Firmenich Awarded Medal in Corporate Governance

The largest privately-owned company in the perfume and flavor business, Firmenich, announces that Fred-Henri Firmenich has been awarded a medal in Corporate Governance by the International Academy of Quality.

6/28/2011 --- Firmenich has announced that Mr. Fred-Henri Firmenich, former Chairman of Firmenich, was awarded the Marcos E. J. Bertin Quality in Governance Medal by the International Academy of Quality at the World Conference on Quality held in Budapest on June 22, 2011. The Bertin Medal was presented to Mr. Firmenich “in recognition of his exceptional professional contributions to the practice and development of sound principles of good corporate governance” by IAQ President Gregory Watson and Dr. Marcos Bertin, Past Chairman and Honorary Member of the IAQ.

During the ceremony, Mr. Firmenich was acknowledged by the Academy as a pioneer among private companies for his determination to instill a sustainable model of corporate governance and for his activities at the Board of Directors level.

Mr. Firmenich joined the Firmenich Group in 1959 and served in a number of international positions prior to becoming the Chief Executive Officer of the Company in 1973. He was named Chairman of the Board in 1984 and remained in that position until 2000. Mr. Firmenich has also served on the Boards of Sandoz AG (Novartis) and the Swiss National Bank.

The International Academy for Quality was founded in 1966 by a consortium of national organizations from Europe, Japan and the United States and is the world’s premier quality organization and the most distinguished global forum for discourse on quality related matters.

Firmenich is the world’s largest privately owned company (No.2 worldwide) in the fragrance and flavor business. 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 2.873 billion Swiss Francs at end June 2010.