AFRICA outlook
It’s that time of year again where we prepare for the visit of the man in the red suit, power shortages (if you’re in South Africa and have to rely on Eskom), the peak of summer, and of course the annual shutdowns. It’s also that time where you refl ect on the past year, 12 months in which a meteor exploded over Russia, a new Pope was appointed and of course Edward Snowden blew the lid on a mass U.S. surveillance operation, a story that continues to run.
It’s that time of year again
where we prepare for the
visit of the man in the red suit,
power shortages (if you’re
in South Africa and have to
rely on Eskom), the peak of
summer, and of course the
annual shutdowns. It’s also that
time where you refl ect on the
past year, 12 months in which a
meteor exploded over Russia,
a new Pope was appointed and
of course Edward Snowden
blew the lid on a mass U.S.
surveillance operation, a story
that continues to run.
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F o o d & D r i n k<br />
Symrise is a global supplier of fragrances, flavorings, cosmetic<br />
active ingredients, raw materials and functional ingredients<br />
and its clients include manufacturers of perfumes, cosmetics,<br />
food and beverages, the pharmaceutical industry and<br />
producers of nutritional supplements. Africa Outlook speaks to<br />
Ibrahim Wagdy about how Symrise has taken a hold in Egypt<br />
and beyond and its plans for the African continent.<br />
Writer Hannah Eiseman-Reynard<br />
Project manager James Mitchell<br />
ymrise creates<br />
flavourings and<br />
fragrances for<br />
cosmetics, toiletries,<br />
sweets, savoury<br />
foods and beverages. Its clients<br />
include manufacturers of perfumes,<br />
cosmetics, food and beverages,<br />
the pharmaceutical industry and<br />
producers of nutritional supplements<br />
and it is among the top four<br />
companies in the global flavors and<br />
fragrances market.<br />
Of course, the firm is headquartered<br />
in Holzminden, Germany, but the<br />
group is represented in over 35<br />
countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle<br />
East, Asia, the U.S. and Latin America.<br />
“It takes on average 45 aroma<br />
chemicals to make a flavour so it takes<br />
a long time to train those people<br />
to develop a solid knowledge of<br />
hundreds of raw materials to be able<br />
to create different flavours,” says<br />
Symrise Egypt’s Managing Director<br />
Ibrahim Wagdy, talking about how<br />
Symrise trains technologists to work<br />
in flavours and fragrances.<br />
It sounds like a lot of fun – how do<br />
we get in?<br />
“We prefer to bring fresh people in<br />
than to headhunt,” he replies. “We<br />
operate in quite a niche area and we<br />
select young, fresh graduates who<br />
show scientific curiosity and have a<br />
can-do attitude. We need them to be<br />
entrepreneurial, pro-active people.<br />
It’s a very competitive industry<br />
and our clients compete in a very<br />
competitive industry.”<br />
The training programme can<br />
see selected candidates travelling<br />
and doing training and internships<br />
for months at a time. Symrise has<br />
operations all over the world, so the<br />
opportunities can be extremely wide<br />
and varied.<br />
“Symrise was formed ten years ago<br />
when Haarmann & Reimer (H&R) and<br />
Dragoco merged,” says Mr Wagdy.<br />
“Both companies were already major<br />
www.aFRICA<strong>outlook</strong>mag.COm<br />
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