22 June 2022

The TOURNAIRE ‘estagnon’, the emblem of Fragonard

Interview of Françoise Fabre, Executive director of Fragonard

Would you like to introduce yourself and your activity?

I am Françoise Fabre, and I direct Fragonard, a company created in 1926, which is now run by the great, great grand-daughters of the creator Eugène Fuchs. We are Anne, Agnès and Françoise Costa, the fourth generation.

Historically, Fragonard has mainly manufactured perfumes and subsequently we have developed extensive ranges of cosmetics, eaux de toilettes, and for some years now a whole universe based on the art of living in Provence, hence fashion, articles for the home and products that we brought back from our travels, particularly in India. It’s a country that has always been very close to Provence and which is part of our culture.

 

Why are you here?

We have come today with a whole team from our company to see the evolution of TOURNAIRE, a magnificent company with which we have maintained a relationship of loyalty and friendship. We know the products we buy but certainly not the production tool. We were astonished by the investment, the quality of the machines, the technologies that I could not even have imagined. And then the possibilities of customisation. Moreover, we are currently working to improve a product which is an emblematic product of Fragonard: a small metal canister, or ‘estagnon’. Perhaps we are the last company to use the name ‘estagnon’, but it is an important name for us. It is part of the history of Grasse and our common history with TOURNAIRE. 

 

What are the challenges you face when it comes to packaging your fragrances?

We have products that have always been refillable. This was not the market trend 20 years ago. Everyone was using crimped products. We have always been keen to offer our customers refillable products and we buy 600ml refills from TOURNAIRE which are refills that no one else on the market does today. The sizes of Fragonard perfumes are 100ml, 200ml and 600ml in aluminium refills. It is certain that we all have the same objectives, namely, to have products that have the least impact on the planet and that are recyclable and refillable. That’s what’s at stake.

 

What advice would you give to a company looking for barrier packaging to protect its sensitive products?

In our business, which is a niche perfumery business, the use of aluminium is atypical. Generally speaking, companies use glass. We work a lot on the weight of the glass, the bottoms of the bottles, the luxury with the transparency that glass gives. It’s a real challenge to use aluminium to sell perfumes. This is our case, it is emblematic, the ‘estagnon’ is really the flagship of Fragonard. I don’t know if it can be duplicated that easily in terms of the finished product for a client. As far as refills are concerned, for all the products that are used in larger quantities, aluminium has an extraordinary added value. In terms of product quality, because it can be recycled very easily, because it does not pollute, it does not break, and because it is impervious to light and heat. These are all features that we have consistently valued in this product.