During the past decade there have been many changes in the perfumery
industry which are not so much due to the discovery and application of
new raw materials, but rather to the astronomic increase in the cost of
labour required to produce them. This is reflected more particularly in
the flower industry, where the cost of collecting the blossoms delivered
to the factories has gone up year after year, so much so that most
flowers with the possible exception of Mimosa, have reached a cost price
which has compelled the perfumer to either reduce his purchases of
absolutes and concretes, or alternatively to substitute them from a
cheaper source, or even to discontinue their use. This development
raises an important and almost insoluble problem for the perfumer, who
is faced with the necessity of trying to keep unchanged the bouquet of
his fragrances, and moreover, to ensure no loss of strength and
diffusiveness. Of course, this problem applies more especially to the
adjustment of formulae for established perfumes, because in every new
creation the present high cost of raw materials receives imperative con-
sideration before the formula is approved.