What's Scent-sational in 2025? Exploring the Flavors and Fragrances Market Trends

The global Flavors And Fragrances Market is evolving rapidly, projected to reach $43.24 billion by 2030, driven by innovation, sustainability, and consumer demand for personalized experiences. In 2025, fragrance trends reflect a blend of nostalgia, technology, and eco-consciousness. 

This blog dives into the key trends shaping the industry, from reinvented gourmands to AI-crafted scents. Let us explore what is next for fragrances.

Why Are Gourmand Fragrances Getting a Sophisticated Makeover?

Gourmand fragrances, known for their edible notes like vanilla and caramel, are evolving into complex, adult-oriented blends. In 2025, these scents move beyond sugary sweetness to incorporate toasted sugar, nutty notes, musk, and woody bases, reinterpreting gourmand notes.

• Complex Sweetness: Milky notes like coffee and matcha, alongside umami accents such as sesame and pandan, will dominate. The matcha craze is real. It’s everywhere. For instance, Maison Margiela’s Replica fragrances are known for their ability to evoke specific memories and emotions through scent, which is perfect as this specific aroma transports you to a peaceful tea ritual in a sunlit garden. It blends matcha, bergamot, orange blossom, and creamy white chocolate, and feels like a truly cosy escape.

• FY Flavors & Fragrances highlights the Gourmand Fragrances creations with roasted hazelnut praline and salty caramel with black sesame, among others.

• Market Impact: Search interest for “gourmand perfume” is forecast to jump +33.9 % in 2025 while editors tout “refined gourmands” as the season’s hero category. Within the category, caramel perfume is expected to see the biggest jump, with an over 42 percent increase. Other gourmand scents predicted to trend include marshmallow perfume and vanilla perfume.

• Examples: Febreze is excited to announce its 2025 Scent of the Year: Vanilla Suede. This new fragrance features a complex, yet complimentary blend of brushed mahogany, gold amber and smoked vanilla, aiming to enhance your living space with a comforting and indulgent aroma, reflecting the evolving desires of consumers for warmth and serenity in their homes.

What Makes Summer Fragrances Juicy and Global in 2025?

Summer fragrances in 2025 are vibrant, featuring refined gourmands, milky accords, and global-inspired notes that elevate the seasonal scent experience:

• Refined Gourmands: Gourmand fragrances are taking on a new form this summer—lighter, more elegant, and unexpectedly complex. Traditionally known for rich, dessert-like sweetness, today’s gourmands blend toasted sugar, airy florals, bright fruits, soft woods, and delicate spices to create a refined sensory experience. While vanilla has long been a staple, the category is now expanding to include milky, creamy notes, as well as seeds, nuts, and even savory elements like butter, truffle, and soy sauce. Among these evolving profiles, toasted sugar stands out. This next generation of gourmands is all about subtlety and versatility—nostalgic yet elevated, perfectly suited for summer wear.

• Milky Fragrance: Milky fragrances evoke the olfactive equivalent of a warm embrace—soft, smooth, and comforting. These scents, often built around notes like coconut milk, vanilla cream, or rice milk, offer a sense of quiet luxury that feels intimate and contemporary. Described by Gliwinska as tender and grounding, milky accords are subtle yet sophisticated. Their versatility allows them to be paired with citrus, florals, woods, or spice, resulting in fragrances that range from fresh to indulgent—always finishing with a soft, skin-like warmth.

• Global Influences: Juicy, exotic, and vibrant, fruit-forward fragrances are making a bold return this summer—with a refined, grown-up edge. As body sprays regain popularity, this trend invites a modern reinterpretation that balances ripe sweetness with depth and sophistication. Far from being juvenile, when thoughtfully crafted, these fragrances offer freshness and personality while holding their own alongside more traditional floral or woody scents.

How Are Wellness Scents Redefining Fragrance Functionality?

Functional fragrances, designed to enhance mood, cognition, or relaxation, are a growing trend, rooted in neuroscience and aromatherapy.

• Science-Backed Benefits: Scents like rose can reduce stress and promote a sense of tranquility in specific settings, driving demand for wellness-focused perfumes. Brands like Vyrao craft scents to promote serenity. Magnetic 70, with its woody, sensual, slightly smoky aroma, strikes an example. 

