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Interview with Christian Düllberg, SOFW Journal, 12/2012

Designing new, creative fragrances is all part of day-to-day business for Düllberg Konzentra. SOFW spoke to managing director Christian Düllberg about current developments, quality standards and visions.

Mr. Düllberg, you have just unveiled a new design for your image brochure and website with a look that is clearer, more elegant, more succinct. What brought about this change?
Ch. Düllberg: It was time to show a modern face, one which immediately signals to our customers just what it is that makes us unique. We develop creative, inspiring fragrances and are renowned for our high degree of automation and our absolute commitment to precision and quality. Our new visual language aims to communicate exactly this balance: we give our customer sufficient space for visions – and we possess the technological expertise to make these visions a reality.

What are you currently working on?
Ch. Düllberg: At the SEPAWA Congress this year, we presented fabric conditioner fragrances that use fine perfumery as their point of reference – an emerging trend across the entire Home Care and Personal Care segment. Discount supermarkets, in particular, are increasingly using high-quality scents in their own-label products. We also presented special perfume oils for household products under the name EU-Ecolabel.

What distinguishes you from other fragrance manufacturers on the market?
Ch. Düllberg: Since Düllberg Konzentra was founded we have attached the utmost importance to the purity and quality of our products. We choose the companies, we source our ingredients from with the utmost care and we inspect all raw materials using ultra-sensitive analysis methods. Our distillation unit is one of the most advanced in the industry, allowing us to filter essential oils as gently as possible and standardize our products. We are in a position to supply our customers with precisely the required quality for any conceivable application. Our degree of process automation also helps us to achieve the very highest precision: with 85%, we are pioneers in our industry.

You also produce essential oils for the pharmaceuticals industry…
Ch. Düllberg: Yes, essential oils are a widely used ingredient in capsules, cough syrups, medical baths or rubs. Pharmaceutical manufacturers have to comply with very strict requirements. Within Germany, we are a key supplier of essential oils produced in compliance with the EU GMP standards and the European Pharmacopoeia – and that applies to a large proportion of our portfolio. We are able to achieve these high standards with our dedicated GMP production room and the stringent hygiene and safety standards that are in place throughout the factory.

You work with customers worldwide. Which are your most important markets?
Ch. Düllberg: At present, we are expanding strongly in the Middle East, where we already generate a significant proportion of our turnover; sales in the region are growing annually by more than 10%. In response to this development we opened a subsidiary in Dubai in 2008. Fragrances »Made in Germany« command a high degree of trust there because our customers know they can depend on receiving outstanding quality and good value for money. The region is also very attractive for our perfumers as consumers are far more courageous in their fragrance tastes and are more prepared to experiment than in Europe or the US. For example, we combine classic French scents with typical Oriental notes such as oud or saffron; in Western countries fragrances such as these would only stand a chance as niche products. India is also a very interesting market for us. Recently, we were the first German fragrance manufacturer to exhibit at the Beauty & Spa Expo in New Delhi and were able to establish numerous very promising contacts.

And what are your current projects in this region?
Ch. Düllberg: For the Arab market we are presently developing so-called »Solid Fragrances«, which are crystallised perfume oils that become so firm that they can be rubbed straight on the skin, akin to a deodorant crystal. Perfume products like these are very popular in the Arab region, and the response we received at this year’s Beautyworld in Dubai was very positive. As soon as we have developed the ideal application form, we will be launching this innovative product on the market there. The company started out 70 years ago by processing essential oils.

How important is this segment for you today?
Ch. Düllberg: Essential oils remain the core of our product portfolio; they are responsible for a large proportion of our turnover. We have 2,800 different essential oils and scents always in stock. We have been seeing an increase in demand from the developing countries, because many of the oral care or wellness products that have been on the market in Europe for a long, long time are only just starting to become popular in these countries. In Europe we are seeing a rising demand for organically-produced essential oils. As we received ECOCERT certification a number of years ago, we are in a position to guarantee our customers high quality products in this segment. Our Natura concept, which comprises perfume compositions on the basis of essential oils in their natural state, is also performing very well.

Where do you see Düllberg Konzentra being in 10 years?
Ch. Düllberg: We want to continue along the path that has made us so successful in the industry for the past 70 years, and we aim to continue to expand our technical expertise and our creative team of international perfumers. Our long-term goal is definitely to take up one of the top positions in the highest league of European fragrance manufacturers

A company portrait published in Euro Cosmetics, issue 05/2012.

