Located in Burton-on-Trent, Unilever produces non-branded flavorings to the chilled food categories as well as to the traditional culinary and snack food sectors. This is a Strategic focus area for Symrise and brings together a complementary customer base of existing and new accounts. With the acquisition, Symrise further strengthens its savory business by adding additional competencies and final recipes. Furthermore, Symrise achieves synergies by increased economies of scale in their own factories in Corby and Eye.

In 2006, Symrise launched its "taste for life“ program which has been successfully used to position itself in the market for flavors providing a "healthier taste.“ These include flavorings derived from natural products as well as ones which allow customers to significantly reduce the sugar, salt or fat content in their final products.

“By acquiring the Unilever’s U.K. food ingredients business, we are consistently pursuing our strategy of offering consumers not only a flavor but also an added value, e.g. healthier taste or improved convenience, says Heinrich Schaper, president Flavor & Nutrition Europe, Africa, Middle East. Bringing Unilever’s U.K. ingredient business into the Symrise portfolio provides these customers with access to new technologies and development resources which should see the business accelerate its growth. “

Heinz-Juergen Bertram, Global President Flavor & Nutrition states, "This acquisition is another good example of how we are consistently improving competitiveness in order to better leverage growth potential. It also aligns our aims with that of one of our most important customers, Unilever, enabling them to continue to focus on building their branded business."

From the September 24, 2007, Prepared Foods e-Flash