Unilever invests to build world-class fragrance expertise in-house

We’re investing €100 million to scale up Unilever’s fragrance design and creation capabilities across our global portfolio.

This supports our strategy to accelerate growth and increase productivity by allowing Unilever to gain greater control of the design and refinement of our fragrances, a key component of product formulation and consumer preference.

Creating Unilever’s own fragrance house

Fragrance forms a vital part of many Unilever products, from indulgent shower creams to invigorating deodorants and the satisfying scents that our brands leave on freshly washed laundry.

Blending science and art, the perfumers behind these signature scents skilfully combine aromatic ingredients from a palette of as many as 1,000 possible raw ingredients to create a unique fragrance formula.

Historically, we’ve partnered with fragrance houses around the world to create the scents that consumers know and love. Such partnerships remain important to us as we move to grow our capabilities in-house which will see Unilever transition to a hybrid model, where our digitally enabled teams are involved in every step of innovation, formulating fragrances that fit perfectly with our products.

We’ll combine our own scientific expertise in areas such as neuroscience, AI and digital product development with existing strategic partnerships, to help deliver consistent and affordable product superiority across our brands more quickly.

Acting on trends and exceeding consumer expectations

“We are thrilled to announce a €100 million investment to build a leading-edge fragrance house at Unilever. This initiative will enable us to create and develop our own fragrances, as well as continue to work closely with our important existing partners in the industry,” says Richard Slater, Chief R&D Officer at Unilever.

“By recruiting expert perfumers and leveraging new capabilities including digital technology and AI, we will help drive unmissable brand superiority in line with Unilever’s Growth Action Plan, developing fragrances that consumers love and enhancing the overall experience of our products,” Richard adds.

Our new fragrance house, powered by the latest digital and AI technologies, will operate at the intersection of science and innovation. We use neuroscience techniques to understand how fragrances can impact mood and measurably improve emotional wellbeing, for example confidence, ensuring our products not only meet but also exceed consumer expectations.

Growing our in-house capability will also give Unilever the agility to identify and respond to fragrance trends, moving swiftly through product creation, formulation, design, manufacturing and launching to market.

Building a team of fragrance specialists

We have already started to hire expert perfumers across the UK, US and India and will grow our global team to focus on fragrance creation, fragrance evaluation, measurement, testing and data analytics.

In October 2024, Mathieu Lenoir was appointed Unilever’s Global Creative Centre Director for Fragrance, after working in the fragrance world for more than 30 years, including roles at several leading perfume houses.

“I look forward to being part of Unilever’s fragrance transformation journey,” Mathieu says.

“My dream, as a perfumer, has always been to be as close as possible to the consumer and I feel Unilever is the best place to transform this dream into reality.”