Symrise opens Asia-Pacific Flavor Innovation and Technology Centre

29 May 2017

Symrise has unveiled its new Asia-Pacific Flavor Innovation and Technology Centre. The centre marks the completion of the company’s over €30 million expansion of its regional headquarters in Singapore.

Symrise has unveiled its new Asia-Pacific Flavor Innovation and Technology Centre. The centre marks the completion of the company’s over €30 million expansion of its regional headquarters in Singapore, which aims to boost local food manufacturing capabilities and to contribute to Singapore‘s vision of becoming Asia’s regional food and nutrition hub.

“Asia is fast becoming one of the main global sources of influence and inspiration for innovative food products. And major centres for business, lifestyle, technology, health and nutrition like Singapore will be at the heart of this megatrend“, said Heinz-Jürgen Bertram, Chief Executive Officer of Symrise. “Similarly, Singapore will continue to be within the heart of our growth story and I believe the new research and innovation facilities will ignite greater collaboration, connectivity and creativity among industry stakeholders. That will further develop Singapore’s food research and manufacturing industry capabilities“.

Based in the company’s new regional HQ building, the centre houses several facilities that have been designed in accordance with Symrise’s R&D strategy which it says focuses on connecting megatrends, consumer needs, customer requirements, sustainability, innovation and cost efficiency.

“Recognising that Asian consumer tastes are the future drivers of the global flavor industry, I am pleased to announce that Symrise will be the first major firm to base its Global Sensory and Consumer Insight function and teams in Asia,” said Lionel Flutto, President, Flavor, Asia Pacific, Symrise. “This emphasises both, our commitment to Asia, and forming the foundation of our future innovations research, technology and development.”

According to the company, the Flavor Innovation and Technology Centre is the latest Symrise initiative to help food manufacturing, FMCG, nutritional supplement and pharmaceutical companies gain insights into the tastes and preferences of Asia’s increasingly influential consumers. Research and technology capabilities will be applied to discover new flavour compounds, create new natural and sustainable products that meet the preferences and cultural requirements of Asian consumers and to demonstrate how these new products can be applied in shelf-stable manufactured foods. This research will be applied to develop both, food flavour innovation for customers in Asia, and also to support innovation-driven projects for key global customers.

The company said that the intention is to evolve industry expertise within Symrise Asia Pacific to a level that will allow the creation of new technologies for Singapore and regional customers. With the launch of the new Centre, Symrise Asia Pacific will also be able to mirror the capabilities available at the company’s global headquarters in Germany, and accelerate the development of new products for Singapore companies looking to grow across Asia.