• Consumer Appeal: 62% of consumers in France, the US, and China prefer quality fragrances that align with wellness goals over cheaper alternatives. 

Why Are Niche and Indie Brands Captivating Consumers?

Niche and artisanal fragrance houses are thriving, driven by storytelling and unique scent profiles that resonate emotionally. Global fragrance sales were around $70 billion in 2022 and are expected to reach nearly $100 billion by 2027. The fragrance category is highly profitable, with margins of up to 90% in the luxury sub-segment. To win customers’ hearts, brands need to offer a creative proposition and a compelling story.

• Emotional Narratives: Brands like Maya Njie focus on personal stories, attracting consumers seeking authenticity. Rooted in personal memory, each fragrance in Maya Njie’s collection is inspired by a photograph from her life. These visual references are more than just inspiration—they inform every aspect of the scent, from mood to color palette. Carefully chosen hues reflect not only the tones of the original image but also the emotional depth and essence of the fragrance itself. Through this intimate blend of scent and imagery, Njie creates a rich, immersive narrative that invites fragrance lovers to step into her artistic world.

• Market Growth: The demand for niche scents has driven a 70% year-over-year increase in Gen Z shoppers, fueled by platforms like #PerfumeTok.

• Unique Offerings: Phlur’s fragrances, inspired by memories and feelings, avoid generic notes, emphasizing individuality. From ‘Father Figure’ to ‘Vanilla Skin’, each scent is designed to help customers discover themselves through olfactory storytelling. With expected retail sales surpassing $150 million this year, PHLUR is now among the fastest-growing fragrance brands across major retailers including Sephora, Amazon, and Space NK. 

What Is the Scandinavian Perfume Aesthetic All About?

Scandinavian-inspired fragrances emphasize minimalism, sustainability, and gender-neutral appeal, aligning with eco-conscious consumer values. 

• Non-Gendered: Gender-neutral fragrances, also known as unisex perfumes or non-gendered scents, challenge traditional norms by avoiding associations with masculinity or femininity. These fragrances are crafted to appeal to all genders, prioritizing the essence of the scent over societal labels. 

• Clean and Neutral: Scandi scents feature green, herbal, and woody notes, designed to be emotionally resonant and unisex.

• Sustainability Focus: Brands like Ffern use recyclable packaging and seasonal batch production to reduce waste. The company uses three pillars to sustainability approach: 

  • Reusable:  Ffern’s packaging is thoughtfully designed for reuse, with a standout feature being the mushroom inner. Developed in collaboration with Magical Mushroom in south-east England, the mycelium bottle tray is grown from organic waste and mushroom roots. It is 100% home compostable and requires minimal energy to produce. At the Ffern studio, these trays are repurposed to grow herbs and flowers. Each spring, Ffern includes seeds with their fragrance, encouraging ledger members to do the same.

  • Plastic Free: Ffern is the first perfume brand to fully eliminate plastic from its packaging. Its kraft paper tube—an alternative to the traditional plastic cap. Designed to protect the fragrance and block out light, the tube is fully recyclable and serves a functional, sustainable purpose.

  • Recycled and Recyclable: Every component of a Ffern package is recyclable, from the glass-and-metal perfume bottle to the cardboard postage box. All printed materials, including the seasonal art poster, are produced on FSC-certified 100% recycled, carbon-balanced paper. The goal: zero landfill waste.

• Market Appeal: High-quality, responsibly sourced materials are key, with premium vanilla and bergamot leading the trend.

How Is AI Revolutionizing Fragrance Creation?

Artificial intelligence is transforming perfumery through algorithmic design, molecule creation, and personalized experiences.

• Algorithmic Perfumery: Brands use AI to analyze preferences and design bespoke scents. By analyzing millions of online reviews, social media trends, and market data, AI tools can anticipate what kind of perfumes consumers will desire next. Forward-thinking brands like Ramsons stay ahead of the curve, designing fragrances that align with evolving preferences—sometimes even before users realize they want them.

