Givaudan opens savoury flavour facility in Hungary

Swiss food ingredients company Givaudan has opened a new savoury flavours production facility in Makó, Hungary, with an investment of €130m.

The 50,000m² facility, which has a total production capacity of 40,000t, is expected to begin commercial production, including the manufacture of certified Kosher, Halal, and allergen-free flavours, in the next few months and will become completely operational by the end of 2013.

The facility currently employs over 200 people and once it achieves full production capacity it is expected to employ 300 people.

Dedicated to savoury flavours, the Makó production factory is expected to serve customers in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

Givaudan CEO Gilles Andrier said the new factory is the largest greenfield investment the company has ever made and an important part of its growth strategy.

"The size and greater automation in material handling and compounding of the new Makó facility will help us meet customers’ needs as the scale and complexity of the savoury and snacks market continues to grow," Andrier added.

The new site is expected to boost the company’s supply chain, expand its footprint in the developing markets and capture growth opportunities in the culinary and snacks segments.

Givaudan Flavours’ Europe, Middle East and Africa president Dan McCafferty was quoted by Foodnavigator.com as saying that the company opted to build a facility in Hungary as it is at the heart of central Eastern Europe, which will make it easy to cater to the EMEA region.

"Demand for savoury flavours in emerging markets has risen sharply over recent years as a result of higher consumer demand for snacks and packaged foods and we predict that this trend will continue," he added.

The savoury segment has approximately 33% share of the flavour market in the EMEA region.

In fiscal 2011, the savoury segment accounted for 35% of Givaudan’s total global flavour sales.