- Givaudan Company:
Web:givaudan.com
Givaudan, a Swiss multinational corporation, stands as the world's leading manufacturer of flavors, fragrances, and active cosmetic ingredients. With a storied history tracing back to 1768, Givaudan has persistently championed innovation and creativity in the domains of scent and taste. This biography delves into Givaudan's evolution, exploring its origins, pivotal milestones, and industry-defining achievements.
Founded in Lyon, France, by Léon and Xavier Givaudan in 1895, the company initially focused on perfumery. In 1898, Givaudan relocated to Geneva, Switzerland, establishing a factory in Vernier. By 1946, the company had founded a perfumery school that trained one-third of the world's creative perfumers. In 1948, Givaudan expanded into the flavor industry with the acquisition of Ersolko SA.
In 1963, Roche acquired Givaudan, and a year later, the pharmaceutical giant also acquired Roure, one of Givaudan's competitors. The two entities merged in 1991 to form Givaudan-Roure. The new company grew rapidly, acquiring flavor firms Fritzsche, Dodge, and Olcott in 1991, followed by Tastemaker in 1997. These acquisitions solidified Givaudan-Roure as the world's largest flavor company. In 2000, Roche spun off Givaudan-Roure as Givaudan, listing it on the Swiss Stock Exchange.
In 2002, Givaudan acquired Nestlé's flavors division, FIS, with Nestlé taking a 10% stake in the company. Over the subsequent years, Givaudan continued its expansion, purchasing cheese flavor specialist IBF and fragrance giant Quest International in 2006. The Quest acquisition further entrenched Givaudan's global leadership in both fine fragrances and consumer products. In 2013, Nestlé sold its Givaudan shares for $1.3 billion.
Givaudan's commitment to innovation is exemplified by ScentTrek, a technology that captures the chemical composition of scents from living plants. Additionally, the company's TasteSolutions Richness line of flavors, introduced in 2014, underscores its expertise in flavor development.
Since 2014, Givaudan has acquired approximately 20 companies, including Naturex, AMSilk's cosmetics business, Albert Vieille, Fragrance Oils, and Golden Frog. These acquisitions have strengthened its industry presence, enabling diversification and expansion of its product portfolio.
The company is also a member of the European Flavour Association and actively promotes sustainable development through its Innovative Naturals program.
At Fragrantica, we strive to provide users with the most accurate and current fragrance information. However, when the name of a fragrance's creator is undisclosed, we sometimes list fragrance companies or houses such as IFF, Robertet, Firmenich, Mane, or Givaudan instead of individual perfumers. This is because these companies are renowned for their expertise and experience in fragrance creation, and their involvement in a fragrance's development is often a key piece of information for our users. While we always aim to identify the perfumers behind each fragrance, we believe listing these companies offers a useful and informative alternative when perfumer names are unavailable.
