Givaudan Aids Endangered Lavender Supply
Lavender pervades every aspect of life, from prestige perfumery through personal-care routines to home and fabric-care products across the world. The blue-gold supply in France is now threatened by bacteria known as Stolbur’s phytoplasma that weakens the plant over a period of three years until it dries out and dies.
Givaudan’s Innovative Naturals Programme is promoting the healthy growth of French lavender.
Stolbur’s phytoplasma is transmitted by a tiny insect that infects both lavender and lavandin; it is spread by the sap throughout every part of the plant. The disease is contagious and, in the early stages, the plant doesn’t show symptoms of contamination, so it is difficult to identify.
The disease is well-known to French lavender growers who call it the dépérissement or “decline.” Recent European climate changes have caused proliferation of the insect, which spreads the disease and further deteriorates plants through periods of drought.
As a direct result of the need to find a solution to the increasing threat, Givaudan has expanded its Innovative Naturals Programme and extended its involvement in the lavender supply chain. The Givaudan Innovative Naturals Programme was launched in 2007 to enrich the palette of Givaudan’s Perfumers with new and exclusive naturals. The company is committed to preserving natural resources, maintaining future supply of raw materials and operating a sustainable business model involving people, products, the environment and society.
Close collaborations and alliances with expert organizations enable Givaudan to protect fragile supply chains and ensure the availability of materials in the future. The company also endeavors to support communities involved in the production of fragrance materials to improve their production processes and education infrastructures.
Givaudan has also become a member of CRIEPPAM, a French fragrant plants research organization, and has built a three-way partnership in which Givaudan finances the supply of certified healthy lavender plants from CRIEPPAM to the cooperative members of France Lavande.
The partnership works to encourage farmers to join the cooperative and to collaboratively evaluate and ameliorate lavender quality each year to strengthen this crop in the future. From 2011 to 2012, Givaudan has seen an increase in the number of France Lavande cooperative members. The company has also financially supported the development of four plant nurseries that will supply 40% of the lavender plant needs for the 2013 crop in France.
Through these initiatives, Givaudan is able to support the production of healthy lavender plants, thus protecting lavender from Provence for the fragrance industry.