is the world's largest producer of , the company's flavor operations are headquarted in
Cincinnati ,
Ohio and the fragrance operations are headquarted in
Paris ,
France .
Gilles Andrier is the current
CEO of Givaudan taking over in
2004 from
Dr Jürg Witmer who is the current chairman of the
Board Of Directors .
Major competitors include
Firmenich ,
International Flavors And Fragrances ,
Symrise and
Quest International .
Givaudan was founded in
1895 in
Zurich (
Switzerland ) by Leon and Xavier Givaudan. In
1898 Givaudan moved to
Geneva (
Switzerland ) and constructed a factory in
Vernier . In
1963 , Givaudan was acquired by Roche. In
1964 ,
Roche acquired Roure and in
1991 Givaudan and
Roure were merged to form Givaudan-Roure. In
1997 Givaudan-Roure acquired Tastemaker based in
Cincinnati ,
Ohio (
USA ). In
2000 Givaudan-Roure was spun-off by its parent company as Givaudan and listed on the
Swiss Stock Exchange (Code GIVN.VX) where it is part of the
SMI . In
2002 Givaudan acquired FIS the flavors division of
Nestle .
In
1937 Givaudan's predecessor
Roure created the first designer perfume: Schocking for Schiaparelli.
