Symrise Welcomes a Top-ranking Chef on Board

Marcus Leben will also assume primary responsibility in developing chicken and beef flavorings, an area where Symrise has already demonstrated its strengths.

10/10/08 Marcus Leben has been named the new Principal International Chef at the global fragrance and flavoring manufacturer Symrise. This recently created position in the Savory business unit will help Symrise enhance its culinary expertise in the field of savory flavorings. Marcus Leben's main responsibilities will include strategically expanding and supervising the company's international Chefs Network.

On August 1, 2008, 37-year-old Marcus Leben took over the newly created position of the Principal International Chef of the Savory business unit for Europe, Africa and the Middle East in the Flavor & Nutrition division at Symrise. This role links the development and application technology departments and works closely with consumer research, helping Symrise to meet the growing demand in the food industry when it comes to complex and authentic culinary product concepts.

With his 13 years of professional experience cooking at numerous star-rated restaurants throughout Europe, Marcus Leben is bringing the company the utmost in culinary competence.

Marcus Leben will make a major contribution to the existing team of international chefs at Symrise; his main task will be continuing to develop the external and in-house Chefs Network. The external network, which consists of renowned chefs from leading international restaurants, allows Symrise to develop culinarily diverse products which are tailored to the regional preferences of a given country and have an authentic taste profile. This will make it possible to detect restaurant trends early on and have in-house Symrise chefs translate these ideas into concepts with international appeal.

Marcus Leben will also assume primary responsibility in developing chicken and beef flavorings, an area where Symrise has already demonstrated its strengths. He will also handle the culinary consulting for client presentations, corporate events and trade fairs. There are also plans to create a culinary center where Symrise will work jointly with clients to create new flavor concepts.

After undergoing training as a chef, Marcus Leben spent 13 years working in major award-winning restaurants in Germany, France and Italy. Among others, he worked at Schwarzwaldstube at the Hotel Traube Tonbach in Baiersbronn, the Jacobs Restaurant at the Hotel Louis C. Jacob in Hamburg as well as Prinz Frederik at the Hotel Abtei in Hamburg. Before coming to Symrise, Marcus Leben spent four and a half years in product development at Nestlé in Singen, where he was primarily responsible for the western European market.

“In Marcus Leben, we have found the perfect person for our newly created position of a Principal International Chef,” explains Frans Struiwig, Senior Vice President, Strategic Business Unit Savory, Flavor & Nutrition global. “Producing natural, authentic flavors is one of our company's core competences. With Marcus Leben at our side, we will be in an even better position to respond to the most complex client briefs. He designs creative flavoring solutions and offers our clients a comprehensive culinary service from the very outset of the project. Our main goals here are increasing the authenticity of industrially prepared foods, identifying and acting on new culinary trends as early as possible and developing customized concepts for a wide variety of markets across the globe. The culinary and snack-food segments will keep growing as well, and Marcus Leben is an outstanding partner for us here. Our clients will also benefit from Mr. Leben's long years of experience as a top-ranking chef, his high levels of creativity and his contacts to top international restaurants.”