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The list of food-based notes appearing in luxury fragrances continues to expand, from sesame and tabasco to cherry and banoffee pie, as perfume makers begin to consider whether popular weight-loss drugs are altering consumer preferences for specific scents.
Gourmand perfumes have existed for decades, led by early creations like Thierry Mugler’s cotton candy-inspired Angel and Nina Ricci’s toffee apple scent, Nina.
Recent expansion in this category has been linked to the rise of Gen Z consumers and a pandemic-driven shift to online shopping, where recognizable food aromas helped sell fragrances that buyers could not smell beforehand.
As producers test more unusual food notes, interviews with eight fragrance manufacturers and prominent perfume brands show how they are investigating how GLP-1 users react to these edible smells.
Major flavor and fragrance companies Givaudan and IFF, along with British producer CPL Aromas and French cosmetics firm L’Oreal, confirmed they have looked into potential connections between the widely used medications and fragrance choices.
These four firms, alongside four scientists, emphasized that further research is required.
RESEARCH SUGGESTS GLP-1 USERS SEEK PLEASURE IN SCENTS
Common negative side effects of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro include nausea and gastrointestinal issues. Researchers are also looking at other potential effects, some unexpected, including a reduction in alcohol cravings or urges to gamble and impulse-shop, and changes to smell and taste.
“(GLP-1 drugs having) a chemosensory effect is not a far-fetched idea,” said Paule Joseph, co-director of the National Smell and Taste Center at the US National Institutes of Health.
As GLP-1 drugs reshape appetite, they also affect the tissue of the olfactory bulb that processes odour, although Joseph said it was too early to predict how, or even if, that might impact odour perception.
Research conducted by IFF suggests GLP-1 therapies may spark a greater interest in scent as a source of sensory pleasure, said Celine Manetta, health and wellness director, R&D, at IFF Scent.
IFF is already using such insights to identify notes and produce fragrances that evoke emotional responses, she said.
L’Oreal, observing findings that show GLP-1 users crave pleasure, fragrances and scents, has drawn similar conclusions.
“They compensate for the pleasure of food, or pleasure of taste, with other forms of enjoyment,” said L’Oreal Paris’ Global Brand President Laetitia Toupet.
Givaudan has been studying the possible link for around a year, said Arnaud Guggenbuhl, the Swiss firm’s global head of marketing for fine fragrance.
GLP-1 use can alter fragrance preferences, he said, with some beloved smells suddenly repellent while other scents become appealing. The overall trend, the company found, was an increase in interest in fragrance and perfume.
Givaudan is now expanding its gourmand offering, creating fragrances that reproduce the layered scent of cakes like banoffee, panettone and cupcakes.
“You can have the crispy part, the tarty part, the milky part and the creamy part,” Guggenbuhl said. “The full fragrance smells like a true cake.”
STILL ENJOYING WHAT YOU CAN’T EAT
Unlike manufacturers, which develop the scents used as ingredients in perfumes, fragrance brand owners like Puig and Coty are generally not researching the possible GLP-1 link.
But they are keenly attuned to what is happening in the market — both in terms of growth trends and shifts in taste — and are taking steps to adapt.
Over 1 billion people globally are now obese, according to the World Health Organization. That provides an enormous pool of potential customers for weight-loss drugs. Pharmaceutical companies and analysts predict the GLP-1 market may be worth up to $150 billion by 2030.
That could also mean a bigger perfume market.
Gourmet and edible is now the second-largest fragrance group for product innovation behind floral scents, said Clotilde Drape, global beauty analyst at market analysis agency Mintel, with its share having risen to 24% over the last year from 9% two years earlier.
A study of GLP-1 users in the US by market researcher NIQ, meanwhile, found they spent 26% more on fragrances than the typical person.
“GLP-1 users are overall more invested in beauty, as they spend more across most categories,” said Anna Mayo, NIQ’s vice president of beauty and personal care thought leadership.
Both Coty and Puig expect traditional vanilla-based scents, such as Burberry’s Goddess perfume and Yves Saint Laurent’s Libre Eau de Parfum, to remain popular. But other edible notes are becoming more prominent, they told Reuters.
“There has been a more sophisticated, more adult evolution. There are now many different notes available on the market: boozy, whisky, rum, tequila,” said Gregorio Sola, senior perfumer and creative director at Puig.
Perfumers are also incorporating spicy components like tabasco and bitter notes of cocoa.
Gen Z consumers in particular are seeking savoury, salty fermented and roasted aromas over sweetness, said Nelly Di Mercurio, global marketing and communications director at CPL Aromas. Sesame, miso, rice, truffle and even matcha-based fragrances were also emerging, she said.
And Jean Holtzmann, chief brands officer for Coty’s prestige division, pointed to new combinations of vanilla with nuts like pistachio.
“The next generation of gourmand is … about taste and texture rather than just being sweet,” he said.
Givaudan’s Guggenbuhl, for his part, believes creaminess — banana, whipped cream and warm milk — will be the next trend to sweep the market. But regardless of the flavour, with GLP-1 users set to remain a driving force, he sees no letup in the expansion of gourmand fragrances.
“What they cannot eat anymore, they still want to enjoy.”
