Dear readers and friends of Symrise,

Symrise是一个令人兴奋的公司inspires. We want to make this enthusiasm for what we do – this “spirit” – tangible for you with our Corporate Report 2017. Why are alternating winds in Calabria so important for the quality ofbergamot? How doentrepreneurial spirit and innovationgo hand in hand? What health-promoting effects docranberrieshave? And, what role doaquaculturesplay in global food supplies? With firsthand reports, profiles about interesting people and plenty of facts, we answer these and other questions in our magazine.

Enthusiasm for our work is one of Symrise’s strengths. Another can be found in the detailed and always up-to-date knowledge about the needs and desires of consumers around the world – and in the well-mastered management of the value chain all the way back to the growers of the raw materials on which our products are ultimately based. Symrise is always applying this backward integration to new areas, which ensures the supply of raw materials with consistently high quality and allows us to implement our ideas about sustainable cultivation and resource-efficient processing. As a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, we actively support the priciples of responsible business outlined therein.

Symrise is also at the forefront when it comes to innovation and tapping into new markets. No other supplier in our competitive environment has a business portfolio as diverse as ours. And we pursue both organic growth and targeted acquisitions. That explains the main focus of this Corporate Report: we invest, acquire and integrate with success. We thus create advantages for our portfolio that will benefit us now and in the future. In other words, our guiding principle is: unfolding strengths.

The 2017 fiscal year has seamlessly continued our company’s success story. In addition to exceeding our goals, we’ve now also achieved exceptional growth for the twelfth consecutive year. Sales increased to around € 3 billion and grew organically by 6 %. And with an EBITDA margin of 21%, we’re once again one of the most profitable companies in our sector. We want to continue on this course and achieve high growth and yields in the coming years. And we’re confident our strengths will help us do just that.

We hope you enjoy reading the Symrise Corporate Report for 2017.

Your Global Management Committee