• Molecule Design: Carto uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help perfumers achieve better results than ever before. Firstly, the perfumer uses a wide touchscreen to select which raw materials they wish to mix. This Givaudan strategy uses a special robot then produces an instant sample, using real ingredients and the best possible formula, at a speed that would be impossible using traditional methods. Designed to support creative freedom, it allows perfumers to push the boundaries of fragrance creation. Looking ahead, Ffern plans to integrate consumer insights into Carto, helping perfumers refine their accords with even greater precision.

• Virtual Experiences: Dior’s Immersive Journey uses virtual reality to showcase ingredient origins, enhancing consumer engagement.

Why Are Gender-Neutral and Maximalist Florals Gaining Traction?

Gender-neutral scents and bold, maximalist florals are redefining traditional perfumery, embracing inclusivity and expressive artistry.

• Gender-Neutral Appeal: Gender-neutral fragrances now account for nearly 40% of premium fragrance sales at major retailers. This represents a dramatic increase from just five years ago when they made up less than 15% of the market.

• Maximalist Florals: Florals like roses are making a comeback, and they’re blooming brighter than ever in 2025. Today’s rose is no longer shy or one-dimensional — she could be sensual, fruity, spicy, fresh, or even marine, depending on how she’s dressed. As an example, the best-selling creation by Toni Cabal, White Rose, beautifully reimagines the rose for today’s modern wearer.

• Consumer Preference: Gone are the days when luxury perfumes were simply status symbols. For Gen Z — those born between 1997 and 2012 — fragrance is more than just a luxury; it’s a form of identity. This generation values transparency, sustainability, and inclusivity. 

How Do Nostalgia and Spirituality Influence Modern Fragrances?

Nostalgia and spirituality are driving fragrance storytelling, connecting consumers to personal and cultural narratives.

• Nostalgic Themes: Brands like Phlur create scents inspired by memories, evoking comfort and sentiment Matter of Form, 2024.

• Spiritual Scents: Good Fortune echoes one of Viktor&Rolf’s Haute Couture collections, Spiritual Glamour, which celebrated upcycling and sustainability in an aesthetic that referenced mysticism, white magic and witchcraft. Good Fortune aims to bring an uplifting message about a new lifestyle that connects one with their spiritual self and embraces the promise of a bright future with a single motto: “Destiny’s not a matter of chance, but a matter of choice.” The magical nature of Good Fortune is based on ingredients with ancestral magical properties and innovative techniques that together create a new fragrance experience. Viktor&Rolf developed a vegan formula with ingredients that are sustainably sourced and not derived from animals. The brand is continually researching new ingredients and production methods in order to achieve ever-higher levels of sustainability. Made with 15% recycled glass and 100% recyclable, this refillable bottle, mesmerizes with its purple juice; suspended, as in levitation, above a precious gold pedestal.

• Cultural Narratives: Perfume is not just a personal accessory it’s deeply rooted in cultural heritage, rituals, and traditions around the world. Perfumes blending from Middle Eastern oud to Japanese cherry blossoms each, region’s customs shape which scents gain popularity and why they matter. 

Next Steps: How to Stay Ahead in the Fragrance Market

The 2025 fragrance market is dynamic, blending innovation, sustainability, and emotional storytelling. Here are actionable takeaways for brands and consumers:

• Embrace Sophisticated Gourmands: Incorporate nutty, musky, or woody notes into gourmand fragrances to appeal to mature audiences.

• Invest in Wellness Scents: Develop fragrances with proven mood-enhancing ingredients.

• Support Niche Brands: Explore artisanal houses for unique, story-driven scents that stand out in a crowded market.

• Adopt Sustainable Practices: Use eco-friendly packaging and responsibly sourced ingredients to align with consumer values.

• Leverage AI Technology: Utilize AI for personalized scent creation and virtual experiences to enhance consumer engagement.

By staying attuned to these trends, brands can create fragrances that captivate and resonate with modern consumers, driving growth in the market.

About the Author

Sneha Chakraborty is a seasoned SEO Executive and Content Writer with over 4 years of experience in the digital marketing space, bringing a strong command of online visibility strategies and a keen insight into the evolving digital landscape. She specializes in enhancing online visibility and user engagement through data-driven strategies and creative content solutions. Sneha is passionate about translating complex digital concepts into accessible content for a wide audience. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, sketching, and exploring the outdoors through nature photography. The author can be reached at [email protected].