Rosendo Mateu: Q &A with Co-Funder and Brand Manager Joan Mateu

The deeply revered Rosendo Mateu passed away in May of 2022, leaving an impressive legacy and body of work behind. This unreleased interview with Olfactif was conducted shortly before his passing, but we thought it should be released to our readers in loving and respected memory of the great Master Perfumer

 

Q: Who do we have the pleasure of interviewing today? What’s your name, title and role in the company?

Joan Mateu, Co-founder and Brand Manager at Rosendo Mateu perfumery brand.

Q: What are you most proud of with the Rosendo Mateu brand?

What makes us most proud at Rosendo Mateu is that our clients choose us for the quality of our products. We have managed to correctly transmit the know-how in perfumery acquired in our family for so many years in the profession.

Q: Rosendo got his start at Puig over 40 years ago. How had that influenced who he was as a perfumer?

Rosendo during his perfumer career had the opportunity to collaborate with the best perfumers in the world, which is very uncommon in the perfumery industry.  His position at Puig allowed him this opportunity.

Q: Rosendo became a Master Perfumer in 2010. What exactly does that mean? Who gave him this prestigious title and what did it mean to him?

Rosendo had been in perfumery since 1968 with more than 40 years of full dedication to perfumery. He became master perfumer for the Puig company, a company dedicated to perfumery for more than 100 years.  Becoming a master perfumer was the recognition of an entire career dedicated to the creation and study of perfumes.

Q: How did Rosendo originally get into the fragrance business?

He entered the world of perfumes, starting to work at the Puig company in Barcelona at the age of 14. From a very young age he had a great sensitivity for the smells that surrounded him. The team at Puig realized his great talent.

Q: In 2017, Rosendo decided to launch his own collection. What inspired this?

Rosendo always had the idea of creating his own brand. At the end of his professional career at Puig, and hand in hand with his son (Joan), they decided to start a business project with the creation of fragrances as the most important point and evolving their first collection of perfumes.

Q: Rosendo’s right hand man and son, Joan, plays a critical role in this family business. As the Brand Manager and Fragrance Evaluator, what is a typical day for Joan?

[The brand] Rosendo Mateu grew a lot, and so did our work. Joan dedicates his time to evaluate existing products, studying market trends, devising and developing new projects for the brand, relationship with customers, relationship with suppliers, relationship with distributors and points of sale and production coordination.   In this task he is helped by a team of experts in brand management, marketing, communication, design, etc.

Q: The “First Collection” is a series of 7 fragrances. We have featured No. 7 in our subscription collections. Can you tell us more about it?

Rosendo Mateu 7 was a very special project for Rosendo and Joan, we started working on it years ago with the idea of a supreme patchouli. For this we developed and worked meticulously to achieve the highest quality of patchouli, obtained by molecular distillation, where the different elements of a raw material are separated and the parts that we like the most are obtained, in this case, a high concentration of patchoulol. All this combined with a high quality oud from Laos and Thailand and a sweeter and more oriental part of vanilla and benzoin. We achieved a creation where smoky, woody tones are appreciated, and a different patchouli with very innovative aspects.

Q: When someone is wearing Rosendo Mateu, what do you want them to know about the brand?

Our brand is a tribute to the figure of Rosendo Mateu, made with love and the knowledge of a family rooted in perfumery.

Q: When Rosendo wasn't in the lab formulating, where would we find have found him? What did he enjoy outside of perfume?

Painting is the only hobby that Rosendo enjoyed.

 

 

Q: Where do you consider your happy place?

Laboratory

Q: What is your favorite word?

Perfumery

Q: What turns you on?

Smell of a great fragrance

Q: What turns you off?

Smell of burned plastic

Q: What’s your favorite note?

Bergamot from Calabria in South Italy

Q: What’s your least favorite note?

Smell of gasoline

Q: What are you smelling right now?

Smelling great future projects

Q: If you could describe your brand in 3 words, what would they be?

Authenticity, Expertise and Family

Q: What’s next for you?

Working on our new collection and new projects

 

 

Want to smell Rosendo Mateu? No. 7 was found in our May 2022 Collection, Hello, there!, and No. 1 in our August 2022 Collection, Staycation. And they're likely to pop up again!

Subscribe today!

 

 Follow Rosendo Mateu on Instagram! 

Photo credits: Rosendo Mateu