Sustainability is Abel’s Top Note

Artisanal companies from Britain to New Zealand are putting environmentally sensitive production, practices and packaging at the centre of their business models, Isabella Kwai reports for The New York Times.

Based between Wellington and Amsterdam, the natural fragrance brand Abel sells only seven eau de parfum scents at a time, discloses all its ingredients and gives one per cent of the gross revenue made on each scent to non-profits, Kwai writes.

“When we first started out, we were trying to convince people to love it even though it’s natural and sustainable,” said Frances Shoemack, the founder of Abel, which introduced its first fragrance in 2013.

Recently, Shoemack said, the company’s customers, who are primarily 28 to 35 years old, have been asking for information on where to recycle empty glass scent bottles.

“That age group is so aware of climate change, the environment and wanting to align with brands and products that are trying to make a change,” she said. “They don’t just want a pretty product – they really want to know the detail and information.”

Original article by Isabella Kwai, The New York Times, December 4, 2022.