Robertet just partnered with biotech startup Aethera Biotech to grow plant extracts in a lab — no soil required. Givaudan is building a €60 million campus in Grasse. Here’s what both moves mean for the ingredients in your skincare and perfume.
Clean beauty has spent years building trust around where ingredients come from — the farms, the regions, the harvest methods. Two major advancements are now asking whether a lab can do all of that better.
Robertet, the Grasse-based fragrance and naturals company that has operated since 1850, just made its first formal bet on that answer — a joint venture with Italian startup Aethera Biotech, whose proprietary CROP platform grows concentrated plant extracts in controlled laboratory conditions, entirely independent of climate, geography, or growing season.
CROP stands for Controlled Release of Optimized Plants. Developed by Aethera Biotech in Italy’s Veneto region, the technology uses a cell multiplication process to grow concentrated plant extracts in a laboratory setting, capturing the full complexity of a plant’s chemistry without relying on soil, seasons, or geography. The ingredients are non-GMO and free from environmental contaminants or solvent residues. Current applications span anti-aging actives, UV and blue light protection ingredients, and intimate care formulations.
“By significantly reducing environmental impact, CROP offers a sustainable and high-performance alternative to traditional production methods, fully illustrating the concept of ‘Augmented Naturality,'” Robertet and Aethera Biotech said jointly in a statement.
The value of Robertet’s “progressive” investment has not been disclosed, but it will unfold in two phases over a three-year period, ultimately resulting in a 50-50 joint venture between the two family-owned groups. The deal will establish Aethera Biotech as a center of excellence for biotech development across Robertet’s portfolio, with particular focus on its fragrance and health-and-beauty divisions. Robertet first partnered with Aethera in 2024.
“After nearly two years of close collaboration, this next step further advances our vision of ‘Augmented Naturality’ and reflects the strong alignment between two family-owned groups sharing the same values,” said Olivier Maubert, group innovation director and head of the Health & Beauty division at Robertet. “Aethera Biotech’s CROP technology offers a unique and complementary approach to developing natural extracts and active cosmetic ingredients, enabling us to address growing market demand while accelerating innovation in skin science, a key pillar of our Health & Beauty roadmap.”
CEO Jérôme Bruhat was direct about the strategic rationale. “This joint venture reflects our conviction that biotech will play an increasingly important role in the development of high-value, sustainable solutions,” he said. “It supports our ambition to reinforce our leadership in naturals while opening new pathways for innovation and growth for our customers.”
Francesco Berti, managing director of Cereal Docks Group — the Italian agro-food company that is Aethera Biotech’s parent — called the partnership a scaling opportunity. “By joining forces with a global leader in natural ingredients, we are creating a powerful platform that combines biotechnology, industrial expertise and a shared commitment to sustainability,” he said. “This will enable us to fully leverage the potential of our CROP technology and accelerate the development of next-generation, high-quality plant-based phyto-complexes, and benefit from Robertet’s global consumer network.”
Grasse gets a new kind of garden
Across town, Givaudan announced a €60 million ($70 million) investment to build Campus 52, a new production facility and innovation laboratory it says will be surrounded by gardens designed to “ensure the continuity from field to fragrance.” The campus will serve as the physical home of Givaudan’s House of Naturals entity, which focuses on premium natural ingredient development and responsible sourcing across four pillars: agronomy, innovation, operations, and perfumers.
“Located in the heart of Grasse, Campus 52 represents a return to our roots, where perfumery traditions, know-how and craftsmanship have flourished for centuries,” said Gilles Andrier, CEO of Givaudan, who is set to retire from the company this year. “This investment is fully aligned with Givaudan’s 2030 strategy, which aims to drive sustainable growth by creating high value‑added fragrance solutions that consumers love.”
The investment follows a strong year: Givaudan reported a 5.1 percent rise in sales €8.3 million 2025. Campus 52 will be built in Grasse — the city the company describes as “the historic cradle of perfumery” — putting the new lab in the middle of the landscape that has supplied fine fragrance for centuries. The construction brings together a production facility and an innovation laboratory under one roof, with the explicit goal of fostering “close collaboration between scientists and partners, while boosting perfumers’ inspiration,” Givaudan said.
“Givaudan’s perfumers are at the heart of fragrance creation, and Campus 52 will enrich their palette with even more exceptional natural ingredients, to craft the best fragrances of tomorrow,” said Xavier Renard, global head of Fine Fragrance at Givaudan.
While Aethera Biotech removes the ingredient from the field entirely, Givaudan is building a campus that keeps field and lab in direct conversation. The global biotech cosmetics market was valued at $2.59 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $5.10 billion by 2034 — and both investments are positioned to capture that growth from different angles.
“Our goal is simple: to create unique, responsible, and exceptionally high-quality ingredients,” said Maxence Billas, Head of House of Naturals at Givaudan.
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