IFF upgrades Shanghai facilities to blend physical with digital for perfumes in Asia
02 Aug 2024 --- International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) is renovating and expanding its Shanghai facilities to boost its solutions in China and the Greater Asia markets. The site aims to strengthen global leadership in fragrances, flavors, functional ingredients and bioscience-based portfolios.
“The Shanghai Creative Center will bring together capabilities across IFF, all in one location, enabling us to improve our delivery of end-to-end solutions for customers in Asia and worldwide,” says Erik Fyrwald, IFF’s CEO.
“This was a natural next step following the opening of our Singapore Innovation Center in 2022 and reaffirms our dedication to advancing innovation in Asia.”
The center also features an exclusive fine fragrance area dedicated to the art of perfumery and a 360-degree digital space designed for live-streaming educational workshops. The latter offers an “immersive olfactory experience that bridges the physical and digital realms.”
The site will be fully operational by the end of this month.
Expanding in Asia
The Shanghai Creative Center will include an open-office layout, a sensory science center, a scent creative center and labs for creation, design and product analysis. The 16,000-square-meter site, named “Shanghai Creative Center,” is IFF’s largest facility in Asia.
The company aims for the center to “empower” perfumers and flavorists to craft new sensory experiences and meet the tastes of Chinese consumers, serving local, regional and international markets.
IFF entered the Chinese market in 1981, becoming the fragrance and flavor industry’s first multinational to establish a footprint and factory. Now, IFF asserts that China is one of the most essential markets for flavors and fragrances with “high growth potential.”
The region’s demand for bioscience-based products is accelerating as consumers increasingly seek options for greater longevity and healthy lifestyles.
IFF believes that its knowledge and experience in these sectors, combined with the investment in the innovation center, positioning it to offer “differentiated products to market quickly and effectively to support its customers’ brand growth strategies in China.”
“IFF has a long track record of partnering with our customers to create successful solutions that meet their consumers’ needs,” says Ana Paula Mendonça, IFF’s Scent president.
The Shanghai Creative Center will foster outstanding ideation, supporting the art of taste, biotech and perfumery for even more out-of-the-box innovation across our portfolio.”
