“It’s a flower that flourishes for seven to ten days a year, once a year. But to extract from it takes two to three months, so you don’t have enough biomass to make the essential oil to create a natural compound of lily of the valley to use in perfume,” says Dreyfus.

Perfumes have, therefore, only ever contained synthetic reconstructions of lily of the valley. In its vertical farm, Jungle can stagger the flourishing period of different plants, providing a flowering crop for a sustained period of time.

“The extracts have already been sold and they’re being tested as we speak in a perfume recipe,” Dreyfus says.

— That's Gilles Dreyfus, founder of French vertical farming company Jungle. Jungle is collaborating with Swiss fragrance house Firmenich to grow flowers for perfume. Read more in Vertical farming wants to save perfume from climate change at Sifted. (More: Firmenich puts faith in vertical farming with Jungle partnership at Cosmetics Business; Firmenich Announces Sustainable Innovation Partnership with Jungle: Launches World First with Muguet Firgood at PR Newswire.)