Karen Jones Appointed to Firmenich Board

Sankey: “The election of Ms. Jones reinforces our strategy of ensuring a broad diversity of knowledge on our Board, together with a mix of Firmenich family and outside members.”

6/23/2011 --- Firmenich is pleased to announce that Ms. Karen E.D. Jones, C.B.E., has been elected to its Board of Directors at a Shareholders Meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 20, 2011.

“The election of Ms. Jones reinforces our strategy of ensuring a broad diversity of knowledge on our Board, together with a mix of Firmenich family and outside members”, said Vernon Sankey, Chairman of the Board. “In particular, Ms. Jones brings an exceptional entrepreneurial track record, coupled with comprehensive experiences in M&A, operations and marketing.”

Karen Jones is currently the Founder and Chairman of Food and Fuel Ltd, a hospitality company in London that specializes in high end “gastropub” restaurants. Prior to Food and Fuel, Ms. Jones was Chief Executive Officer of the Spirit Group Ltd, a private equity backed pub & restaurant group in the U.K. built up by acquisitions, where she served from 1999 until January 2006. Ms. Jones also co-founded the Pelican Group plc, owner of a number of successful and rapidly expanding restaurant chains, including Café Rouge, which was acquired by Whitbread in 1996. Ms. Jones is currently a Non-Executive Director of Booker Group plc (FTSE 250 Company and wholesale supplier to UK small businesses), Virgin Active Group Ltd (International health club business), ASOS plc (on-line fashion retailer), COFRA AG (an international holding company) and of Royal National Theatre Enterprises Ltd. She is a Governor of the Ashridge Business School and a member of the Rebuilding Childhoods Board of the NSPCC. She is 54, a British national and holds an honors degree from the University of East Anglia in the U.K. and also attended Wellesley College in the U.S.A.

Ms. Jones was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) in June of 2006 in recognition of her service in the hospitality industry.