Givaudan to acquire Custom Essence

As part of its 2025 strategy to expand the capabilities of its fragrance business, Givaudan today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Custom Essence, a US based fragrance creation house.

Founded in 1981, Custom Essence is a family owned business based in New Jersey, USA. They specialise in the formulation of natural fragrances and create perfumes across categories for both local and regional and for larger customers. The company employs 70 people globally.

Custom Essence’s unique know-how in natural fragrance creation has largely contributed to their success in the USA and in particular in natural products for the personal care category. Driven by a culture of creativity, agility and quality, they have won the loyalty of a large base of customers for whom they have created some of the leading consumer preferred fragranced products in the USA.

Maurizio Volpi, President of Givaudan Fragrance & Beauty said: “We are excited to announce the acquisition of Custom Essence as it fits perfectly with our 2025 strategy to expand our presence with local and regional customers and grow our capabilities in natural perfumes. Custom Essence will bring true expertise in managing a fast growing customer segment, as well as valuable know-how in formulating natural fragrances. I look forward to warmly welcoming all the employees of Custom Essence into the Givaudan family.”

Prashun Patel, Chief Operating Officer at Custom Essence said: “We are proud to join Givaudan and to bring in our knowledge in natural fragrance creation, as well as our reach to local and regional customers. Givaudan’s technology, regulatory, supply chain, and international manufacturing support will enable us to scale quickly to provide even better value to our customers. We are looking forward to creating together the beautiful fragrances that consumers love.”

Whilst the terms of the deal will not be disclosed, Custom Essence’s business would have represented approximately USD 40 million of incremental sales to Givaudan’s results in 2020 on a proforma basis. Givaudan expects the transaction to close in Q4 2021 and will fund the transaction from existing resources.