Biolandes: the world of naturals

- a family run company founded in 1980.
- based in the Le Sen in the Landes region (south west of France).
- 10 production sites in 7 countries
- 300 employees and 60 M€ in sales in 2007

The BIOLANDES story began in 1980 when Dominique Coutière decided to start up a company in the heart of the Landes, south of Bordeaux. He wanted to distill maritime pine needles from the largest cultivated forest in Europe.

He developed a process of automated continuous distillation which would also be applied to extraction several years later.

The pine needle oil was being sold to the perfume industry while the waste of distillation was converted into two original by-products: composted, it is used in gardening, and dried, it is burnt as a natural source of energy.

Since 1988, BIOLANDES has chosen to set up factories directly on the production sites of several of the main aromatic plants: Spain (1988), Turkey (1991), Madagascar (1995), Bulgaria (1996), Morocco (1998), Provence , France (2004).

With the takeover of 2 producers in Grasse (1993 and 1997), its investments on site and its partnerships, BIOLANDES has quickly become a leading producer of natural extracts for the perfumery industry.

The founder of the company, Dominique Coutière, is Biolandes' CEO. Along with his three children, all in upper management, he holds a majority stake in the company.

Leading producer of essential oils and extracts for perfumes, cosmetics and flavors, BIOLANDES offers today a range of 300 products extracted from 80 plants collected in 30 countries.

Also involved in the nutraceutical industry: production of active botanical extracts.

A division (BIOLANDES PIN DÉCOR) is dedicated to the production of compost from the by-products of extraction.