CHINA – German flavour and fragrance manufacturer,Symrise has opened a new production site in Nantong, China, after investing €50 million (US$55 million) in the state-of-the-art production facility, the company’s biggest individual investment in China.
Symrise initiated the investment in back in 2016 to enable the company benefit from the rapidly expanding flavor and fragrance market in the world’s second-largest economy.
While the investment id geared towards the future and growth of the company in the market, Symrise says that the development also correlates with the history of the flavour house in the country.
In the past ten years, the company has grown around eight percent per year on average. With a six-percent share of total sales, China follows the USA and Germany as the third-strongest revenue-generating market for Symrise.
With the venture, Symrise added that it wants to build on its success with its proven strategy and dedicated team. The subsidiary Tesium, specialist in technology, safety and the environment, assisted the local Symrise experts in planning and implementation.
“The celebratory and partially virtual opening of our plant in Nantong demonstrates our trust in the Chinese market, and we are consciously committing ourselves to the world’s strongest growth region. Of course, we are also keeping a close eye on how the COVID-19 situation is progressing here,” comments CEO Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram on the strategic approach.
“From these observations, we enacted measures and were successful in keeping our entire business running and opening our plant as planned. Ultimately, we want to reliably serve our customers in China and grow with them.”
The new facility adds to the German flavours and fragrances specialist’s growing presence. In November, the company inaugurated its Creative Center in the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt to strengthen its reach in the Midlle East and Africa region and its collaboration with strategic customers.
Symrise has also partnered with consumer goods giant, Unilever to open an innovation lab at the Unilever Foods Innovation Centre in the so-called “Food Valley” of Wageningen, Netherlands.
By having Symrise resources directly at Unilever’s site, the company is pioneering a new approach that seeks to accelerate development of innovative culinary foods. Symrise has also opened its first applications labs in Nigeria as part of a growth strategy to strengthen its presence in the growing West African market.
The company is further set to acquire US meat and egg-based protein specialist and pioneer in all-natural nutrition ingredients, International Dehydrated Foods (IDF) and American Dehydrated Foods (ADF), in a deal that will see the ingredients supplier cough out US$900 million.
