Firmenich opens Swiss biotech and naturals plant for more efficient cosmetic ingredients

By Austyn King | Published: 1-Oct-2020

Integrated into the flavours and fragrance giant's Geneva site, the new plant harnesses the latest digital innovations to offer faster speed-to-market and greater flexibility for customers

Firmenich, the Swiss flavours and fragrances company, has opened a new biotechnology and naturals plant in Geneva, Switzerland, in a bid to bring its customers more effective and sustainable natural ingredients.

Described as a cornerstone for new perfumery ingredients, the pilot plant is designed to develop the most efficient and high quality production processes, offering customers faster speed-to-market and flexibility, and is integrated into the company's flagship ingredients production site at La Plaine, Geneva.

It will harness the latest digital technology to increase automation, boosting efficiency and speed and reducing the use of raw materials by moving from single to continuous batch process, according to Firmenich.

Genevieve Berger, Chief Research Officer at Firmenich, said: "Opening a new era in ingredients creation, our pilot plant and laboratory harnesses new technologies to improve clean label solutions, while the latest digital innovation maximises efficiency.

"With our new biotechnology pilot plant closely connected with the ingredients production site, Firmenich provides integrated biotech development all the way down to the finished product, without any gaps."

In line with the company's ongoing sustainability principles, the new plant is said to operate to the highest safety and environmental standards, utilising efficient bioreactors to minimise the amount of waste produced and energy consumed.

Sarah Reisinger, Firmenich's Senior Vice President Research Operations, added: "Our new pilot plant provides greater flexibility to respond to customer needs in product development.

"Capable of handling multiple projects simultaneously, it also enables small scale production of trial batches for formulation or testing and regulatory validation."

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