Imagine being paid to discover the world... The idea is dreamy, isn't it? But before you picture influencers doing infomercials in Dubai, rest assured that we're talking about a real job. We're talking about a real job, that of a perfumery source, which is little known to the general public and which has certainly played a role in the perfume you wear today.
The main mission of a sourcer is to travel the world in search of new raw materials, which will then be used in your perfumes or cosmetics in the form of essential oils. Because yes, every year, the major players in the perfume industry add new raw materials to the perfumers' palette, in order to widen the field of possibilities!
To explain to you how the job of a source works, we went to Mira, a brand of natural oils whose founders make a point of honour of the quality of the raw materials and their traceability.
The job of a source: travel, travel
Let's start at the beginning: what do the sourceurs, these modern-day Marco Polos, really do?
As Stéphane Piquart, a famous raw material scout, explains, the mission of a sourceur is both to search for new natural ingredients all over the world, but also tostudy plants that are already known to find other ways of cultivating and using them. The journey is often made with local guides, sometimes in very remote areas, by 4x4, on foot, on horseback...
If this job sounds like a dream on paper, it is not only about venturing into the wilderness like Indiana Jones, against a backdrop of breathtaking landscapes. The perfumery sourcer also has a share of environmental, economic and ethical responsibility in order to offer a sustainable raw material to his customers, who are very varied.
The clients of a source can be :
- The major perfume brands, who are looking for rare ingredients to create their fragrances
- Fragrance houses: These are the players who create fragrances for brands that do not have an in-house perfumer (the vast majority of fragrance brands). Finding rare scents allows them in turn to gain customers among perfume brands.
- Smaller players in the fragrance industry - which is rarer when you know the cost of sourcing a raw material (spoiler: it's more than six figures).
Clearly, the sourceur's clients are all those who wish to find new suppliers of raw materials throughout the world in order to use them in their cosmetics (perfumes, creams, oils, etc.). There is often a real competitive issue behind this search for new ingredients: being the only one to claim the use of such and such a material, with such and such a benefit, guarantees a long-term competitive advantage...
How many of these odour adventurers are there? It's impossible to know for sure, but their number is probably very small - if we had to take the bet, we'd say about a hundred at the most. Perfumery sourcing is a demanding profession, and the market operates in a closed circle, organised around a few very large client companies.
Sourcing for the long term
Sourcing raw materials is much more complex than you think. It is not enough to find a new plant, introduce it to the perfume industry and let them manage the rest.
Before venturing into anything, the source must be sure that the new plant will be sustainable, i.e. that the client will be able to produce and harvest a significant amount of the plant for years to come without disrupting the livelihoods of local people or the environment around them.
Investing in a new raw material requires an average investment of 120,000 to 150,000 euros, just to register it in the markets where it will be used. It is therefore essential to go to the site to set up the partnership: to communicate and negotiate with local producers to establish the terms of an agreement that respects the environment and human beings, and that ensures that the composition houses have an optimal quantity and quality of raw materials over several years. This is not an easy task, especially when local populations are entirely dependent on these crops for their economic development.
Mira, ethical sourcing between France and Madagascar
At Mira, which produces vegetable oils, ethical sourcing is at the heart of the approach! The three founders, Juliette, Dorian and Andy, source from 30 partners in Madagascar and France, two countries they know very well. They therefore like to travel at least once a year to the sourcing location, to see the production with their own eyes and make sure that the quality of the oil is optimal. " Quality is very important to us," says Dorian, "and we are willing to pay more for a better product. That's the message we try to get across to producers to encourage virtuous practices. To ensure quality, Mira avoids wholesalers and checks that the raw material chosen always comes from the same village: this allows them to be 100% certain of the traceability of the production vis-à-vis their customers.
This is all the more important as sourcing is not spared from grey market and deceptive practices... For example, a classic fraud in perfumery is to"cut an essential oil", i.e. to sell an oil that is not pure, by mixing it with other oils of different origins and of lesser quality. For example, cutting rose with a little geranium, which is less expensive, allows the manufacturer to lower costs while remaining unnoticed... When it is not a question of mixing with synthetic ingredients. In short, traceability is essential to avoid these problems.
