18/07/2025
Scentless Strategy: Why Your Next Big Operational Shift Might Be Right Under Your Nose…
It was this headline that did it: Asthma attacks rise dramatically, with a 45% increase in GP appointments (Royal College of General Practitioners, 2025). That led me to think about air quality. Then breathing. Then the nose. And finally, smell. Is it an underused lever in our operational toolbox?
We obsess over sound levels, lighting, texture and temperature. But scent? Still treated like an afterthought, or worse, a nuisance. That needs to change.
Smell hits before thought. It connects directly to the limbic system to the part of the brain that governs memory, emotion, and instinct. You don’t just notice a smell. You feel it.
We’ve all experienced it: the nostalgic waft of bonfires in autumn, the energising tang of the air before a thunderstorm. Or that instinctive mouth-watering when you catch the smell of roasting coffee. That’s not just a habit. It’s your body preparing for flavour and fuel. A roasted, nutty coffee note can flick the switch from passive to alert, from browsing to buying. And operationally, that’s gold.
In 2020, when COVID robbed thousands of their sense of smell, people didn’t just lose a sensory input. They lost their appetite, memory anchors, and even a sense of self. One person called it “living in greyscale.” That’s what smell does: it colours our world.
And it flavours it too. Up to 80% of taste is actually smell. Strip it away, and food is just salt, sweet, texture, and temperature. Try eating a strawberry with your nose pinched, the sweetness is there, but the flavour vanishes. Actually, try it, I did.
Chefs work instinctively with smell. But what about school refectories, hospital wards, office restaurants, boutique hotel corridors? Too often, we’re accidentally working against it.
What does your reception smell like? Is your cleaning regime supporting the experience or suffocating it? Do your catered halls smell like food or floor cleaner? Smell is not just aesthetic. It’s narrative. It’s measurable. In retail, ambient scent can increase purchase intent by up to 80%. In hospitality, scent branding is big business. But this isn’t just about fancy diffusers. It’s about intent.
Here’s where we think the sector can step up:
• Scent audits – Walk the space and sniff
• Training – Teach scent awareness
• Design for scent – Rethink airflow and materials
• Challenge “neutral” – Sterile isn’t always better
• Smell as a tool – Use scent to shift mood
With air quality back in the headlines, the opportunity is clear. Smell is cheap, powerful, and inclusive. It cuts across language, age, culture, and even sight. We are constantly dealing with complex technical ventilation scenarios and these always have a bearing.
But if you use aroma well, and you create memory, mood, appetite, even trust. Ignore it, and your space may smell like nothing. Or worse, like something you didn’t mean. Let’s be intentional. Let’s put smell back on the operational agenda.
Want to sniff out some real independent expertise? Then get in touch
