BBC Eye Releases ‘Perfume’s Dark Secret’ Documentary
PARIS — The BBC World Service’s Eye Investigation team has released a documentary showing children picking jasmine in Egypt that is allegedly used by major brands such as Lancôme, from L’Oréal, and Aerin Beauty, from Estée Lauder, through suppliers like DSM-Firmenich and Givaudan, despite their zero-tolerance child labor policies.
Called “Perfume’s Dark Secret,” the documentary went live Tuesday on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds in the U.K., as well as BBC World Service YouTube channels internationally.
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“The BBC visited Egypt’s jasmine region during the harvest season in the summer of 2023 and found children — some as young as 5 years old — working in the jasmine fields that were supplying some global brands through factories in Egypt,” the BBC said in a statement released Tuesday.
Spokespeople from L’Oréal and Givaudan contacted by WWD Tuesday could not immediately be reached for comment.
Egypt supplies about half of the global supply of jasmine, which is among the most valuable perfume ingredients.
The BBC alleges it saw children picking jasmine in Egypt that was then sent to factories that supply scents for Lancôme’s Idôle Intense and Aerin Beauty’s Ikat Jasmine and Limone di Sicilia fragrances.
BBC Eye followed a family with three children ages 5 to 15 who help pick jasmine before school, which is illegal under Egyptian law.
“Pickers often earn as little as a dollar a day while huge profits are made by the giant conglomerates of the perfume industry,” the BBC said.
When contacted by WWD on Tuesday, the Estée Lauder Cos. said in a statement: “We believe the rights of all children should be protected and have contacted our suppliers to investigate this very serious matter. We recognize the complex socioeconomic environment surrounding the local jasmine supply chain and we are taking action to gain better transparency and work toward improving the livelihoods of sourcing communities.”
In the BBC’s statement, it cited L’Oréal, after being shown the evidence about the jasmine pickers, as saying: “Despite very strong commitments, we know that, in certain regions of the world where L’Oréal suppliers operate, certain practices don’t meet our commitments. However, we don’t shirk our responsibilities and we are fully committed to make things evolve in the right way.”
The BBC found the main three factories in Egypt to extract jasmine oil are A. Fakhry and Co., Hashem Brothers and Machalico.
“While filming across the region in the summer of 2023, BBC Eye witnessed that in four different locations, a significant number of jasmine pickers were children under 15 working on smallholder farms,” the BBC said. “Most of the flowers from these locations were sent to the three main factories.”
According to the BBC, all three companies denied they use child labor.
The BBC showed its findings to Givaudan, which is supplied jasmine from A. Fakhry and Co., and said Givaudan called the findings “deeply alarming,” and that “it’s incumbent upon us all to continue taking action to remove the risk of child labor entirely.”
A spokesperson from DSM-Firmenich told WWD: “This is a matter we take very seriously, and as a responsible company, we strive to protect people and reduce inequality. Child labor is unacceptable. Children must be protected, and we have stringent measures in place to help safeguard them throughout our supply chain.“
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