Givaudan’s Savoury Manufacturing Facility, Nantong, China

Givaudan, a leading Swiss company in the fragrance and flavouring industry, began construction of a new world-class savoury flavouring and snack seasoning manufacturing facility at Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China, in April 2013. The new facility was officially opened in June 2015. It produces culinary flavour blends, snack seasonings, spray dries and process flavourings.

It is Givaudan’s first flavouring manufacturing site outside of Shanghai and will create more than 100 jobs. Built with an investment of Sfr50m ($52.18m), the savoury plant is one of Givaudan’s biggest investments in China since 2006.

Details of Givaudan’s manufacturing facility in China

The Nantong manufacturing facility has been developed to meet the demand for innovative flavouring and taste solutions in China. It is equipped with advanced manufacturing technologies and equipment.

The facility is designed to achieve the ISO: 9001 certification and established in accordance with allergen management principles. It also follows the guidelines of the latest food hygiene practices in China.

Technologies such as powder blending, process flavourings and spray drying are applied at the plant. The processing methods enhance the reaction yield of targeted compounds in the product, which improves the overall tonality of foods. This new process helps manufacture more specific and authentic flavours.

Contractors involved in Nantong savoury plant

PM Group was awarded the engineering, procurement, construction and management contract (EPCM) for the new savoury manufacturing facility.

Products from Givaudan’s flavouring division

A global leader in the fragrance and flavouring industry, Givaudan offers products to food, beverage, consumer goods and fragrance companies worldwide. Its operations are divided into fragrance and flavouring divisions.

The fragrance division comprises fine fragrances, consumer products and fragrance ingredients, while the flavouring division is made up of beverages and savoury, dairy and sweet goods. Sales and marketing, research and development of both divisions are performed separately. When required, the divisions share resources and knowledge in the areas of research, consumer understanding and purchasing.

Givaudan has a varied number of trademarked technologies for different products. The trademarked TasteEssentials chicken flavouring programme involves collecting natural and authentic chicken flavours from around the world. PureDelivery technology was developed to protect the sensitive chicken flavour components.

The trademarked Taste Essentials dairy and cheese provides high-quality dairy and cheese flavours for cream filling, as well as a seasoning for chips, snacks and crackers.

Taste Solutions™ Salt helps to maintain the product taste and quality while reducing sodium levels. Taste Solutions Umami enhances foods that lack the negative labelling associated with monosodium glutamate (MSG) and artificial additives.

The Givaudan Flavours ByNature programme offers manufacturers natural flavour and taste solutions for natural flavour labelling on finished products.

Givaudan marketing commentary

Headquartered in Switzerland, Givaudan was formed in 1768 and has since expanded its market in more than 40 countries. It currently employs more than 9,500 people.

The company entered the Chinese market in 1988 and has emerged as the leading multinational flavouring house. It gained dominance in the flavouring market in China by developing sophisticated and advanced technologies for beverages, dairy, savoury, snack and food services segments.

Givaudan’s production sites in China include a flavourings site at Jinqiao Export Processing Zone, Shanghai, a fragrances site at Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, Shanghai and a speciality products site at Songjiang Industry Zone, Shanghai.

The Chinese flavourings market is expected to have a market potential of CNY6.7bn (approximately $1.07bn) and the compound annual growth rate is expected to reach 6.6% by 2015.