11.17.22
Fifty fragrance industry stakeholders attended the fourth annual Global Fragrance Summit – the first to be held in Latin America in São Paulo, Brazil— on Nov. 8-10.
Under the headline of the Scent of Change, the Summit examined innovation, biodiversity and sustainability and what the sector can do to continuously respond to consumers’ needs for health, hygiene and well-being.
“The fragrance industry has a mission”, said Hans Holger Gliewe, chairman of the International Fragrance Association (IFRA). “That is to promote the safe and sustainable use of fragrances. Over the past few days, we have seen and heard about what the industry is doing to advance science-based policy making and evolve its sustainability framework.”
Over three days 150 physical and online guests explored topics such as the IFRA Standards, sustainability, microplastics, the place of business in biodiversity, innovation trends shaping the industry, and more. The Summit concluded with a visit to Brazilian cosmetics and fragrance producer Natura & Co. and a masterclass on the art of sustainable perfumery.
“I am delighted we were able to bring fragrance industry stakeholders together in Latin America to discuss key issues and shape solutions through collective initiatives”, said Martina Bianchini, president of IFRA. “The Global Fragrance Summit serves as an important opportunity for the sector and its value chain partners to leverage shared expertise and reflect upon the success of common initiatives.”
The discussions held at the Global Fragrance Summit this year are particularly timely in light of moves by regulators around the world that could severely restrict the use of a very large proportion of synthetic and natural ingredients. Many of these natural fragrance ingredients have been in use for hundreds of years and are fundamental to consumer enjoyment. These restrictions or prohibitions would impact the creation of thousands of formulations.
“Policy makers must be cognizant of the unintended consequences which the proposed regulatory changes could mean to a sector such as ours”, said Gliewe after the event. “We want ambitious but workable rules for our sector. We work in close collaboration with all involved stakeholders. The participation at the Summit of leading sustainability organizations, such as UNEP and WWF, shows the importance of this cooperation”.
IFRA is committed to safety, sustainability and industry innovation. The Global Fragrance Summit demonstrated the industry’s ambition to collaborate with stakeholders upstream and downstream in the fragrance value chain. This cooperation will help us get fit for the future, leverage existing collective initiatives, and develop new alliances and partnerships.