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“I Love The Culture And Spirit Of The Middle East”
Arthur Le Tourneur d’Ison is no stranger to the perfumery world. A member of the fifth generation of the Maubert family, he is today the Director of the Fragrance Division. Here he is, in conversation with ParfumPlus, speaking about his love for the perfume world and for the Middle East
ParfumPlus : Hi Arthur. Can we have you let us know a little about yourself for the benefit of our readers?
Arthur Le Tourneur d’Ison : Of course. To begin with, I am Arthur Le Tourneur d’Ison, member of the fifth generation of the Maubert family, founder and owner of the Robertet Group since 1850. I have been working for Robertet since 2008 and today, I hold the position of Director of the Fragrance Division.
PP : Your association with fragrances, when and how did it start?
AT : As you can guess I was born into the fragrance world! During my childhood, I was very close to my grandfather Jean Maubert who transmitted his passion to me. I have fond memories of my holidays, with him, in Grasse and he would bring me every morning to the factory to assist a perfumer in his creation. So as a kid, I was compounding fragrance formulae, the best way to learn the smell of all the raw materials and how to structure formula for a fragrance.
PP : Tell us a bit about your journey with Robertet so far.
AT : After my studies, I went to study in ASFO, a perfumery school located in Grasse. Then in 2008, I started my professional journey with Robertet, where I’ve been through all the different departments of the organisation.
My current role is to assist my uncle Christophe Maubert (President of the Fragrance Division). So I manage the important markets where we have sales offices and factories like Asia, the Middle East and Europe. I also take care of some strategic customers.
PP : What differentiates Robertet from the rest?
AT : Roberter is a natural partner of fragrances, flavors, healthcare and beauty products and is the world leader in sustainable natural raw materials. Robertet integrates all the stages of the creative process: sowing, harvesting, transforming, extracting, refining, and revealing.
We’ve been working for over 200 years with natural raw materials and the Group has acquired a unique capacity to listen to and respect nature. We integrate and develop skills and craftsmanship in farming, sourcing, extraction, transformation and creation.
Across the globe, we have 14 centers for our research and creation that are discovering each moment, nature’s secrets, to offer original solutions and partnerships and to pioneer
new resources.
And moreover at Robertet, we guarantee total transparency from the seed to the fragrance. As we source throughout the world, our production line is ever more environmentally concerned
and friendly.
PP : Tell us about the biggest challenge that you had to face with Robertet and how you addressed it.
AT : My biggest and the most exciting challenge was to set up the entire operation for the ASEAN market in Singapore. I did it by building 2 fully equipped factories to answer the growing needs of our customers in this part of the world. I lived in Singapore for 4 years and I have to say that it was an amazing experience.
PP : There was some recent news about Robertet being bought out, which was denied by Robertet very strongly. What do you think was the origin for this news and could you shed some light on this topic?
AT : Since we are the world leader in natural ingredients with unique knowledge that most others do not possess, I do understand that it could be a reason for envy for some people out there. Especially in this market which is increasingly concentrated. But I can reassure you, Robertet is not for sale.
PP : How do you see the Middle East market? How do you like being here?
AT : Personally I love the culture and the spirit of the Middle East. The sense of relationship is amazing and some of the landscapes are breathtaking. The Middle East is one of the most important markets for us and we have ongoing plans for this region which includes doubling our resources here in the next 2 years.
PP : Which part of your job excites you the most?
AT : I’ll be honest. I love travelling! And with travelling I love the opportunity to meet new people and discover new cultures. From a professional perspective, what excites me is entering new challenging markets and providing new technologies such as active ingredients coming from our natural raw materials.
PP : The challenges of a family business is that normally the boundaries between professional and personal are very thin. How do you cope with this, especially with you and everybody else in the family being part of the same business?
AT : To be honest we keep on talking about business from breakfast, lunch and dinner. And all of us seem to enjoy it and it’s never boring.
Quick and Easy
Your all time favourite fragrance
Sorry. But I am not allowed to mention it..;-)..
Your favourite perfume
I am pretty lucky to have this. But it’s a creation that’s not in the market
Favourite ingredients
Orris, sandalwood, tuberose absolute
The one thing about Robertet that you are very proud
All the people who work at Robertet
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