Firmenich, the world’s largest privately-owned flavor and fragrance company, has officially opened a new, custom-designed Culinary Center of Excellence in Vienna, Austria, completing a strategic investment in its Flavors Division’s Savory business.
This new state-of-the-art culinary and technical center was designed for collaborative development work with clients in Europe. The facility integrates key functions of the Savory group into one facility, including chefs, flavorists and food scientists, to provide an integrated customer support experience. Consistent with Firmenich’s high level of investment in Innovation, this new facility will be an important deployment center for new technologies for the Savory business in Europe and around the world.
“Based on the continued growth of our customers in Eastern Europe and given Vienna’s central location, we are excited to have made this strategic investment. Opening this facility marks an important milestone for our Savory business in Europe and for our clients,” says Ricarda Maywald, Vice President of Savory Europe. “We have created a modern, well-equipped flavor and food development facility in a dynamic and cosmopolitan city,” she added.
Aldo Uva, President of Firmenich Flavors, attended the opening. “This investment underlines not only our desire to be closer to our clients in the market place,” he said, “but also our commitment to growing our Savory business as a key segment in our Flavors Division. This facility is another great asset for our company and will allow us to continue to expand our Savory application and technology capabilities.”
Firmenich is the world’s largest privately owned company (No.2 worldwide) in the fragrance and flavor business. Founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1895, it has created many of the world’s best-known perfumes and flavors that we enjoy each day. Its passion for smell and taste is at the heart of its success. It is renowned for its creativity and innovation, as well as its exceptional understanding of consumer trends. Each year, it invests around 10% of its turnover in R&D, reflecting its continuous desire to understand, share and sublimate the best of nature’s offering. Firmenich had an annual turnover of 2.782 billion Swiss Francs at end June 2011.
