Letters from our leadership

Letter from our chairman

Dear shareholders,

As we reflect on 2024, we recognise the dynamic and complex global landscape that we are operating in. This year has brought both opportunities and challenges, shaped by continued economic uncertainties, the urgency of climate action, and the evolving expectations of our customers. As we navigate these complexities, I am particularly proud of the outstanding results we have achieved – they are a testament to the dedication and hard work of our Givaudan colleagues, who remain focused on creating value for all of our stakeholders.

At Givaudan, transparency is fundamental and we hold ourselves to the highest standards of reporting. To this end, I am pleased to share that we have fully included the Swiss Ordinance on Non-Financial Reporting and the Climate-related Financial Disclosure in our 2024 Integrated Report.

Reporting against measurable financial and non-financial targets allows us to show how we are growing our business in a sustainable way. Another aspect of our commitment to transparency and integrity is our continuing collaboration with competition authorities on the ongoing investigation into the fragrance industry.

I want to sincerely thank everyone who contributes to making our journey possible – our employees, partners, and all key stakeholders. This report reflects the continued growth and long-term value we are creating, as well as our resilience. We are proud to have delivered strong top line growth of 12.3% on a like-for-like basis and to have generated a free cash flow of CHF 1,158 million, or 15.6% of sales, highlighting the strength of our business model. I am pleased to share that with an average like-for-like sales growth of 7.2% for the period 2021–2024, Givaudan is highly likely to exceed the upper end of its average five-year sales growth target of 4–5% on a like-for-like basis for the period 2021–2025. In line with our commitment to returning cash to shareholders, our Board of Directors is pleased to propose a cash dividend of CHF 70.00 per share marking our twenty-fourth consecutive increase.

Our focus on delivering innovative, high-value solutions for our customers continues to strengthen our position in the market and sets the stage for responsible future growth. As you will read in this report, we introduced exciting innovations in Taste & Wellbeing and Fragrance & Beauty, and further developed our digital and AI capabilities. These achievements illustrate the skills, creativity and adaptability of our teams, and I am proud of their remarkable efforts.

Our commitment to creating value for people, communities, and the planet is unwavering. The Board oversees every aspect of our ESG strategy and continues to actively shape the direction and targets we set. I am proud to acknowledge the solid progress we have made on many of our environmental and social targets, reflecting our dedication to sustainability and positive community impact, with examples shared throughout this report.

2024 has also brought some painful moments, which cause us to reflect deeply. The terrible accident in Louisville has profoundly impacted the Givaudan community, and our thoughts remain with those affected. We reaffirm our strong commitment to creating a safe and nurturing environment for all our employees. This experience serves as a catalyst for us to further enhance our practices and strengthen our safety culture, ensuring that we emerge more resilient and united as we move forward together.

In the spirit of resilience, I would like to emphasise our strong focus on talent development and robust succession planning. Our long-time established programme ensures we have the right competencies and diverse expertise at every level; vital for stability and continuity within our Board of Directors, Executive Committee and senior management. As part of our succession planning, the Nomination Committee regularly reviews the succession of all Executive Committee members, ensuring that we are prepared for any future transitions. I am delighted that we have successfully nominated highly experienced internal leaders to step into the roles of retiring Executive Committee members. At the AGM in March 2025, Olivier Filliol, a valued member of the Board, will retire, and on behalf of the Board, I extend our heartfelt gratitude for his dedication and significant contributions. I am also pleased that we will propose to elect Melanie Maas-Brunner with effect as of the date of the AGM, and Louie D’Amico, with effect as of October 2025, as new Board members.

As we enter the final year of our current strategy cycle, the Board is actively guiding the establishment of our 2030 ambitions, inspired by the opportunities that lie ahead, and I am confident that Givaudan is well-positioned for a sustainable growth path in the future.

In closing, I would like to share my thanks to you, our shareholders, for your continued trust and support. I look forward to meeting you in person at our Annual General Meeting on 20 March 2025.

Calvin Grieder
Chairman

CEO’s review

Reflecting on 2024, I would like to thank all our stakeholders for their continued support and commitment on delivering on our 2025 strategic ambitions. Thanks to your trust, we have achieved remarkable progress, demonstrating our growth, agility, and resilience.

The year 2024 has been truly exceptional, marked by significant milestones and challenges. We are proud to report an impressive 12.3% like-for-like (LFL) sales growth, reflecting our strong market presence and commitment to excellence. 

Our comparable EBITDA margin reached 24.5%, and our free cash flow reached for the first time over 1 billion CHF or 15.6% of sales. This outstanding financial performance illustrates Givaudan's ability to thrive in a rapidly changing and complex environment.

Growth, innovation, sustainability: drivers of our success

Aligned with our 2025 strategy, ‘Committed to Growth, with Purpose’, we have established ambitious financial and non-financial targets. Our significant progress highlights our dedication to responsible growth and ESG principles.

Growth

In 2024, Givaudan achieved exceptionally high volume growth, exceeding 10%. We take great pride in the fact that our sustained growth is anchored in a broad array of natural hedges across product segments, geographies, and customer groups.

The Group’s strong sales were driven by double-digit growth in both divisions, Fragrance & Beauty (F&B) and Taste & Wellbeing (T&W).

At a product segment level, all product segments in F&B grew double-digit, with Fine Fragrances leading the way at an impressive 18.4%. In T&W, we recorded strong double-digit growth in snacks, beverages and dairy, as well as good momentum in sweet goods and savoury. Our growth at group level was strongly supported by our core business of Fragrances and Flavours in addition to expanding beyond our traditional portfolio into adjacent spaces. In Active Beauty for example, we have become the leading benchmark for high-precision biotech beauty ingredients. With our recent acquisition of b.Kolormakeup & Skincare, we now offer innovative solutions for make-up formulations and skincare applications. Growth is also fueled through our Integrated Solutions offering in T&W, which provides a high added value to our customers.

