Why Gourmand Fragrances Are Trending This Summer Season

Forbes

22-04-2025

D.S. & Durga's Pistachio is one of the Gourmand trend's best-selling fragrances
The perfume industry is enjoying a surge in gourmand fragrances. This rapidly growing sector is characterized by sweet, edible-like scents that evoke the sensations of delicious food and desserts.
According to MarkWide Research these fragrances have gained significant popularity in recent years due to their unique and indulgent nature. New Beauty claims that the search for gourmand fragrances is predicted to increase by 33.9 % in 2025. Caramel perfume is expected to see the biggest jump within the category, with an over 42 % increase. Other gourmand scents predicted to trend include marshmallow perfume and especially vanilla, which in 2024 took the spotlight as a key ingredient—from creamy, smooth and fluffy vanilla to rich, smoky or even boozy vanilla.
Creme Vanille Le Monde Gourmand
MarieAnna Ferdinand, EVP of fragrance development at Le Monde Gourmand, tells me over email that they are seeing year-on-year growth in gourmand fragrance launches. She attributes this to the fact that consumers are tapping into this olfactive profile as they seek comfort in an uncertain political and economic environment. 'Consumers are looking for glimmers of joy that they can experience every day. Gourmand perfumes often tap into a feeling of nostalgia for happier times, like childhood, a favorite memory, but done in a grown-up way,' she says. A good example of this is their Chai Epice perfume, a grown-up gourmand inspired by a comforting chai latte.
Ellis Brooklyn, founder of Bee Shapiro, concurs and tells me over email that gourmand fragrances satisfy two of our deepest wants right now: comfort and joy. We tend to feel familiar with these scents because they contain notes that we easily recognize, and they are also joyful, as gourmand fragrances tend to be playful. 'They play on the high-low aspect of perfumery.'
This summer, gourmand scents evoke a holiday feel, with increasingly modern fragrances. Ellis Brooklyn's MIAMI NECTAR, for instance, is a tropical formula. 'I love the combination of pink pineapple, watery facets of coconut water with the moss and vanilla underpinning,' says Bee. It's an intense fragrance that is sweet, sophisticated and very contemporary.
Another tropical gourmand is Ormonde Jayne's Montabaco Rio, which combines notes of sun-ripened wild fruits, zesty pineapple, and sweet mango with moss, amber, vanilla, and suede, resulting in a vital fragrance perfect for summer. This is a particularly unisex fragrance, as the subtle sweet notes merge beautifully with the amber, making it a strong scent.
Ormonde Jayne Montalbanco Rio
Jun Lim, founder and creative director of BORNTOSTANDOUT, also tells me that those bright, beachy, borderline edible scents will be stealing the show this summer, as they're both refreshing and mouth-watering. 'Think creamy coconut and sunny citrus blended with gourmand touches, like a twist of salted vanilla, creamy milk, or a hit of tarte tatin. It's as if sunscreen got gourmet," he says.
Sugar Addict, a hero fragrance from BORNTOSTANDOUT, encapsulates this summer spirit in a complex scent that has both depth and freshness, simultaneously.
Kayali Cherry gourmand fragrance
Kayali is another example of summer gourmands. Their Lovefest Burning Cherry is enchanting, and combines succulent cherries, raspberries and sweet caramelized praline with contrasting smoky, earthy notes of palo santo, guaiac wood, and patchouli, making the fragrance unusually sensual. Kayali's Vanilla is another example of a captivating fragrance that opens with a sweet infusion of naturally sourced Madagascan vanilla orchid and creamy jasmine, combined with notes of brown sugar, amber woods, musk, and patchouli, making it a particularly versatile and memorable scent in the collection.
The gourmand fragrance category itself has been around since the early '90s, when perfumes such as Thierry Mugler's Angel were first launched, but the new, updated gourmands are different.
Speaking to Aitana López de Carrión​​​​, global fine fragrance development manager, over Zoom, we discuss how nuts, salted caramel, cocoa, honey, and milk are all ingredients that are rising in popularity, as are bakery-inspired notes, with fragrances that evoke desserts like banana split, crème brûlée, tiramisu or cinnamon rolls, many of which are going viral on platforms such as TikTok. The rise of 'neo-gourmands' scents, however, goes beyond traditional sweet notes and incorporates savory elements, bitter touches or umami flavors, inviting us to explore global culinary cultures. Aitana explains that this year we will continue to see scents inspired by liquors and cocktails.
Éclat d'Ombre by Maison Psyche
Maison Psyché—the luxury perfume house from the Rémy Cointreau group—fits into this new trend with its unique approach to fragrance: aging perfume essences inside Cognac barrels to create scents of unparalleled depth and complexity. Éclat d'Ombre, crafted by Master Perfumer Sophie Labbé and Rémy Martin Cellar Master Baptiste Loiseau, embodies this new technique and captures the essence of Cognac's historic cellars.
Bee Shapiro tells me that several years back, gourmand perfumes were directed to a younger demographic, but today that has completely changed. 'Today gourmands are for everyone—gourmands have also evolved quite a bit. Sure, there are the cake-like scents, but there are a wide variety of vanillas for every scent taste,' she says.
Jun Lim agrees and adds that gone are the days of candy-sweet celebrity perfumes. He tells me that today's gourmands have broken many old boundaries: they're unisex, multicultural, and global, and if you don't take yourself too seriously, you can enjoy a gourmand at any age. 'It's less about age or gender, more about your vibe,' he tells me.
In his words, the gourmand genre is growing up. 'Think of it as the gourmand palette expanding beyond just 'sugar' into a whole experimental kitchen,' he says, and cites many new flavours including buttered popcorn, salted caramel, BBQ sauce, or even touches of cheese or truffle, which are making their way into fragrances. 'Consumers' noses have gotten more sophisticated; they still love sweet, but they want it with a twist. So you'll get a floral marshmallow with a hit of pepper, or a chocolate scent infused with shiso leaf. Neo-gourmand is all about contrast and surprise.'
Sugar Addict BORNTOSTANDOUT
As we have seen with other fragrance trends, layering scents to further personalise them is very much in vogue. Bee explained to me that all fragrances can be layered, but with gourmands, if they are focused on a few very specific opening notes, the process is easier. Vanilla and caramel tend to be warm and cozy, and sweet fruits with vanilla tend to be more candy-like and summery. 'You can easily add on different fruits via different fragrances, for example,' Bee says.
When I asked Jun Lim about layering these scents he told me that in today's fragrance scene, it's actually encouraged and that perfume lovers are becoming their own mixologists. 'You can take a rich chocolatey scent and layer a smoky cedar or sheer musk over it to tone down the sweetness and add depth. And suddenly you've got a sexy s'mores vibe going on,' says Jun.
The key is to have fun, experiment with different notes, and spray with confidence. With the gourmand trend underway, whether you enjoy sweet or savory perfumes, the world now really is your oyster.