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What does it mean for Iberchem to have participated and to be a member of the Steering Committee of one of the most important events in the fragrance and perfumery industry, the Barcelona Perfumery Congress?
Guillaume Audy, Director of Communication and Sustainability at Iberchem (hereinafter, GA): On the one hand, Iberchem has participated in the congress since its inception and it has been very satisfying to see how it has grown every year. We are very motivated to be part of the growth of an initiative that generates more and more enthusiasm in the national and international industry.
On the other hand, Spain, as the second largest exporter of perfumes in the world, and Iberchem, as one of the main Spanish fragrance companies, we convey the importance of our country for perfumery worldwide. Therefore, we consider it relevant to join the Steering Committee of the Barcelona Perfumery Congress, to take advantage of our international presence and provide greater visibility to the event.
- What is Iberchem's use and what do you find most enriching about this event?
GA: Its focus on the dissemination of innovation. By bringing together a large number of industry professionals through the conference format and, for the first time, offering a space for dialogue with customers and the general public, it gave us the opportunity to give greater visibility to our advances in new sustainable fragrance technologies.
In recent years Iberchem has consolidated its importance around innovation in the fragrance sector by being the second company worldwide to develop a biodegradable microencapsulation technology, which it has launched as Vernovacaps; as well as the recent launches of its biodegradable odour neutralisation technology, Vernovapure and the IB-BI and Wavemotion research programmes, focused on the study of the biodegradability and neuroscience of fragrances, respectively.
- What has it meant for the company to also win the Barcelona Perfumery Awards for the best sustainable initiative? Could you tell us about the IB-BI Biodegradability programme? How do you value this recognition?
GA: The area of biodegradability is an area to which we dedicate a lot of effort and resources at Iberchem, so we are very happy.
This award is a recognition of our continuous effort together with Croda to develop more and more new sustainable solutions within the industry. It also demonstrates Iberchem's ability to be agile and respond more and more quickly to the demands of our customers, who are looking for biodegradable solutions.
- What does the Spanish industry contribute to the global fragrance market? What is the differential value? How would you describe the current landscape of the perfume industry in Spain?
GA: A lot, both in terms of creation, innovation and raw materials. We have great talent at national level, which in turn generates a high demand for our professionals abroad. This has especially contributed to our positioning as one of the world powers in perfumery.
Specifically, on a national level, and also in the last year, the entire Spanish fragrance industry has played a very important role in achieving the exclusion of essential oils from the list of chemical substances proposed by the revision of the new European CLP regulation.
- What are the biggest challenges facing the perfume industry in Spain today?
GA: Last week I attended the IFRA annual congress and when talking about the future of the industry, I realised that many of the challenges we face will be related to sustainability. New consumer demands, new regulations, climate changes that affect the cultivation of natural raw materials... For this reason, at Iberchem we have been working for some time now to quickly offer alternatives to market demands and to lead the energy and sustainable transition of the industry.
- After almost 40 years in business, what has been Iberchem's biggest milestone and what is the secret to its success in the industry?
GA: Our biggest milestone is undoubtedly our continued double-digit growth. Our figures are improving every year above the industry average and this has allowed us to stand out for years. Our secret lies in our speed to respond to market demands, while offering fragrances at a fair price, thanks to an agile and efficient business model where every investment benefits our customers.
- What importance does Iberchem attach to innovation in knowledge and adaptation to trends in the perfumery and fragrance sector?
GA: I don't like to use the word trend because it has an ephemeral character. Trends come and go. For example, we have not developed our own sustainability plan because it is a "trend", but because we believe that this will allow us to have a responsible and productive business that protects our environment, brings benefits to society and connects with the end consumer.
When it comes to innovation, our aim is that our fragrances can always offer added value and therefore support the success of our customers and their products in the market.
- What can you tell us about the Wavemotion initiative that we don't already know?
Vasco Fontes, Neuroscience Technician at Iberchem's New Technologies Department (hereafter, VF): The purpose of Wavemotion is to study the emotions that are related to fragrances, but this can be achieved in several ways.
During the congress, for example, we conducted an experiment in which our aim was to analyse how the responses of a group of people would cluster in relation to the emotions they associated with four different fragrances. The results were relevant not only to understand what emotions they might elicit, but also to analyse how dispersed or clustered some of the responses were.
Our aim with Wavemotion is to be able to apply this technology to the development of fragrances for all types of products, especially functional fragrances and fine perfumery. During the development and testing of the scientific study, industry-specific needs and regional customer preferences will be taken into account.
- How can neuroscience help us understand emotions and their relationship with fragrances? And how does Wavemotion help us to get to know the customer?
VF: Neuroscience, in a broad sense, is the science that studies the nervous system and how it influences our behaviour. Specifically, for the fragrance industry, it allows us to study olfactory perception, i.e. how the brain responds to smells and why they are associated with certain emotions.
The market for functional fragrances has become increasingly demanding, with customers demanding new products that have a positive impact on their well-being. Therefore, Wavemotion will allow us to predict consumer behaviour in response to different scent stimuli, and thus expand our portfolio of fragrances with emotional attributes, based on scientific evidence.
- What do you see in the future of perfumery and fragrances?
GA: In the last ten years there has been a clear acceleration of change and I believe that in the future the landscape will continue to change a lot. New ingredients, ingredients that are going to disappear, new digital tools such as Kemchain is already proposing, more demand for sustainable solutions....
Looking to the future, I also believe that the end customer will develop a greater interest in our industry, its different players, and the sense of smell in general. Many are still unaware of the figure of the perfumer, but there is an increasing attendance, for example, of influencers and end customers at trade fairs, who are interested in learning about the technical aspects and the design of the scent of a fragrance.