At a geographical level, we recorded strong performance across all markets, with high growth markets growing at 19.5%, and mature markets at 6.4% LFL. The strong performance in high growth markets was amongst others bolstered by key markets like China, where we strengthened our presence with L’Appartement 125, our new Fine Fragrance Creative Centre in Shanghai, fostering co-creation with Chinese brands and solidifying our market leadership.

At the customer level, we have experienced particularly strong volume growth with local and regional customers, especially in Asia and the SAMEA region. At the same time, we have also seen good momentum in sales with our global and key international customers.

Innovation

Innovation is essential to Givaudan’s success, and we are dedicated to creating solutions that promote happier and healthier lives. Our strategic investment of around 8% of sales in research and development translated into innovations in Taste, Sense, Nutrition, and protein alternatives in Taste & Wellbeing, as well as ingredients, naturals and delivery systems in Fragrances and Active Beauty. This focus enables us to meet evolving consumer needs and solidify our position as industry leaders in value-added solutions for our customers. We are also expanding our network of external innovation partners, including industry leaders, academia, start-ups, and technology providers. Moving forward, our commitment to innovation will remain central to our growth strategy, helping us navigate challenges and seize new opportunities.

I will share a small selection of our innovations and invite you to read more throughout our report: PrimalHyal™ 50 Life, our low molecular weight hyaluronic acid, meets the increasing demand for eco-friendly cosmetic ingredients by achieving a 91% reduction in environmental impact through our revolutionary production method. Similarly, in the context of a declining and volatile natural supply of citrus oils due to greening disease, SunThesis® provides a sustainable alternative that is crucial for mitigating environmental impact and ensuring a stable ingredient supply. Ingredients such as Neuroglow™ help uplift mood and positive emotions, while Svetol™ supports weight management and cardiovascular health, demonstrating how we help our customers create products for happier and healthier lives.

By embracing digital transformation through targeted initiatives and leveraging AI and automation, we have further transformed our business to be smarter and more agile. For instance, we use AI-run platforms like Customer Foresight to innovate food and beverage experiences and Givaudanperfume.id to better serve local customers. Moreover, we introduced a secure internal version of a generative artificial intelligence chatbot to boost efficiency while keeping human creativity at the core. Our Digital Factory’s new expanded space in Central Paris enhances our commitment to digital innovation and collaborative customer solutions.

Sustainability

We have made significant progress towards our ESG goals, turning responsibility into an opportunity to create shared value for our stakeholders and the planet.

In line with our Nature ambition to be climate positive before 2050, we have reduced scope 1+2 emissions by 48%, and we have achieved our 100% purchased renewable electricity target. However, scope 3 emissions, primarily from purchased goods and transportation, have increased by 6%, underscoring the challenge of decoupling volume growth from emissions. Addressing this is our top priority as we work to achieve long-term reductions across our value chain. To this end, I am pleased to share that we have validated new ambitious targets with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to reach net-zero GHG across our value chain by 2045.

With regard to progressing against our social ambitions, we are proud of our equal pay practices. In 2024, we obtained the Fair-ON-Pay certification in seven additional countries, now covering more than 80% of our employee population. This achievement advances us towards our People ambition to ‘create a place where we all love to be and grow’.

While our global safety protocols and practices are continuously strengthened, we are deeply affected by the tragic accident in Louisville in November. Our thoughts remain with all those affected, and we are committed to supporting them through this difficult time, as well as our colleagues in Louisville, and the members of the local community. We take health and safety incredibly seriously and have initiated a rigorous onsite investigation to understand the exact circumstances that led to the explosion and to prevent future tragedies. The safety and wellbeing of our employees, visitors, and the communities where we operate, remain our top priority.

We also recognise the importance of addressing social issues within our supply chain, particularly the risk of child labour. In 2024 we developed a training and vigilance programme to enhance our responsible sourcing efforts and collaborated with the Fair Labour Association and the International Labour Organization. Through our Sourcing4Good programme, agronomy initiatives, and the Givaudan Foundation, we progressed towards our two community goals of sourcing responsibly and improving lives in communities where we source and operate. Our projects embody best practices across a range of topics from regenerative agriculture and biodiversity to water, health and sanitation (WASH), human rights, traceability and more. We also announced a new Humanitarian Fund to support communities where we are present during major crises. Our vision is to build a thriving business with sustainability at its core.

Preparing for the future 

Looking ahead, 2025 represents the final year of our current strategic cycle. I am pleased to see that with an average like-for-like sales growth of 7.2% for the period 2021–2024, Givaudan is highly likely to exceed the upper end of its average five-year sales growth target of 4–5% on a like-for-like basis for the period 2021-2025. As we focus on successfully completing this cycle, we are already laying the groundwork for our next phase, and our 2030 strategy will seize opportunities to drive ambitious future growth.

As we reflect on our achievements this year, I would like to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to Tom Hallam and Louie D’Amico, who are retiring from the Executive Committee. Their significant contributions, leadership, and vision have been invaluable to Givaudan, and we will miss their insights and dedication. At the same time, I am pleased to welcome our new Executive Committee members, Stewart Harris and Antoine Khalil. Both are long-standing internal leaders with exceptional business expertise, and I am confident they will bring fresh perspectives and I look forward to our collaboration and driving our continued success.

I extend my sincere appreciation to all our stakeholders for your trust and support. We remain steadfast in our commitment to successfully complete our 2025 strategy. In the face of continuing market volatility, we will stay agile and responsive. I am confident that our robust strategy and focus on execution, as well as our dedicated talents will empower us to maintain our growth trajectory and navigate future challenges with resilience.

Gilles Andrier
CEO