Premium Beauty News - What does the Eden Ecosystem model consist of?
Rémi Pulvérail - It is the very first highly innovative project to include all key elements of the value chain: first, the optimized ultrasound extraction technology, which more efficiently captures what is in the plant, then the integrated farming dimension by means of our association with Cassan - one of the main Provence aromatic plant distilling company - and lastly, the creation and manufacturing of exclusive, original, tailor-made extracts. In short, our project unites the farmers that cultivate the plants, the engineers that develop the extract recipe using our innovative technology, and the plant that manufactures the extract with full control and traceability. This uncompromising project guarantees made-in-France products, short supply chains, and compliance with the circular economy and green chemistry principles.
Premium Beauty News - Why partner with farmers?
Rémi Pulvérail - We have a partnership with Cassan, a distilling company which manages a family farming property that spreads out across 100 hectares in the Drôme, Vaucluse, and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence regions in southern France. It will help us upgrade the distillation waste generated by Cassan, but also manage exclusive cultures that meet both traceability and circular economy requirements for all customers interested.
Co-founder of Eden Ecosystem Cassan boasts farming expertise as regards culture implementation and follow-up. With these exclusive parcels, we are actually considering producing great wines and putting forward the diversity of each region. Just like for wine, lavender, for example, does not provide the same results at all depending on its location, soil, altitude, and variety… So, for example, regarding perfumes, we aim to make people discover the olfactory diversity of these various regions and highlight the added value of all the aromatic plants we have in France – that is what consumers want today.
Now, to us, all this involves partnering with farmers and putting forward their production in full transparency. Customers need to be aware of the farming reality. In the long run, we aim to develop new supply chains in these areas because they boast real expertise in perfume plants, and we also intend to exploit parcels on very large surface areas.
Premium Beauty News - Why choose the ultrasound technology?
Rémi Pulvérail - It was one of the most interesting gentle plant extraction technologies for our business model. We use ultrasounds to optimize the extraction, but also green solvents, exclusively. This technology helps capture plant actives more efficiently. The process involves very low temperatures for a shorter time, so it preserves the plant better. Lastly, ultrasounds help make molecules explode more efficiently, which makes it possible to extract more for a different result from those obtained with standard methods.
We mainly work on dry plants: spices, roots, wood… so we can more easily manage the constraints related to harvest periods.
Ultimately, by upgrading distillation grains, we carry out a double extraction from the same plant. L’Atelier Français des Matières invested a lot in this technology: 25% of our turnover every year over the past five years with very interesting results validated by Antoine Lie, a Master Perfumer and project partner.
Premium Beauty News - Who is the target for these extracts?
Rémi Pulvérail - We target all brand types, from major players to small companies in the fields of fine fragrances, cosmetics, aromatherapy and food supplements. We aim to build up strong partnerships with companies willing to put forward all players of the value chain in a fair manner.