Backpack, backpack
What do you think the sourcer's gear is when he goes hunting for rare ingredients?
If you think of yourself as a sort of perfumery Indiana Jones, well... you're right. The backpack contains all the equipment needed to discover and analyse the raw materials, i.e. :
- A headspace. So far it doesn't sound familiar - and that's normal. The headspace is a recent technology: it is a kind of pump connected to a glass bubble, allowing to encapsulate the smell of a flower without damaging it or uprooting it, in order to study it afterwards. To put it simply: the originator places the bubble around the flower in question, as in the photo below, and the machine analyses the composition of the air around the plant to identify the molecules that make up its scent. The result is the exact odour profile of the flower... Ingenious, isn't it? It is by this same technique that the smell of flowers or mute plants such as lilac, violet, etc. is reproduced by synthesis. These are flowers that give off a sublime scent in nature, but whose distillation is impossible for technical or economic reasons.
- A still. If you are a lover of perfume or very good spirits, you have certainly already heard of this object. It is simply the device used to transform a raw material into essential oil thanks to the principle of steam distillation. The material to be transformed (leaves, flowers, spices, roots, etc.) is heated on the spot in boiling water, the steam that escapes is collected and cooled to condense it into a highly perfumed oil. Even if there are small models to be used directly in the field, distilling in the middle of the forest is not easy and the sourceurs often rely on local producers who have larger stills.
In search of the lost oil
When we told you to imagine Indiana Jones, we weren't entirely wrong. Looking for raw oils or original and sustainable raw materials is a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack (which is, by the way, a very beautiful raw material for perfumery... a thought for the first person who distilled it). And yet, this is the daily life of sourceurs like Stéphane Piquart or entrepreneurs like the founders of Mira.
For example, to find Elemi (the one you can find in our our perfume Bataille), the resin of a 30-meter-high tree that gives off a magnificent scent reminiscent of pepper and incense, Stéphane had to set off on an expedition accompanied by a guide into the Madagascan forest for several days. This adventure was carried out in collaboration with the NGO Cœur de Forêt, which ensures that the trees are respected when their resin is harvested. The result: a long-term, equitable partnership, with around 500 kg of material purchased each year.
At Mira, shipments are much calmer - phew - even if finding exclusively French or Malagasy suppliers is a real constraint. Try to find a prickly pear producer in Madagascar when it comes from Morocco... When the quest becomes really impossible, the solution is to produce it yourself. This is what Mira has chosen to do for her carrot oil. As she couldn't find any good quality carrot oil at a reasonable price in France, Mira created her own oil by sourcing "ugly" carrots (meaning not perfect carrots) that farmers couldn't sell on the markets. That's how you do quality and sustainable development at the same time...
Now you know all about sourcing! So, are you ready to go on an adventure to unearth unknown scents? If you prefer the comfort of your couch, here are some tips for testing Mira's great ingredients:
Mira's tailor-made tips
- For those of you who wear make-up, you must have already tried dozens of make-up removers: biphasic or not, in the form of oil, milk or cream. Forget everything and opt for pure and natural oils. Mira recommends coconut oil, jojoba oil or avocado oil.
- The sunny days are back and you've taken on a few colours... maybe a little too many? Don't panic: to soothe it all, Mira advises applying Moringa oil locally to dry, clean skin 2 or 3 times a day.
- Gentlemen, if you've always dreamed of having a perfect beard, opt for a mixture of castor oil with a few drops of ylang-ylang essential oil. A perfect combo to promote the growth and suppleness of your beard.
- And for silky hair, use jojoba oil. This dry oil can be applied to all lengths without leaving a greasy finish. Isn't that nice?
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Photos: Nick Prideaux, Andrés Medina, Inconnus
Source: The Fragrance Foundation France
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