Firmenich has officially inaugurated its manufacturing plant for encapsulated flavors in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Serving as a center of excellence for encapsulated technologies in Latin America, this new facility offers its customers increased competitiveness and speed-to-market for the Group’s core encapsulated flavor technologies, Durarome Aromatic and Flexarome.

“This significant investment reflects the strategic importance of Brazil, a critical market for Firmenich for the past 65 years,” says Gilbert Ghostine, CEO, Firmenich. “This center of excellence for encapsulated technologies enables us to develop competitive winning solutions for our customers’ with greater speed-to-market while optimizing our environmental footprint.”Durarome Aromatic and Flexarome are part of the company’s iconic brand of encapsulated flavors, Encapsolutions, which deliver maximum taste experience for consumers.

“Helping our customers meet the needs of their consumers is the cornerstone of our business,” says Chris Millington, President of Flavors. “We are thrilled to have the additional capacity here in Sao Paulo to offer the best-in-class encapsulated flavors to our customers across Latin America.”

Durarome sustains a product’s fresh taste throughout its shelf-life, particularly powdered soft drinks and oxidation-sensitive products such as citrus and tropical flavors like mango and passionfruit, which are popular in Latin America.

This authentic freshness in flavor ensures a desirable taste experience for consumers. Flexarome is a process-resistant and multi-dimensional flavor solution which acts in synergy with food and beverage products to intensify the taste impact and pleasure, by protecting flavor authenticity. This technology is used across categories such as bakery and cereal, hot drinks confectionary and culinary products. Specifically for savory applications, it can be used when replacing natural spices like onion, garlic and pepper in your final product.

To advance Firmenich’s ambitious 2020 environmental goals, this cutting-edge plant is designed to not only increase the Group’s operational efficiency but also to optimize its environmental footprint by reducing water consumption by 20 percent and energy consumption and waste by 15 percent.

Firmenich has been well established in Brazil since 1952. Employing more than 400 people, Firmenich Brazil spans two sites, including a world-class Creative Development Center, along with commercial and operational capabilities to best meet its customers’ needs with innovative and locally relevant solutions.

Firmenich launches “Naturals Together” in Sao Paulo
Elsewhere in the business, Firmenich proudly hosted its fourth signature “Naturals Together” event in São Paulo, Brazil launching the campaign for the first time in Latin America.

Building on the success of its Paris, New York and Singapore editions, the event brought together 16 of world’s best natural ingredient producers, alongside key fragrances and flavors customers. The gathering highlighted the importance of responsible sourcing, and how Firmenich partners with smallholder farmers around the world to shape a sustainable future for all.

“The Brazilian market is becoming increasingly more sophisticated, with a strong desire for naturals,” says Gilbert Ghostine, CEO Firmenich. “This is why it is critical for Firmenich to be sourcing the highest qualities of natural ingredients in the most responsible, sustainable and traceable way for our customers to delight their consumers responsibly.”

“The fast-growing demand for naturals, as well as increased expectations from customers around ethical sourcing, is placing naturals’ producers under increasing pressure,” added Dominique Roques, VP Naturals Firmenich. “Our capacity to bring innovative support to our Naturals Together partners is key to sustainably sourcing our naturals for the future. With these meaningful partnerships, we are shaping new business models and defining together with the next generation of responsible sourcing.”

An immersive sensorial experience rounded out the event, where customers from across Latin America were invited and encouraged to discover the source of Firmenich’s naturals. Smelling and tasting sessions highlighted a wide array of exquisite raw materials from across the region including cardamom, copaiba, tonka beans, mandarin and orange as well as a vast selection of naturals from around the world.