WHAT SUSTAINABILITY MEANS TO KIERIN
Sustainability means different things to different brands. For KIERIN, it begins with a commitment to a goal: doing the best we believe we can, with good intentions and care for people and perfume over pure profit.
The sustainable ingredient stories below are examples shared with KIERIN by Robertet, our ingredient supplier. KIERIN makes the extra effort and invests in partners aligned with our ethos. Together, our care can take shape, from replanting and grower support to the craft of working with natural materials.
Replanting, growing practices and care for the habitats around an ingredient.
NEW CALEDONIA
This partnership established with sandalwood growers in 2009 focuses on reforestation, replanting sandalwood in its natural habitat, with attention to the surrounding ecosystem.
The future of this fragrant wood is connected with the livelihoods of growers and the wider local community. Sweet, woody and balsamic, sandalwood rewards the time and care behind it.
PARANÁ, BRAZIL
Research partnerships support improvements in agricultural practice, while the operation provides local employment and housing and amenities for permanent workers.
Replanting Araucaria and other native trees on selected plots adds shade for the maté and habitat for birds. The ingredient’s dry, leafy, herbaceous character carries a story that reaches beyond the crop itself.
BULGARIA
The grower partnership established in 2013 includes pre-financing for rose farming and replanting, irrigation infrastructure using recycled water, and training for more efficient flower harvesting.
The program also includes education about pesticide risks and measures intended to protect natural resources through composting and recycling.
Support that reaches the people whose knowledge and work bring a material to life.
GUATEMALA
Long-term relationships with growers extends to the needs of their community: school supplies for children, medical needs and a more dependable income.
Agricultural advice helps producers maintain quality and improve production. This spicy, aromatic ingredient illustrates how a sourcing relationship can include both practical expertise and care for the people behind the harvest.
INDIA
A supplier partnership established in 2002 combines technical support with crop pre-financing and long-term purchasing commitments, including advance purchases that helped a supplier fund production.
In the Coimbatore and Madurai regions, jasmine buds are harvested in the morning, opening in the evening and processed at night. Timing, skill and a dependable relationship all play a part in bringing that floral character into perfumery.
AMAZONAS, VENEZUELA
The long-term relationship with Indigenous harvesting communities supports pre-financed harvests to help cover food and medical needs and to establish minimum payment before collection begins.
When tonka yields naturally fall, collectors may be connected with nearby coffee plantations to help replace lost income. Direct involvement from harvest through export supports traceability back to the collection area.
Predictable purchasing, resource use and the regional economies around natural materials.
CALABRIA, ITALY
A long-standing partnership with citrus cooperatives combines technical assistance, financial support and purchasing arrangements intended to give producers more predictable income and a minimum income for growers.
UEBT recognition reflects attention to people and biodiversity. The associated program promotes good agricultural practices, reduced fertilizer use, water reuse, by-product recovery and renewable energy.
CALABRIA & SICILY, ITALY
Technical assistance and financial support help producers care for their farms and maintain the quality of the crops of cooperatives growers across Calabria and Sicily.
Standard pricing supports a minimum income for participating growers. Behind lemon’s bright, sparkling zest is a practical idea: a lasting partnership can make the next harvest easier to plan for.
SICILY, ITALY
Annual contracts and purchasing commitments established before harvest give producers a dependable outlet for the crop while supporting long-term relationships with citrus cooperatives.
The associated supplier program includes attention to biodiversity, CO₂ reduction, processed-water reuse, by-product recovery, reduced waste and renewable energy.
EDWARDS PLATEAU, TEXAS
In the Edwards Plateau, cedar regenerates through aerial seeding. A regional supply of raw material for cedarwood oil uses biomass-fired boilers in production.
The wood also serves furniture, closet-lining and post industries. Collection, distillation and related work together provide a source of income for families in local farm and ranch communities.
The human work and extraction knowledge behind an ingredient’s character.
CHINA
Iris rhizomes spend years in the ground before harvest, with cultivation and care continuing across different stages of growth. Traditional knowledge and long-term supplier relationships are combined with technical expertise.
After lifting, the rhizomes are cleaned and hand-peeled before drying or processing. A portion is retained for replanting. Orris’s powdery, violet-like character begins with time, skilled hands and attention to the next growing cycle.
MADAGASCAR
Warm, lemony and woody-spicy, ginger from Madagascar brings a familiar material into a new sensory setting for this aromatic rhizome and the seasonal rhythm of its harvest.
Use of supercritical CO₂ extracts ginger’s many olfactive facets. It is an example of the extraction craft that brings a natural material’s character into the perfumer’s palette.
KASHMIR / PERSIA
Saffron’s debated origins can be traced to Kashmir or Persia where it is harvested by a careful separation of the flower’s stigmas before drying, a reminder of the human work behind a precious natural material.
With a long history in cooking and color, saffron also offers a distinctive olfactive character: dark, spicy, bittersweet and woody. This example shares the harvest tradition and sensory richness behind its place in perfumery.
INTENTION IN PRACTICE
KIERIN makes thoughtful choices about materials, sourcing and packaging while delivering the quality, creativity and experience our customers seek and continuing our commitment to consider, learn, and invest in ways to improve.
EXPERIENCE THE MATERIAL
Meet Santal Sky—a sandalwood among sandalwoods, crafted with sustainably sourced real New Caledonian sandalwood.
Examples adapted from Robertet presentations supplied to KIERIN in February and June 2020 and September 2025. Ingredient photography courtesy of Robertet.
