Givaudan Expands Flavor Innovation Center, Announces Food4Future Partnership

24 Nov 2016 --- Givaudan has invested CHF 5 million (USD4.9 million) in an expansion of its Flavor Innovation Centre (FIC) in Singapore.

The FIC is home to the Asia Pacific (APAC) campus of the Givaudan Flavor School, which is training the next generation of flavorists in the region, and the APAC Academy which supports continuous learning.

The expanded Singapore center will include a new fully integrated culinary space for concept development, as well as new or expanded savory, bakery, confectionery, beverage and dairy facilities to serve all market sectors.

The investment enhances Givaudan’s innovation capabilities in APAC, facilitating a regional focus on applied innovation, collaboration and knowledge sharing, to complement its global network. Within the FIC Givaudan flavorists will leverage the latest ingredients and technologies to develop holistic customer solutions that can go straight to market.

Givaudan Chief Executive Officer, Gilles Andrier said: “The expansion of the Singapore Flavor Innovation Centre supports our 2020 strategy of investment in high growth markets, and builds on our recent developments in Nantong, China; Karachi, Pakistan, and Pune in India. It demonstrates our continuing commitment to growing with our customers and providing them with differentiated flavor solutions for consumer preferred products that meet local market needs.”

These new facilities mean Givaudan is ideally placed to address regional trends such as the needs of a middle class concerned with health and wellness but without wanting to compromise on taste.

Expanded capacity in Singapore will enable greater collaboration and innovation with customers to meet their needs, and those of a growing mass market with a desire for quality products with natural ingredients.

Commenting at the opening ceremony Monila Kothari, Givaudan’s regional Commercial Head of APAC said: “Givaudan has been serving customers in Singapore since 1992. This expansion underlines our ongoing commitment to our APAC and ASEAN customers, by offering them superior levels of innovative and creative flavor and taste solutions.”

Separately, Givaudan is part of the winning EIT Food Knowledge and Innovation Community which will drive sustainable transformation towards a more consumer-centric and resource-efficient food sector.

The winner of the pan-European competition was announced by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) last week. Over the next seven years, the EIT Food Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) will build sustainable end-to-end food supply chains realized through transformative innovation and education initiatives, with a central role for the consumer.

Mauricio Graber, President Givaudan Flavor Division, said: “Givaudan has been working with our EIT Food partners over the past two years to craft the winning development plan, and we are naturally delighted our bid has been successful. We are fully committed to working together to develop a more sustainable food industry. The programs and objectives are strongly aligned with Givaudan’s 2020 strategy which focuses on sustainability, health and well-being and working with our partners to create great tasting food.”

With broad coverage in EU member states and associated countries, EIT Food KIC is a unique partnership of 50 leading companies, universities, and scientific partners covering the entire food value chain. With the consumers as change agents, each partner is committed to jointly transform the way in which we currently produce, distribute and consume our food.

EIT Food will set up four innovation programs targeting societal challenges: personalized healthy food (FoodConnects Assistant), the digitalization of the food system (The Web of Food), consumer driven supply chain development and new technology adoption in farming, processing and retail (Your Fork2Farm), and resource efficient processes, turning the food sector into the spearhead for transforming the currently linear ‘produce-use-dispose’ model into a circular bioeconomy (The Zero Waste Agenda).

EIT Food KIC will build a trusted food innovation ecosystem to support consumers’ right to a healthy and more environmentally sustainable diet.

Chris Thoen, Givaudan Head of Global Science and Technology, said: “The best way to be prepared for the future is to actually create it. We believe EIT Food KIC is a great consortium and network to define and enable the future of food. Givaudan shares the EIT food philosophy of fostering innovation and putting the consumer at the center of everything we do. We are excited Givaudan is playing its part in this.”