Symrise opens innovation center in Dubai to shape the future of taste for food in the Middle East

Symrise AG has opened its state-of-the-art development, application, and sensory laboratories in Dubai. The company has invested about 1 million Euro into the facilities to decode, design, and deliver winning taste solutions for leading food and beverages brands that consumers love. To meet the demands of its partners and to accommodate its growing team, the company recently moved to the iconic Gold Tower Building in the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC), Dubai’s dedicated hub for global trade, business and specialist industries in JLT. Symrise AG has been operation in the Middle East for many decades leading to the first opening of its first sub-regional offices in Dubai in 2005. Since then, the company has seen double-digit growth year on year with its partners across the Middle East region.

The new sub-regional centre spreads across 10,500 sq ft and occupies the entire lower penthouse level/36th floor of the Gold Tower. The contemporary workspace has been designed in line with the company’s four pillars of sustainability in mind; footprint, innovation, sourcing and care. It is working towards achieving carbon neutral status, to support the Symrise AG global objective of halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and reaching climate positive operations from 2030 onwards.

The facilities are designed to take customers on a journey, and support the development of consumer-led winning concepts and taste solutions for high-growth categories, beverages, culinary, dairy, snacks, and confectionery.

The premises will allow the company to support diverse working styles and is split into a variety of working and meeting areas, for Symrise Middle East’s expanding cross-functional teams to interact and collaborate in a bright, modern, and dynamic working environment. The dedicated application and sensory laboratories will help the teams – from marketing, sensory and consumer insights to regulatory, technical, and commercial to continue achieving in the field of flavor and nutrition evaluation.

The sensory booths, where panellists taste, evaluate, and describe flavors in application, features state of the art equipment and programs that help design solutions meeting customers’ expectations.

Commenting on the move, Dirk Bennwitz, President Flavor Europe, Africa & Middle East, said: “We feel very excited to embark on the next phase of our business growth through our new sub regional center. This will help us further consolidate our strong foothold in the Middle East & Africa sub region. Our investment in the new hub, our human resources, and the ultramodern creation, development and application facilities will allow us to identify and decipher game-changing industry trends and deliver innovation to our customers across strategic categories and the future of food segments: functional beverages and plant protein.”

Commenting on the customer centric floor design, Sofiane Berrahmoune, Director for the Sub-Region Middle East and Africa, and the Managing Director of Symrise Middle East, said: “Symrise is leading in meeting the needs of its customers and with this strategic expansion we will deliver even greater speed to market. Our clients, partners, and visitors will benefit from enhanced infrastructure as our state-of-the-art labs and culinary show kitchen will enable customer centric on-site collaboration and co-creation. The modern lab will help us customise products to local and regional tastes with international standards. And our advanced facilities will enable us to better serve demand in the market and optimally align our business with our customers”.

Symrise AG has successfully positioned itself as the leading contributor to the evolution of the Food and Beverage industry in the Middle East. “We could only do this by continuously investing and developing our human resources and technical capabilities,” concluded Berrahmoune. “Today, we are stronger than ever, committed to co-create with our clients a profitable, strategic, and sustainable growth, combining the best of nature and best of science, as well as leveraging our strong global footprint with our winning local flexibility, market, and consumer understanding.”