An Enduring Scent

On Wednesday, April 18, my International Business students had the special opportunity to visit a unique Florentine business—a business that was founded by Dominican friars in the early 1200s, making the Officina Profuma Famaceutica di Santa Maria Novella one of the oldest pharmacies in the world. Yes, it’s still in full operation today.

The class is so large that we had to break into three different groups for the tour and lecture. One of the AIFS staff members had made the arrangements for us, and he e-mailed me the confirmation. I noticed that all of his communication with them had been in Italian, but I didn’t give it another thought, that is until we arrived for our first tour.

You see, our tour guide began to deliver the lecture in Italian! Fortunately, one of my students, Aaron stepped right up to the challenge and began to serve as our translator. Now, Aaron is only in his second semester of Italian, but boy did he do an outstanding job! (Thanks, Aaron! And also thanks to Zach, who served as Aaron's backup on the second tour.)

We learned about the founding of the pharmacy, about the history of the building, and about the monks’ relationship to the Medici. (Well, really, didn’t everyone in Florence have some tie to the Medici?) In one of the rooms proudly hang the pharmacy’s shield along with a modified Medici shield, this one adding the snakes which serve as the symbol of the field of pharmacy.

We learned that the cloister on what the church-turned-showroom is built is the largest in Florence.

We saw the beautiful urns, vials, thermometers, and beakers that the monks have used throughout the centuries in developing their products; in fact, some of the implements were actually designed for the monks by Leonardo da Vinci. We saw the original books in which the monks carefully wrote down the recipes by hand, handwriting that is art in itself.

We were taken into a gorgeous frescoed room. What makes this room so amazing is that the frescoes, dating back several centuries, are still in their original form; they have never been restored in any way. In fact, the only damage to these frescoes made them even more interesting—it was a line made by the November 4, 1966, flood that damaged or destroyed so much in Florence.

We learned that the monks became engaged in global commerce in the 1700s, selling their products in Russia, the Indies, and China. They opened their first international shop in St. Petersburg in the 1800s, and in the 1900s they expanded to the United States. They now have a showroom in New York City and in Los Angeles, on Melrose Place of all streets! Yes, the monks have always been ahead of their time.

But over the years, nothing much has really changed. All of the products are still made by hand, and all production takes place in Florence. And the monks may have expanded globally, but they don’t yet sell their products online, and they have no immediate plans to do so.

I should mention that the day was all for enjoyment, for the students had a little work to do in conjunction with the visit. Here are the questions they had to answer based on what they learned:

1. The Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, founded in 1612 and dating back to the early 1200s, is one of the oldest pharmacies and perfume producers in the world. List three things that you believe have most contributed to its success as a business over so many centuries. Integrate lecture material into your response.


2. The Officina Profumo Farmaceutica sells its products globally. What do you think are the pros and cons of operating as a global business? List three pros and three cons, keeping in mind our class discussions and your textbook readings.


3. What are the three most interesting things you learned during today’s field trip and lecture? Be specific.


After our tour, lecture, and question-and-answer session, the students were ready to check out the products. They checked out the perfumes, lotions, soaps, liqueurs, extracts, teas, herbs, and honeys. And many walked away with a bag, some buying gifts and some just spoiling themselves. Why not? They’ve certainly earned it!