“Why do even cleaning products smell like a field of flowers?”

No one really gives it much thought, yet it is extremely powerful – our sense of smell can bring back memories, change our mood, and even influence our perception. One of the most famous examples is how the scent of linden tea instantaneously transported the protagonist of Marcel Proust’s international bestseller In Search of Lost Time back to the places of his childhood. 

Beyond nostalgia, scents influence our emotions and behavior. Lavender, for example, soothes a restless mind, while tangy citrus notes convey a feeling of freshness and cleanliness. Advertising has long since recognized this connection and uses fragrances to create environments that stimulate us to take certain actions via our emotions. Fragrances are also closely intertwined with cultural and social norms. The perfume industry is a billion-dollar business, and perfume experts take this complexity of our senses into consideration. Each perfume is a carefully balanced blend of numerous aroma compounds, often consisting of dozens of ingredients, in order to achieve a specific scent profile.

We’re proud to supply the industry with key fragrance components that contribute to these complex blends. We offer cinnamon, citrus, floral, almond, and peach aromas under the brand names Kalama® and Purolan®. All of them are nature identical. This means that at the molecular level, the substances do not differ from the fragrances found in plants. The cinnamaldehyde molecule in Kalama®, for example, is identical to the molecule found in the bark of the cinnamon tree. Synthetic production improved fragrance performance, quality stability, delivery predictability, and mass availability. Only then did it become possible to make fragrances available to the general public via mass-produced goods such as cleaning agents.

Using the mass balance approach, Flavors & Fragrances business unit now produces a sustainable alternative to all its products based on renewable raw materials and green energy. In this way, we are demonstrating our responsibility for the environment and supporting our customers in their efforts to offer sustainable products.

The scents of cleaning products also vary around the world. In Southern Europe, for example, they usually smell like citrus fruits, which hearkens back to the days when people used to clean with water, sodium carbonate, and lemon juice. Northern Europeans, on the other hand, prefer more floral fragrances. These often serve two functions: they make the product more attractive and mask the strong chemical odors of some products. In addition, the scent of fresh pine, for example, conveys a feeling of cleanliness – even without actually cleaning anything...

In summary, fragrances are not mere side effects, but powerful tools that influence our emotions, memories, and behavior. They leave a lasting impression that remains in our memory. This is one of the reasons why we’re conducting research around the world on new ingredients that will enable fragrance manufacturers to create scents that they have never known before.