Unilever Invests 100 Million Euros to Develop AI-powered R&D Business for Fragrance

LONDON — Unilever has become the latest consumer giant to rethink its fragrance business, with plans to take research and development in-house, and press new AI capabilities into action.

The consumer giant, parent of brands including Dove, Pond’s and Axe, said it plans to invest 100 million euros to “scale up” the fragrance design and creation capabilities across its global portfolio, part of a strategy to accelerate growth and increase productivity.

Unilever said the move will give it greater control over the “design and refinement” of fragrances that go into products such as shower creams, deodorants and laundry detergents.

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The company usually partners with international fragrance houses to create its scents, but from now on it will be pursuing a “hybrid model,” where in-house staff will work alongside those third-party suppliers.

Unilever said its in-house teams will be involved in “every step of innovation,” as they formulate fragrances to suit products. The company said it plans to rely as much as possible on its own scientific expertise in areas such as neuroscience, AI and digital product development.

It will continue to work with existing partners “to help deliver consistent and affordable” products across its brands more quickly.

Richard Slater, chief R&D officer at Unilever, said the aim of the investment is to build a “leading-edge fragrance house.”

Slater added that the initiative will enable Unilever not only to create and develop its own fragrances, but also to recruit expert perfumers and leverage new capabilities including digital technology and AI, “enhancing the overall experience” for the end-customer.

The new fragrance house, he added, will operate “at the intersection” of science and innovation.

“We use neuroscience techniques to understand how fragrances can impact mood and measurably improve emotional well-being — for example, confidence — ensuring our products not only meet but also exceed consumer expectations,” he said.

He added that growing Unilever’s in-house capability will give the company “the agility to identify and respond to fragrance trends, moving swiftly through product creation, formulation, design, manufacturing and launching to market.”

Unilever has already started to hire expert perfumers across the U.K., U.S. and India and plans to grow its global team to focus on AI-driven fragrance creation, fragrance evaluation, measurement, testing and data analytics.

Last month Mathieu Lenoir was named director of Unilever’s Global Creative Center for Fragrance. He has worked in the fragrance world for more than 30 years, including roles at several leading perfume houses.

“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,” Lenoir said.

In a report on Monday, Jefferies said it understood Unilever’s rationale for the investment, noting that AI has helped to reduce the barriers to entry in fragrance creation.

He added that AI should work well for the sort of fragrances that Unilever is creating.

“An apple-scented floor cleaner is less sophisticated than a fine fragrance while cost considerations are paramount,” said Jefferies, adding there is limited marketing value in having a master perfumer attached to a Unilever product launch.

The bank added that, in some ways “it could be argued that Unilever is merely catching up to its peers,” which are already pressing AI into action to develop fragrances for consumer products.

Unilever sold its flavor and fragrance business, Quest, to Givaudan in 2005, and has not had a dedicated in-house R&D team since then.

Unilever isn’t the only consumer giant looking to AI to develop fragrances for beauty, hair and household products.

At L’Oréal, AI is being used to develop hair color shades. L’Oréal’s in-house specialists also develop made-to-measure AI tools for researchers, such as technology crafted to develop inclusive lipstick colors for the group’s upcoming lines. 

The Estée Lauder Cos. uses AI in a wide variety of ways, including predicting formula stability in a matter of days, a significant improvement over the six-month process without the technology. Leveraging in-vitro data, Lauder is further able to suss out the potential numeric level of an SPF.

IFF, meanwhile, uses a proprietary tool called the IFF Scentcube, which analyzes data using AI technology. IFF worked with the Scentcube and AI to develop Charlotte Tilbury’s debut fragrance collection of neuroscents, which launched earlier this year.

Unilever’s decision to invest millions to scale up fragrance R&D is also part of a wider trend of brands flexing their in-house talent to win market share.

As reported, Interparfums SA will launch a proprietary fragrance brand called Solférino by the end of next year. It will comprise 10 premium fragrances.

Earlier this year, Coty Inc. introduced Infiniement Coty Paris, a prestige niche collection of 14 scents bridging the company’s past and present in the world of perfumes.

The private-label strategy not only shines a spotlight on a fragrance-maker’s knowhow, but also allows it to launch into the hot premium segment, which has swiftly been moving the needle in fragrance.