Get fruity: Japanese firm offers fruit waters as sensitive skin-friendly fragrance alternatives

The company was founded a year ago by Miyako-Nios, a Yokohama-based flavours firm with over three decades of experience working in the food and beverage industry.

It set up Aroma Trove in order to expand the business into the cosmetics industry, where the company believes it can thrive in.

“We set up this company because we’re very interested in the cosmetics industry. There’s a lot of potential for our unique products in this market,”​ said Asuka Miyazaki-Fortier, product planning consultant, Aroma Trove.

Aroma Trove’s ‘unique’ ​products include its natural scented waters distilled from fruits such as yuzu, apple, raspberry and blackcurrants.

“We think we have something that is quite original to offer to the market. Not many companies have such products, most of the time you see more flower waters,”​ said Miyazaki-Fortier.

The firm utilises a special distillation method which allows it to extract the water at very low temperatures. It claims that this technique gives its fruit waters a ‘fresh and real’ ​aroma.

The gentle alternative

Miyazaki-Fortier told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ that the company’s collection of fruit waters has been in high demand since the firm entered into the industry.

She speculated that this is linked to the growing demand for more gentle cosmetic products.

“Nowadays, more people are concerned about sensitive skin. They want products that are ‘softer’ and gentler. Fruit waters can give this impression because they are completely natural and unlike essential oils, they are safe and not too strong for people with sensitive skin.”​

Miyazaki-Fortier said that the company prefers to see fruit waters as an ingredient rather than just a perfume.

“It can be used as an alternative to water in formulations, like shampoo. We are seeing more cosmetic manufacturers using fruit water in their shampoo to give it a better image and story along with a lovely aroma.”​

She added that the firm also sees plenty of potential for its fruit waters in mist and spray-type products, which are becoming more popular in the market.

Currently, the company is only working with domestic companies, but it believes its fruit waters have global potential, especially with the worldwide demand for natural cosmetic products.

“We believe fruit waters will become a more popular ingredient in the market because it's natural. We have many interested companies because of that. So far our clients have only been Japanese companies but natural beauty is a global trend so we definitely would like to into the foreign market as well,” ​said Miyazaki-Fortier.

She added getting more international customers was one of the firm’s goals. It currently in talks with potential clients from countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea.

“First of all, we want to expand into the wider Asian region, where Japanese beauty products are already popular. Afterwards, we would like to look into Europe as well. I think the Europeans have an interest in Japanese cosmetics and will be interested in Japanese fruit waters like yuzu.”​