more towards naturalness. In addition, industrialists have confirmed a pressing need for silent flowers from which it is impossible to extract their fragrance naturally. The project therefore seems promising to meet their needs but also the needs of consumers.

Our process could also be included in the legislation widely used for ingredients. However, some certifications such as COSMOS are more demanding on GMO products. It is possible that our final product will not fit into all existing certifications today and that legislation will evolve in this regard.

The increased interest in synthetic biology, particularly since COVID-19, is also a factor in our favor. Governments are promoting it and new resources are being put in place. One of the greatest challenges will be to educate the population about synthetic biology and to deconstruct preconceived ideas about GMOs to meet societal challenges. You can see how we met this challenge in our human practices page.

References

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Curran, J.S., Smith, J., Holms, W., 1989. Heat-and-Power in Industrial Fermentation processes. Applied Energy. https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-2619(89)90051-2

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