A fragrance pioneer and an extraordinary family – 100 years

It all started in 1911 when Bruno Storp Sr. founded his company “Bruno Storp – Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Products” in Munich, Germany. Bruno Storp Sr. came from a long family line of both entrepreneurs and artists like painter Carl von Marr, whose paintings were awarded numerous gold medals, for example, at the Chicago Worlds Fair in 1893.

The Storp brothers, currently the third generation to manage drom, recall that their grandfather had been a young apothecary who actually wanted to be an opera singer and to work as an artist. His family, however, opposed his artistic vocation, so Bruno decided to move to the art-loving city of Munich and, using his new company, dedicated his creative talent to the creation of innovative toilet water, hair tonic, and a soap product that later
became known as "Storp’s Floating Soap."

In 1921, Dr. O. Martens joined the company, which is where the name DR.O.M. came from – a name chosen to signal an emphasis on cosmetics from the very beginning.

Several years later, Bruno Storp met the perfumer Dr. Clemente, an important turning point in the company’s history. Bruno became fascinated by the art of perfumery. He had finally discovered a way to combine his artistic streak with his entrepreneurial talent, and so drom started developing fragrances and perfumes. Bruno opened a small perfume shop in Munich in 1935 where he sold his own exclusive creations. Once Queen Elizabeth became a customer, there was no holding them back.

In 1955, the "perfume boutique" moved to its address on Residenzstrasse, home to many sophisticated fashion boutiques and birthplace of numerous trends. Over the subsequent decades, drom developed into an international company, and today it attracts perfumers of international renown who create extraordinary and successful fragrances.

drom launched its first international activities in England in 1931. The founder’s son, Bruno Storp, joined the company in 1946 and helped to rebuild it. In 1948, drom began to focus on bottling, packaging, and logistics. Production was modernized and glass gave way to steel – an ingenious move that greatly simplified both production and transport.

In 1956, drom started exporting products to Switzerland, Austria, France, and Scandinavia. In 1970, the company invented a new filling technology – the very first to use gravity – that revolutionized manufacturing in the fragrance industry. drom also became interested in the production of natural raw materials, and continues to conduct intensive research into raw materials today. A few years ago, drom patented its own completely natural pureganic® essential oils.

In 1977, drom ventured outside Europe for the first time and established a production facility and sales office in the United States. drom opened its fine fragrance studio in the hip Tribeca district of New York City in 2005. drom Asia/Australia and drom Japan were founded in the 1980s, and by 1992 drom had captured the heart of the fragrance industry with its subsidiary in Paris. The company has been creating fragrances for renowned companies and prestigious brands ever since.

"We currently have representatives in 43 countries and production facilities worldwide," says Andreas Storp, a man whose passion for his work led him in 2004 to personally establish the company’s plant in Guangzhou, China. Storp sees the Guangzhou plant as a major milestone on drom’s path to future success. "China is going to have a tremendous influence on our lives, and on the lives of our children and our children’s children. The country’s development is fascinating."

Thousands of years ago, Guangzhou was already a major trading center where people from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East all came together to exchange goods on the Silk Road. Andreas Storp reflects, "Today, image-enhancing products and German precision work are highly regarded as offering good value for the money. ‘Designed in Germany – produced in China’ is a concept that is well received there."

When the Guangzhou plant first opened, drom sent French perfumers to work there and they shared their international expertise with local employees. "With this approach, we combine western technology and our own expertise with an understanding of Asian preferences and perceptions."

In 2007 drom had the foresight to take over a plant in Brazil, redesigning it to meet the company’s requirements. "Brazilians and people in South America in general are passionate about fragrances and beauty products. The high number of cosmetic surgeries in Latin America demonstrates that,” notes Ferdinand Storp.

Although drom launched its international expansion efforts 80 years ago under his grandfather’s guidance, Andreas Storp believes that his grandfather would be surprised at how far drom has come in 100 years. "He always had a wide-ranging, global mindset. In the 1920s, he traveled to the United States twice, which was extremely difficult to do in those days. Unfortunately, times were difficult and he could not expand the business, so it was our father who promoted droms internationalization. Today, the company is a global player with 370 employees worldwide."

Andreas Storp is contemplating an even more ambitious project. "India is a key market for us because perfumes and cosmetics are extremely popular there. Even with our expansions into new markets, however, we would like to stay as small as possible – small units that are flexible, manageable, and aggressive. Were seeking artists and inventors for drom, people who think outside the box, and we will continue to invest in creative people."

Today Ferdinand Storp is exploring the latest IT advances, and logical information management in particular. "If we want to link our employees around the world, we have to ensure that they can communicate efficiently and work together intelligently. Over the past few years we’ve invested a great deal in audio- and videoconferencing systems. We are currently in the process of introducing a state-of-the-art IT platform to improve our mobile
and international data networking. We are taking our IT infrastructure to the next level. The only way to stay competitive is to constantly reinvent yourself."

The 100th year will be the best one ever

"We’ve succeeded in establishing a traditional family business in new markets. Highly creative people have joined the company, and drom has an extremely strong position internationally. We also have many promising opportunities in Paris and New York,” asserts Ferdinand Storp. “drom is like a dynamic startup company that is full of pioneering spirit. We are continuing to capture new markets, launch inspiring projects, and as a result we are experiencing a constant renewal.” Yet at the same time, drom is staying true to itself. “We feel that it is important to retain our DNA – both in our business as well as in our own lives. As a family business, we need to be careful to not lose our identity.” At drom, that means a hundred-year history of working creatively, remaining open to other countries, cultures, and people, and actively seeking out ideas that are ahead of their time. "We did not emerge from the chemical industry, and our roots are not in France as a fragrance manufacturer. drom is the one and only fragrance company to spring from the vision, talent, and creativity of an artist-turnedpharmacist."

Caption:
First company building in Munich „Bruno Storp“
Historical production and laboratory „Bruno Storp“
Dr. Andreas Storp, owner and General Manager of drom fragrances
Dr. Ferdinand Storp, owner and General Manager of drom fragrances