The manager is moving from Lanxess to Symrise.
(Photo: Symrise)
Dusseldorf The fragrance and aroma manufacturer Symrise is expanding its Executive Board by two members as of February 1st. The Dax group announced this on Tuesday. Stephanie Cossmann will be the first woman on the five-person board. She will take on the newly created position of Chief Human Resources Officer.
The law graduate was most recently a member of the board and labor director of the chemical company Lanxess. Symrise Supervisory Board Chairman Michael König was delighted to have “gained an experienced manager” in 49-year-old Cossmann.
Symrise is one of the world’s four largest fragrance and aroma manufacturers. According to the company, consumers come into contact with Symrise products around 20 to 30 times a day.
The group, based in Holzminden in Lower Saxony, ensures that toothpaste tastes like mint or ice cream like vanilla. Hardly any cosmetics or food manufacturer can do without the company’s supplies.
Symrise has increased its sales rapidly in recent years – by an average of around eight percent per year since 2006. In autumn 2021, the company was promoted to the leading index Dax. The manufacturer is gradually adapting its sometimes still medium-sized structures to group standards.
The management board of the fragrance and aroma manufacturer has grown by two people.
(Photo: Symrise)
The company wants to grow by five to seven percent per year in the coming years and needs the appropriate specialist staff to do so. Labor Director Cossmann is now to control these issues centrally.
As a smaller company, Symrise has not seen a need for a human resources officer at Executive Board level in recent years. The group now employs 12,000 people at over 120 locations.
Jörn Andreas is now in charge of important company divisions
Jörn Andreas has risen from the internal ranks to the board. From February, the 42-year-old will head the Scent & Care division. In this division, Symrise produces fragrances for perfumes, menthol for toothpaste and cosmetic active ingredients such as sun protection filters for skin creams. This area accounts for around 40 percent of group sales.
The manager takes over the management of the Scent & Care segment.
(Photo: Symrise)
Andreas, who holds a doctorate in economics, has been responsible for numerous acquisitions and strategic initiatives in several management positions.
Symrise CEO Heinz-Jürgen Bertram most recently headed the Scent & Care division on an interim basis after the manager who was previously responsible, Achim Daub, left the company in April 2021.
During this time, Bertram has developed the fine perfumery business in particular. For example, the Dax group uses new technologies to mix new perfumes together more quickly.
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Bertram has been CEO of Symrise since August 2009. His contract runs until 2025. Through clever acquisitions and the strategy of producing key raw materials himself, the doctor of chemistry has made a decisive contribution to growth. Industry observers are speculating whether the 64-year-old is still available for another term.
The Management Board is completed by CFO Olaf Klinger and Frenchman Jean-Yves Parisot, who is responsible for the fast-growing pet food flavorings and food and beverage flavorings business.
Symrise achieved sales of 4.6 billion euros in the past year. However, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) were below expectations at EUR 795.4 million, as the group recently warned in an ad hoc announcement. The reason for this was a write-down of EUR 126 million on a stake in a Swedish manufacturer of dietary supplements.
More: Dax group Symrise warns of lower profits