(
IFF ) is a major producer of
Flavors and
Fragrance s with sales of $1.99 billion in
2005 .
Major competitors include
Firmenich ,
Givaudan ,
Quest International and
Symrise . IFF is a member of the
S&P 500
IFF was founded in
1958 by the merger between the worldwide operations of Polak & Schwarz and van Ameringen-Haebler. Ironically A.L. van Ameringen had immigrated to the U.S. in
1917 to work for Polak & Schwarz before leaving to open his own business, later to become Ameringen-Haebler in
1929 . IFF predecessor Polak & Schwarz was formed in
1889 by Joseph Polak and Leopold Schwarz in the small
Dutch town of
Zutphen to process concentrated fruit juices.
IFF was listed on the
New York Stock Exchange in 1964. The company has paid
Dividend s to share holders since 1956. In 2000, the board of directors cut the dividend from $0.38 per share to $0.15 per share, beginning with the fourth quarter 2000 dividend. This action ended a 39 year history of uninterupted dividend increases, and greatly disappointed shareholders. The most recent dividend was $0.185 per share declared on December 19, 2005, payable on January 9th 2006 to shareholders of record on December 22, 2005.
Current Chairman and CEO
Richard A. Goldstein is planning to retire following the Annual Shareholder Meeting scheduled for May 9,
2006 . The company is currently searching for a successor.
