Child labour behind global brands' best-selling perfumes - BBC World Service Documentaries

A new investigation from BBC Eye takes you to the heart of the jasmine trade in Egypt, to reveal the dark secrets behind the perfume industry.

Children are working in dangerous conditions throughout the night, and pickers are often earning as little as a dollar a day, while huge profits are made by the giants in the perfume industry.

Over half of the world’s supply of jasmine is produced in Egypt and this story reveals the true human cost of this precious flower, considered to be one of the most valuable ingredients used in some of the world's most iconic perfumes.

Billion-dollar global brands, who use Egyptian jasmine in their perfumes, claim to have zero tolerance on child labour throughout their supply chains. But the BBC can reveal that in the 2023 jasmine harvest season, children - some as young as five years old - were working in the jasmine fields that were supplying these global brands through factories in Egypt.

0:00 ‘Perfume’s Dark Secret’
02:30 The importance of jasmine in Egypt
05:30 When the sun goes down
09:18 Making less than one dollar a day
11:39 Living below the poverty line
12:55 In the factory farms
14:53 Global brands and their supply chains
20:44 The Fragrance Houses
22:06 The impact on health
24:15 The UN Special Rapporteur
26:03 Due diligence checks
30:06 Sedex’s and UEBT’s response
32:11 'The Masters'
33:20 How much is this bottle?
36:12 Local factories’ response
37:34 “We need corporate accountability”
39:20 Fragrance Houses respond


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[rashminable]

After watching this, I dont think it is about child labour. The root of the issue here is corporate greed because if the adults were paid better, they wouldn't want/need their children to work. Pay them a decent amount so they can be the breadwinners, for heaven's sake.

[InspiredbyBarbNatifu]

A dollar a day for a mother and her three children who are slaving away the whole night. Its truly pathetic and grossly unethical!!!

[dejahosein]

The little girl saying “I hate jasmine” shattered my heart. I usually don’t wear perfumes because my nose is super sensitive to fragrance. But after smelling a jasmine tree in person, I bought my first perfume last year, the jasmine one from Gucci. I fell in love with love with the tree and it hurts me to know that a little girl across the globe has such a distaste for something so beautiful because of what she’s forced to do.

[JeannyK]

Isn’t it sad that everything that we seem to love has child labour involved in it and we have no idea what it takes for that to be sold to us? Sad.

[Dose_of_daz]

What happens to these people after this documentary?

I hope BBC supports them, because they are profiting from these stories. And they didn’t blur the interviewees faces.

[choreodyssey]

I hope BBC will check up on these pickers after this documentary is aired to make sure that the factories DO NOT retaliate against the poor mother and her children. Judging by the factories' responses in this docu, I worry about what will happen to the mother and children, and pray that things will improve for them,

[四つ葉-vo]

Luxury brand perfumes pay high salaries, use Hollywood actresses to advertise, and open stores in prime locations around the world. The cost of perfume will be very low. When I look at these working children, I find it very foolish to buy expensive perfumes.😢

[nancyrefki]

Corporate greed at its ugliest. I hope millions watch this documentary.

[suncandy]

It's a shame for those companies who claim to have fair trades but actually exploiting the farmers.

[prachiparshivnikar]

Not buying perfumes can't be a solution. There need to be strict laws and strict audits.

[autumntriesthings]

Perfumes are utterly expensive. But they can’t even compensate the farmers well?

[thomHD]

Designer perfumes are often sold for 5000%, 6000% profit relative to manufacturing cost. That fact alone is enough reason to steer clear.

[lindnesday]

i had no idea the perfume industry was the same as fashion and cosmetics .. is there any brand that doesn't involve child labor/underpayment ?

[melissafarrugia]

The girl with Jasmine allergies visiting health clinic starting at 3:00 to pick Jasmine. The moment she awakens her eyes are burning! Yet She’s a child who is working long night shifts, all companies and people profiteering of these children are going to have to answer to the biggest Boss Upstairs

[areidy]

Why the F is perfume so expensive when the laborers aren’t being compensated fairly? Disgusting corporate greed.

[ShadowofLyf]

I am going to stop buying perfume. I have more than enough and I feel so ashamed not knowing what those kids went through just to give us the fragrance. The corporate greed is just crazy. Wish more can be done to help the kids.

[rostx]

This family of pickers were being poorly treated and paid. And now after this report, I bet they lost their job. My heart broke when that little girl said "I hate jasmine". How traumatizing is that. No child should go through this.

[Cholulasmom]

I work in this industry {retail} and find this to be a disgrace, no mother should be forced to sacrifice her children to feed her family. Shame to the whole chain for knowingly participating in child labor and making half assed excuses for it!

[aikanae]

"it shouldn't be on the consumer to solve an industry wide problem" - it isn't just jasmine, but mining mica to producing clothes. There is no way to verify the supply chain is ethical. With any brand at any cost.

[johnnash]

Famous perfume brands MUST support these kids' education - it's the least they can do