By Mark Seavy 

Gourmand fragrance has long been associated with sugar, indulgence, and dessert, but recently a taste for licensing is being developed. 

And while many of these new collaborations lean into beloved brands, they also feature aromas that blur the lines between bathroom vanities and kitchen cupboards. In many cases, these licensed fragrances are based on complex foods with scents that are discussed in a similar manner to fine dining. 

Estée Lauder Companies’ Jo Malone brand, for example, launched cologne gift sets in June with the social media character (and former Nickelodeon series) “Tiny Chef” that are inspired by garden vegetables like butternut squash, carrot, and beetroot.  

Then there is Brazil’s Grupo Boticário, which renewed its focus on the gourmand trend by combining its Vult cosmetics brand with chocolatier Garoto’s Baton chocolate. The collection launched in March and recreated the chocolate aroma as well as the candy’s peelable packaging. Sales peaked at 3.6 units per minute during the launch, according to Grupo Boticário.  

And the pharmaceutical company Cimed’s Carmed lip balm forged a partnership with the Fini candy brand in 2023 before expanding it to include Coca-Cola and Sprite. Earlier this year, Carmed also launched World Cup-inspired lip balms with crème brûlée, tiramisu, churros, and alfajores flavors. 

Even Disney’s Winnie the Pooh is in the fragrance business with U.K.-based Mad Beauty’s cosmetic sheet face masks imbued with passionfruit, coconut, and honey scents, the latter playing on the character’s love for the sweet treat.  

For the most part, these vanilla, chocolate, caramel, and roasted nuts scents are achieved through molecules like ethyl maltol or natural absolutes, with concentrations ranging from 15-30%  and designed to wear for six to 10 hours. But the range of gourmand scents available to consumers are only expected to become more complex moving forward.  

“The wider fragrance selection keeps the experience fresh, playful, and relevant for today’s beauty consumer,” said Mad Beauty CEO Trevor Cash, whose company also fields cosmetics under the Batman, Superman, Lilo & Stitch, Disney Princess, and other brands. “Ultimately, gourmand adds another sensory layer to licensed gifting, allowing scent to become part of the storytelling.” 

That storytelling is making gourmand fragrance best sellers.  

And while the market isn’t new—L’Oreal’s Mugler helped popularize it with the praline-scented Angel brand in 1992—it is forecast to increase 8.7% annually to reach $14.4 billion by 2035, up from $6.8 billion this year, according to MarketWide Research. The bulk of that increase will be tied to premium personal care brands expanding gourmand fragrances for Millennial and Gen-Z consumers.  

The business has proven attractive not only to consumers and suppliers, but also to retailers.  

Ulta Beauty, for example, is targeting having “multiple” exclusive brands in beauty as well as health and wellness, with more than $100 million in annual sales “over time” and plans to co-invest in marketing, Ulta CEO Kecia Steelman said. The 1,788-store chain launched 20 new brands in Q1, including The Beach House Group’s NOYZ, a moisturizer containing scents of vanilla bean, ambroxan, and Moroccan cedarwood. It is applied the same way as perfume but in a liquid silk that absorbs quickly. Fragrances accounted for 12% of Ulta’s $3.2 billion in Q1 sales, an increase from 11% of $2.8 billion a year earlier.  

“To compete and win in beauty and wellness, we are driving the innovation pipeline, co-investing in marketing with strategic and exclusive brand partners, and creating activations in stores and online,” said Steelman, whose chain plans to open a new flagship store in New York’s Times Square in late 2027.