The equity fund-owned firm, formed through a merger with Dragoco and Haarman & Reimer in 2002, flagged up its aims when announcing a new CEO for the firm.
Current head James D. Forman will be replaced on 1 March by Dr. Gerold Linzbach.
"Symrise has the potential to become one of the top three global players on the flavors and fragrances market. With its competent, committed employees, Symrise has already reached extraordinary levels of success," said the incoming CEO Linzbach .
Today positioned in the top five world flavour firms, last year Symrise revealed strong ambitions to improve competitiveness, slashing jobs and setting up production consolidation to eek out more favourable trading conditions.
In November 2004 the firm announced: 580 jobs would go by the end of 2006, with around 350 of these in Germany; employees across the firm would work a 40 hour week replacing the current 37.5 hour week, without wage increases; a salary freeze for the next two years.
On the production side, Symrise, owned by Northern Europe Private Equity Fonds (EQT), outlined aims to expand its fragrance and flavours production in Holzminden and consolidate production of natural flavouring substances on site, while retaining production in Nördlingen.
The highly competitive flavour industry, valued at €5.8bn in 2003 by IAL Consultants, is driven by the top ten industry leaders that dominate 65 per cent of the total market. Swiss firm Givaudan tops the stakes with about €1.8bn worth of sales and 13.5 per cent market share, in fourth position Symrise takes about 9 per cent.
The soon-to-depart CEO, Jim Forman, recently told FoodNavigator.com that a key issue impacting flavour firms - as with other food ingredient and additive suppliers - is ongoing mergers and acquisitions of their customers.
"The main issue is consolidation in our customer database that gives them leverage in buying power. Increasing price pressures mean we need to be cost effective," he said.
"The average industry growth rate is in the region of 2 to 3 per cent, at 1.5 per cent we were below this last year," commented Forman in June.