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I wanted to move on from ethics in perfumery, I really did, at least just as a break. 

Unfortunately, the scandals won't let up - first it was the child labour in the Egyptian jasmine fields, and now we have price fixing by the Big 4 - IFF, Symrise, Firmenich, and Givaudan. I didn't see a mention of fifth member Takasago so that's open to speculation.

Am I surprised? No not really. I'm not angry, just disappointed…

Here's what's gone down - IFF has just been whacked with a whopping 15million euro fine for deleting incriminating text messages that (now retrieved, of course - what kind of adult human in the blessed year of 2024 thinks deleting whatsapp messages actually erases their existence? I can only suppose that IFF is headed by a Luddite) reveal price fixing between the companies.

As a pseudo-businesswoman myself, I get that we want to keep prices in the industry consistent. But this is supposed to be done via COMPETITION BETWEEN COMPANIES. The unbelievable disrespect toward their customers and clientele is unspeakable. Being in cahoots to mass-deceive their only source of income is gobsmackingly audacious and is exactly why the European Union's antitrust body, the EU Comission, is slaping them with a cartel lawsuit.

Frustrating as it often is to have the EU poke their nose (ha!) constantly in perfumery's business with their insistence on minimal quatities at the atomic level for beloved ingredients, this kind of houndlike pursuit of wrongdoing is essential to keep things fair.

So, we watch with keenness to see the fallout of this. Will the prices of our precious ingredients be corrected? Or will the coffers of the Big 4 be opened wide enough to make all this go away? I am thankful that so many of my ingredients aren't sourced from these European cronies… some, but not the majority. I am a proud representative of Australian and Asian scents, and honestly, now seems the perfect time to keep it that way.

You can read about this scandal by searching “IFF price fixing” or clicking on this article.