22 November 2022
The fact that L’Oréal recently acquired a minority interest in the young high-end perfume Chinese brand Documents (闻献) confirms the growing interest in this developing category on the Chinese market. In late 2021, Puig took a stake in Scent Library (气味图书馆) and Firmenich signed a strategic partnership with Harmay (话梅), a new retail brand. The objective is to “support the development of new perfume brands, new concepts, new experiences, and new models”. Then, last June, Firmenich signed another strategic partnership with Scentrealm (气味王国), a digital technology company related to perfumes.
欧莱雅最近收购了中国年轻高端香水品牌Documents（闻献）的少数股权，这一事实证实了中国市场对这一发展迅速的品类的兴趣日益增加。2021年底，Puig投资了Scent Library（气味图书馆），而芬美意（Firmenich）则与新兴零售品牌Harmay（话梅）签署了战略合作伙伴关系。其目标是“支持新香水品牌、新概念、新体验和新模式的发展”。随后，去年6月，芬美意又与香水相关的数字技术公司Scentrealm（气味王国）签署了另一项战略合作伙伴关系。
L’Oréal chose Documents, but other young companies like To Summer (观夏) or Beast (野兽派) are also very active on the Chinese perfume market. “These two companies have been growing very fast, in particular To Summer, whose growth is phenomenal! Their investors have enough funds to finance their development, so for now, they are not considering selling their shares”, explains David Huang (黄赣军), nose and Technical Director of a creative team of 12 people at Robertet China, the subsidiary of the French company specialized in natural aromatic products that opened a plant in 2007 in Huairou, in the suburbs of Beijing, for 65 million yuans. The company has kept investing since then, almost twice more, says David Huang, who was born in the Henan province and formed the ISIPCA School in Versailles, France.
欧莱雅选择了Documents，但其他年轻公司如To Summer（观夏）或Beast（野兽派）也在中国香水市场上非常活跃。“这两家公司增长非常迅速，特别是To Summer，其增长现象级！他们的投资者有足够的资金来支持他们的发展，所以目前他们不考虑出售股份，”罗伯特香精中国公司的创意团队鼻子和技术总监David Huang（黄赣军）解释说。这家法国公司的子公司专注于天然芳香产品，于2007年在北京郊区的怀柔区投资6500万元人民币建立了一家工厂。自那时以来，该公司一直在投资，几乎是之前的两倍，David Huang说，他出生于河南省，并在法国凡尔赛的ISIPCA学校接受培训。
The renewal of a thousand-year-old tradition
千年传统的复兴
To him, the communication between China and the other countries in the field of scents boosts the rebirth of the perfume culture. Indeed, if it was flourishing until the 13th century, it disappeared during the turmoil that buried part of the Chinese heritage. The first traces date back to more than two thousand years ago, when rose and jasmine fragrances were introduced by the Arabs. Then, China developed local scents, like osmanthus incense, whose olfactory signature has kept changing over the centuries.
在他看来，中国与其他国家在香味领域的交流促进了香水文化的复兴。事实上，尽管它在13世纪之前一直在蓬勃发展，但在埋葬了中国部分遗产的动荡中消失了。最早的痕迹可以追溯到两千多年前，当时阿拉伯人引入了玫瑰和茉莉的香味。然后，中国发展了当地的香味，如桂花香，其香味特征在几个世纪里一直在变化。
According to David Huang, the Chinese uniqueness is gaining ground again in the world of perfumes. The Chinese culture has a tremendous influence on perfumers, who choose plants like tea, osmanthus, and bamboo as a source of inspiration. For example, he has just created the fragrance Hangzhou Sweet for To Summer, using osmanthus, mung bean, and longjing green tea. Recently, on the dynamic segment of home perfumes, Beast collaborated with luxury hotel Capella Shanghai to launch a line called Santal Trouble, with a sandalwood trail.
根据David Huang的说法，中国独特的香水风格正在全球香水界重新获得地位。中国文化对调香师产生了巨大的影响，他们选择茶叶、桂花和竹子等植物作为灵感来源。例如，他刚刚为To Summer创作了名为“杭州甜”的香水，其中使用了桂花、绿豆和龙井绿茶。最近，在动态家居香水领域，Beast与上海Capella豪华酒店合作，推出了名为“Santal Trouble”的系列，带有檀香的味道。
A psychological and social function
心理与社会功能
Compared to European and American consumers, Chinese people prefer smart, light, subtle, but not too sweet notes, David Huang says. In addition to that, he insists they expect other functions than a smell. Other than the originality of a niche product, for example, perfumes need to have a positive influence on the daily mood and to improve our condition at work by diffusing refreshing aromas.
David Huang表示，与欧美消费者相比，中国人更喜欢聪明、轻盈、微妙但不太甜腻的香气。此外，他坚持认为他们除了香味外还期望其他功能。除了小众产品的独特性外，香水还需要通过散发清新的香气对日常情绪产生积极影响，并在工作中提升我们的状态。
Although they are still bestsellers in China, a few global brands have integrated the local culture into their perfume design, such as Armani Privé with Pivoine Suzhou and Atelier Cologne with Oolang. David Huang hails these “genuine efforts for the domestic market, which convey a unique thinking strategy on local Chinese assets. The Chinese perfume market is opening via global brands, and we think it is only the beginning”.
尽管一些全球品牌在中国仍然是畅销品，但其中一些品牌已经将当地文化融入到他们的香水设计中，如Armani Privé的Pivoine Suzhou和Atelier Cologne的Oolang。David Huang赞扬了这些“针对国内市场的真正努力，这些努力传达了对中国本土资产的独特思考策略。中国香水市场正通过全球品牌打开，我们认为这只是开始”。
A two-digit growth
两位数增长
The local competition is restless: the Qichacha institute counts about 2,000 Chinese scent brands. Other than those mentioned above, David Huang evokes a few more in this profusion of companies: Re Classified (调香室), Aynoir, Plustwo (普拉斯兔), Barrio (巴莉奥), SIT.E, Atypic Edition (返常), Reflower (花点时间), Meet House (香遇沙龙香水), Futchi, etc.
当地竞争十分激烈：Qichacha机构统计了中国约有2000个香水品牌。除了上面提到的品牌外，David Huang还提到了这个众多品牌中的一些：Re Classified（调香室）、Aynoir、Plustwo（普拉斯兔）、Barrio（巴莉奥）、SIT.E、Atypic Edition（返常）、Reflower（花点时间）、Meet House（香遇沙龙香水）、Futchi等。
They are entering a market which, according to the latest Euromonitor data, should achieve a 22.5% growth rate over the next five years (compared to 7% for the global market). By 2025, retail sales on the Chinese perfume market should reach 30 billion yuans. Right now, according to iResearch Consulting Group, women with medium to high incomes account for more than 80% of Chinese perfume consumers, with a purchase price per unit from 500 to 800 yuans (EUR 68 to EUR 108). As a consequence, a few analysts assert that China went from a pre-Covid economy focused on lipstick to a perfume-centred one.
他们正在进入一个市场，根据最新的欧睿（Euromonitor）数据，该市场在未来五年内有望实现22.5%的增长率（相比之下，全球市场增长率为7%）。到2025年，中国香水市场的零售额应达到300亿元人民币。目前，根据艾瑞咨询集团（iResearch Consulting Group）的数据，中高收入女性占中国香水消费者的80%以上，每瓶香水的购买价格在500至800元人民币（68至108欧元）之间。因此，一些分析师断言，中国已经从疫情前的以口红为中心的经济转变为以香水为中心的经济。
