Perfume Industry

The perfume industry manufactures and sells fragrance products made from mixtures of aromatic essential oils, synthetic aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents, most often sold in liquid form to give the body, objects, and living spaces an agreeable scent. Modern perfumery depends heavily on a small number of specialist chemical suppliers, with Givaudan, International Flavors and Fragrances, Firmenich, Robertet, Takasago, and Symrise together dominating the global production of synthetic aromatic compounds and each patenting new synthesis processes every year. France and Italy remain long-standing centers of perfume design and commercial fragrance production, with the Grasse region of southern France especially significant to the industry's history and present-day operations. Alongside synthetic ingredients, natural extracts drawn from flowers, woods, and animal sources continue to play an important role in fine fragrance composition.