Winter Fragrance Trends Stay On the Sporty and Spicy Track

27 July 1998 00:00  [Source: ICB Americas]

By Peter Landau

Sporty and spicy scents will be the favorites in the coming season, according to the Fragrance Foundation's trends report for next fall and winter. Bergamot, orange, lemon and mandarin with spicy elements are the fragrances that will dominate. The foundation praises these "calming, uplifting, fresh" scents and cites their ability to rejuvenate and calm the senses.

Last year, sporty and competitive fragrances, underlining the free-spirited lifestyles of modern women, emerged as the fastest growing scents. This year, they have overtaken the pack and appear to be firming their lead throughout the industry.

The foundation's new report champions the use of European scents, "refreshing blends of citrus, herbs and rich aromatics." These scents "add a modern sparkle," and are considered long-lasting, brisk and clean.

The emphasis for the new season is on creating personal scents. "Women will use fragrance to define their own space and signature," the report says.

The industry will also develop scents for specific locales. Fruity fragrances will be created for the tropics, aromatic notes will be emphasized in mountain regions and oriental scents will denote the Far East.

Sunscreens are popular, but heavy perfumes will be phased out in favor of more sophisticated fragrances. Sun-safe versions of current fragrances will replace the old scents. However, fragrance will be forced to do more than merely smell nice. Dual benefits, such as moisturization, are being stressed as the market becomes more competitive.

American men will use more fragrances without being aware of it. Scents will be added to products besides colognes and aftershaves. Moisturizers, shaving gels and sunscreens will be increasingly scented.

Candle fragrances are another major market that has not yet reached its peak. These scents are becoming more complex and providing better performance. Potpourri and scent sachets are also being emphasized. They will be "singular and diffusive," ranging from invigorating to calming.

An Olfactory Research Fund study by Indiana University and the Kinsey Institute for Sex, Gender and Reproduction says men's cologne can excite women sexually. "This study signifies the need to develop an entirely new specialty, the sexology of fragrance," says Avery Gilbert, the fund's scientific affairs director. The full results of the report will be published shortly.

The World Wide Web offers opportunities for the fragrance industry. "The Internet will start to play a part, with the free samples available after filling out a profile," the Fragrance Foundation says. There will also be Internet tie-ins to direct mail.

FRAGRANCE COUNTER, an on-line fragrance retailer, announced that traffic for its second quarter has quadrupled in comparison to traffic for the second quarter of 1997.

Last year the Web site received approximately 150,000 hits during its second quarter. This year that number, for the same period, exploded to 600,000. The majority of those users clicked onto the site during the latter half (May and June) of the quarter.

"The May-June period is significant because it directly follows Fragrance Counter's exclusive agreements with the major 'portal' sites--Yahoo!, Excite and Lycos--all of which became effective in the second half of May," says Eli Katz, senior vice-president and general manager, Fragrance Counter.

Nearly two-thirds of the estimated 41.5 million Web users pass through at least one of these three major portals. Growth is expected to continue, as Fragrance Counter has secured an agreement with America OnLine to become the servers' exclusive seller of fragrances.

H&R FLORASYNTH is introducing a new product line called Classic Flavors. The company says the high-impact flavors are extremely cost-efficient because only functional ingredients are used.

"Improved analysis technology, combined with sensory profiling, provides a better picture of those flavor components which are truly functional," says Mark Bento, the company's director of marketing for fillings, sweet goods and dairy. He adds that the removal of non-functional ingredients yields a cleaner flavor profile.

The characteristic flavors work in a variety of products, including confections, cereals and baked goods. Classic Flavors are both natural and artificial. They are available as either water- or oil-soluble liquids and come in strawberry, pineapple, apple, banana, blueberry or grape.

QUALITY BOTANICAL Ingredients Inc. (QBI) has appointed Anna Zielonka as its eastern sales manager. Ms. Zie-lonka was previously employed by Watson Foods Company. QBI has also installed a 225-cubic-foot Scott Batch Mixer that can mix up to 8,000 pounds at one time. The mixer decreases turn-around time and expands QBI's custom blending capabilities from single batches as small as 100 kilos to ones as large as 2 tons.

TAKASAGO INTERNATIONAL Corporation has appointed Teresa C. Pendergast as manager for sensory evaluation. Ms. Pendergast will report directly to Raymond Honey, senior vice-president of the flavor division of Takasago (USA). Ms. Pendergast has established a sensory evaluations department responsible for sensory panels, consumer testing and training panelists. In addition, she is creating and will maintain a flavor library database.

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