Swiss flavor and fragrance company Givaudan celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Givaudan Perfumery School at an event yesterday held at the site of the school in Argenteuil, outside of Paris. Hosted by Calice Becker, Master Perfumer and Director of the Givaudan Perfumery School, the event was attended by several generations of perfumers.
Some 28 perfumers from different graduating classes entered the School’s Hall of Fame for creating fragrances that have had a lasting impact on the industry. Their portraits and creations were presented at the event along with those of 33 former students who are now perfumers at Givaudan.
Speeches were made by Édouard Fléchier, Perfumer; Beat Studinger, Head of Global Perfumery at Givaudan; Gilles Andrier, Chairman of the board of directors at Givaudan; Christian Stammkoetter, CEO of Givaudan; Maurizio Volpi, Head of Fragrance and Beauty at Givaudan; Natalie Cetto, Perfumer; and Calice Becker, Master Perfumer and Director of the Givaudan Perfumery School.
Gilles Andrier said: “The perfumery school is there to combine tradition – the tradition of teaching and heritage – with a world that is changing very quickly, with new technologies and a customer landscape that is shifting dramatically. This is the role of the perfumery school: to bring together tradition and the passing down of knowledge with the need to adapt and continue to thrive in the years to come.”
Andrier reflected on a time when perfumers received very few briefs compared to now, with current perfumers having to meet sales targets and the constant demand for new launches.
Christian Stammkoetter said: “What is critical is not just looking at the past, but bringing up the talent that will drive the future of Givaudan. Fragrance always starts with the perfumer. Every fragrance, every consumer experience is the creation of extraordinary talent, of your imagination, your passion and the design to create something truly different. I am very honored to lead a company that continues to nurture this passion, that is committed to creating new talents, new perfumers, as well as leveraging all the wisdom of the perfumers that we have to bring up the next generation, because as industry leaders we know that the future of perfumery depends on our ability to identify the next talent, the next generation of perfumers.”
He added: “Technology is going to change the world in which we live. But I’m convinced that creation, and particularly the creation of perfume, will always stay deeply human because the creation of a perfume is not linear. If it is not linear, it is difficult to do that through algorithms, unless we want to all smell the same. The human creation of perfumery will be critical: the imagination, the inspiration, but above all, the courage to try new things, to create things that the world hasn’t seen before – and sometimes that comes with risk tasking.”
Maurizio Volpi welcomed the class of 2026 to the school, comprising 10 students from around the world.
