Grasse is a town of 51,000 on the French Riviera, in the hills north of Cannes. It’s known for its long-established perfume industry, and is the centre of the French perfume industry and alsoç known as the world’s perfume capital. Large perfumeries such as Fragonard, Molinard and Gallimard offer free tours so we dropped in on the largest one, Fragonard, and enjoyed learning all about the industry and seeing how they make perfume and scented soaps. Wow, there’s a lot more to it than one would think. The symbol of Provence, lavender, is Fragonard’s 2019 signature scent. The factory smells amazing! A couple of interesting facts: 70% of the working population of Grasse is involved in the perfume industry and a master perfume maker studies 10 years before they graduate but few actually « make it » in this business. A master generally will get hired by one of the big perfume houses at age 40-50 and will work into their 80s. This is big business and France supplies more perfume to the world than any other country by a margin of 5:1. Perfume profit margin can be up to 90%! The liquid in the bottle is only 3% of the price, and only 20% is perfume oils with the rest of the liquid being the alcohol in which it is dissolved and a trace of water. The rest of the price goes into the packaging, overhead costs and mostly into marketing. So if you pay $170 for your favourite Chanel, Dior or Yves Saint Laurent fragrance, you will only get a liquid that is worth $5!
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