CHINA – Givaudan has laid a foundation towards the construction of a new production hub worth US$102 million in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province of China, set to become operational in 2020.

This is Givaudan’s largest investment, which is targeted towards the reiteration of the company’s commitment to continue investing in high growth markets such as China.

The new site will marginally increase the company’s manufacturing capacity while maintaining best-in-class service levels to its customers across North East Asia.

“This investment in this key high growth market is another significant milestone in achieving our 2020 strategy ambitions.

By further building our capability in China, we confirm our position as a strategic partner to our customers in the region.

We aim to continue growing with them to anticipate and meet future consumer needs and preferences in fragrances,” said Givaudan Chief Executive Officer, Gilles Andrier, while speaking at the ceremony.

The new hub, which represents a land area of 76,000 square metres, with a state-of-the-art compounding technology will have a very high degree of automation and will be deployed on a wide range of processes for fragrance manufacturing.

“The new fragrance production hub will cover all the key product forms such as fragrances, oral care flavours, and encapsulation in the same location.

After our major investment in Singapore, we continue our expansion in Asia by laying the foundation of this very large facility in China, which demonstrates our long term commitment in the region.

It will support us in continuing to build on the strong partnerships that we have with our customers in the country,” said Maurizio Volpi, President of Givaudan’s Fragrance Division.

“As a leader in fragrance creation, Givaudan intends to fully capture market opportunities by leveraging our global knowledge and technologies while developing local activities, infrastructure, talent and consumer understanding.

By investing in Changzhou, we are not only building a world-class fragrance facility, but we also aim to be an employer of choice and a good corporate citizen in the area,” added Georges Sanchez, Company Manager of Givaudan Fragrances (Changzhou) Limited.

Ding Chun, Mayor of Changzhou Municipal People’s Government, also joined Givaudan’s CEO, Gilles Andrier to unveil the corner stone at the ceremony.