What do you need to create a good fragrance? Creativity, experience, and expertise – as well as raw materials of the greatest purity and highest quality. Düllberg Konzentra has stood for all this for more than 70 years. The company creates and refi nes essential oils and perfume compositions; its customers come from the cosmetics, pharmaceutical, food, and chemical-technical industries. The family-owned and managed company was established in Hamburg in 1933. Its most important markets are Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

From archangel root to ylang oil

High-quality essential oils form the core of the company’s product portfolio. Düllberg Konzentra is one of the largest suppliers in Europe. Essential oils have a positive effect on the human psyche and organism; they are an indispensable basis for many cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. Düllberg Konzentra keeps 2500 essential oils and aroma chemicals in stock constantly. Under the name Natura®, the company develops perfume compositions based on high-quality, natural essential oils. Of course Düllberg Konzentra also offers certiﬁ ed organic essential oils. These are certiﬁ ed by ECOCERT and therefore fulﬁ ll especially high quality standards.

Creativity meets ability

With passion, creativity, and ability, the in-house perfumers create fragrances that win customers over – and that consumers love. All Düllberg Konzentra fragrance composition are tailor-made for the customers’ end products. One of the company’s specialties is bazaar oils: luxurious, oriental fragrances from the ﬁnest ingredients, including rose, jasmine, myrrh, patchouli, and oud, one of the most precious essential oils in the world. In addition to the bazaar oils, the perfumers create demanding, luxurious premium brand fragrances as well as lifestyle fragrances that follows the latest trends. Furthermore, they develop fragrances for a multitude of products for the body and home, including body lotions, hair shampoos, deodorants, cleansers, and air fresheners. The portfolio is complemented by ﬂavors based on essential oils; the company’s core competency is the development of oral care products.

Concepts, emotions, effect

To buy or not to buy? For body care and household products, this question is frequently decided by the nose. Welldone fragrances communicates the properties and effects of a product right away. Therefore, the marketing experts at Düllberg Konzentra devote themselves intensively to their customers’ products – and translate their concepts into appropriate fragrance compositions. With extensive stability tests, Düllberg Konzentra ensures during each development step that a fragrance perfectly complements the ﬁnal product from the sensory, functional, and emotional points of view. The knowledge of consumers’ desires and needs is indispensable here: the company’s global sales and marketing network constantly provides information about market developments around the world.

The highest demands

Since its founding, Düllberg Konzentra has placed the greatest value on the purity and quality of its products. Both are guaranteed through the selection of high-quality raw materials and state-of-the-art distillation systems, which form the heart of the company. Especially gentle separation processes allow the puriﬁ cation of the essential oils and their standardization with respect to their physical and chemical properties. This way, lasting quality is produced, regardless of natural ﬂuctuations. An automation degree of up to 85% ensures the greatest precision for all dosing processes. All raw materials and ﬁ nished products are also checked using highly sensitive analysis methods.

Assured quality

Especially for customers in the pharmaceutical and food industries, quality assurance plays a central role. On customer request, Düllberg Konzentra will therefore produce its products according to the European pharmacopoeia and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) guidelines. To assure production ﬂ ows and safeguard the production environment, the company performs especially demanding hygiene and safety measures. In addition to the required space and systems, the GMP-compliant quality management system always assures the safety and quality of the products produced and processed by Düllberg Konzentra. Depending on the request, the company delivers both essential oils as well as compositions that comply with the GMP standard. These can be used in capsules, cough syrups, emulsions, coatings or nutraceuticals.

For nature, human being, and the environment

In order to maintain the natural basis of its products and secure the future for the next generations, Düllberg Konzentra employs various measures to protect nature. These include the certiﬁ cation of as many products as possible with the ECOCERT seal, which guarantees the controlled farming of the essential oils. Important to Düllberg Konzentra is also a seamless tracing of the products, the auditing of suppliers, reduction of energy consumption, and CO2 emissions that are as low as possible. Düllberg Konzentra is a member of BUND, the Association for the Environment and Defense of Nature in Germany.

Düllberg Konzentra is available for its customers worldwide. In addition to the headquarters in Hamburg, the company has its own branch ofﬁ ce in the United Arab Emirates. Thanks to an international network of branch ofﬁ ces and long-term representations, customers around the world
receive the best support. Thanks to local warehouses, the company also guarantees short delivery times and ﬁ rst-class quality products.

Read full article

Embracing the Future with a New „Scent Profile“

Interview with Christian Düllberg, SOFW Journal, 12/2012

Düllberg Konzentra: The Fragrance Experts

A company portrait published in Euro Cosmetics, issue 05/2012.

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