Chanel buys up more jasmine fields to safeguard famous No. 5

PEGOMAS, France: Wary of disappearing flower crops used in its best-selling perfumes, fashion and beauty firm Chanel has bought up more land in southern France to secure its supplies of jasmine and other varieties, harvested by hand in a delicate annual ritual.

The luxury group said it had bought up an extra 10 hectares (100,000 square metres) of land, adding to the 20 hectares it already exploits in partnership with a local family near the town of Grasse, known for its surrounding flower fields. On a sunny late August morning before the heat reached a peak in nearby Pegomas, dozens of workers were busy with this year's jasmine harvest, the key ingredient for Chanel's 100-year-old No.5 perfume, created by late designer Coco Chanel.