Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) on Tuesday inaugurated the Unilever Fragrance Hub in Mumbai, marking the third global hub under its overall €100 million programme to advance in-house, digitally enabled fragrance creation capabilities.
The fragrance hub, set up at the IIT Bombay campus, is set to combine consumer insight, advanced science and AI to accelerate innovation, enhance product experience, and support premiumisation across categories, HUL said in a regulatory filing.
The R&D centre would also create opportunities to collaborate with academia, particularly in areas of science and technology, data and digital-first fragrance innovation.
Also read: Heatwave drives surge in cold drink sales, AC and fridge demand stays weak
With the inaugurated of the new facility, HUL affirmed that fragrance is an increasingly important driver of product desirability, premiumisation and brand preference across many of Unilever's categories. The centre would bring fragrance design, development and evaluation closer to one of the "world’s fastest-growing consumer markets".
The Mumbai hub is expected to harness vast data as India's expanding consumption base offers rich and diverse insights to design fragrances that can scale globally and drive growth.
"Fragrance plays a critical role in elevating the consumer experience and performance of everyday products - from shampoos and body washes to deodorants and laundry detergents," said Vibhav Sanzgiri, Executive Director of R&D at HUL, adding that the India
lab is a fully integrated fragrance creation, application and evaluation facility, combining proprietary creation software, real-time evaluation data capture and advanced compounding technologies.
He noted that the mechanism would enable teams to design, test and refine fragrances end-to-end, while collaborating seamlessly with other Unilever fragrance hubs globally.
Terming India as "one of Unilever’s most important growth markets and a critical engine of innovation for its global business", Vivek Sirohi, Head of Unilever Fragrance House, said, “The inauguration of the Unilever Fragrance Hub in Mumbai reflects our continued investment in cutting-edge capabilities that bring together science, technology and deep consumer insights."
