A harmonious blend of creamy milk and rich maple, ‘Milky Maple’ captures a global desire for warmth, indulgence and wellbeing in 2025.
dsm-firmenich, a global leader in nutrition, health, and sustainable innovation, proudly announces ‘Milky Maple’ as its Flavour of the Year for 2025. This unique creation taps into two beloved trends: the creamy softness of milk mixed with the rich, natural sweetness of maple. The blended flavour provides a sense of calm and contentment and can be incorporated into a wide range of applications.
“As food and beverage trends shift toward comfort, nature and personal wellbeing, people increasingly gravitate towards flavours that offer a taste of familiarity, balance and connection,” said Maurizio Clementi, Executive Vice President of Taste, Texture, and Health at dsm-firmenich. “’Milky Maple’ delivers on this demand – it is a soothing embrace that draws people into a world of warmth and indulgence.”
The maple movement
Maple, long cherished as a North American dietary staple, is rapidly expanding its presence worldwide. Since early 2019, dsm-firmenich’s trend analysts have observed maple transcending geographic and cultural boundaries, gaining popularity as a versatile ingredient across Europe, Asia and beyond. Maple’s adaptability is evident as it moves beyond syrup to influence an array of culinary creations, from baked goods to savory dishes.
“Maple is evolving from a regional favourite to a global flavor phenomenon,” said Jeffrey Schmoyer, VP of Human Insights at dsm-firmenich. “Its ability to offer a feeling of cosiness and its versatility have driven its momentum across diverse cultures and cuisines.”
Mapping Milky Maple’s rise to the top
Maple as a flavour traces its roots back to the sap of select maple tree species – most notably the sugar maple – that flourish in cool, northern climates. As a naturally derived ingredient, maple sap offers a unique sweetness with warm, earthy undertones, making it an attractive alternative to traditional sweeteners and an essential part of the ‘brown note’ flavour family.
“Maple is going mainstream,” said Mikel Cirkus, Senior Director, Foresight & Design at dsm-firmenich. “Candy Cap Mushroom – a natural forest product with a distinctive maple aroma – is already prized by chefs as a flavouring for baked goods, ice cream, confectionary and even beer. This mushroom, part of the Milk Cap group, mirrors the appealing ‘brown note’ qualities of maple, satisfying consumer mood for food that is deeply entrenched in nature.”
The creamy allure of milk is also enjoying a surge in popularity, especially in Asia, where its smooth taste and texture provide a perfect pairing for maple’s sweetness. This growing trend underscores milk’s timeless ability to evoke nostalgia and simplicity, further reinforcing ‘Milky Maple’ as both a flavourful and immersive sensory experience.
Crafting the ultimate Milky Maple moment
Developing the ideal ‘Milky Maple’ flavour requires a combination of sweetness, creaminess and balance, and dsm-firmenich’s capabilities can be leveraged to create a delectable milky maple base. For example, TasteGEM® 3D Essentials technology can accentuate the natural sweetness of maple. For plant-based applications, SMART MILK flavours and DYNAROME® DA innovations expertly replicate the creamy, buttery taste and rich texture of traditional milk that perfectly complements maple’s depth. Whether for dairy or plant-based innovations, dsm-firmenich’s advanced solutions can unlock the full potential of this versatile flavour.
What’s more, ‘Milky Maple’ closely aligns with the highly anticipated Pantone Colour of the Year 2025 from Pantone. The world-renowned authority on colour has named the shade ‘PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse’ as the top trending colour for 2025. With their warmth, richness and indulgent associations, both colour and flavour point to a growing tendency for consumers to enjoy small, meaningful moments over the coming year.
“‘Milky Maple’ is an invitation for people to pause and savour a moment of pure warmth and decadence” said Maurizio Clementi, Executive Vice President of Taste, Texture, and Health at dsm-firmenich. “This flavour is a journey – and a gentle reminder of the joy, comfort and connection that can be found in simple pleasures.”
Stephan Büttner (Photo: AGRANA)
In the first quarter of the 2024/25 financial year (the three months ended 31 May 2024), AGRANA, the fruit, starch and sugar company, generated operating profit (EBIT) of € 32.3 million, a significant reduction of 49.1 % from the first quarter of the prior year. Revenue eased slightly, by 2.3 %, to € 944.3 million. “After the robust results of the full year 2023/24, as expected we had a weaker start to the 2024/25 financial year. The significant decline in profit resulted from the highly challenging market environment in the Sugar and Starch segments, where sales prices fell. Business in the Fruit segment was better, leading to a significant increase in Fruit EBIT,” says AGRANA Chief Executive Officer Stephan Büttner.
Results in each business segment for the first quarter of 2024/25
FRUIT segment
The Fruit segment’s revenue in the first quarter was € 415.6 million, up 3.6% from the same period one year earlier. The increase occurred both in the fruit preparations and fruit juice concentrate businesses and resulted from volume growth.
EBIT of the segment as a whole grew to € 27.0 million in the first three months of the financial year (Q1 prior year: € 24.4 million). In the fruit preparations activities, EBIT was significantly above the year-ago level. The improvement was attributable partly to a positive business performance in the Europe region (including Ukraine) and in Mexico.
STARCH segment
Revenue in the Starch segment in the first quarter was € 265.5 million, a reduction of 16.3% from the year-earlier comparative period (Q1 prior year: € 317.1 million), when the war in Ukraine had led to powerful increases in market prices. Owing to the decline in raw material and energy prices, market prices for the segment’s products decreased noticeably year-on- year, which impacted the selling prices obtained for the entire Starch portfolio. Ethanol sales prices, for instance, fell by about 25 % amid a substantial drop in Platts quotations.
At € 9.4 million, EBIT in the Starch segment was down very significantly year-on-year. A key reason for this was the margin decline in starch and saccharification products driven by significantly lower sales prices for core and by-products.
SUGAR segment
Sugar segment revenue was € 263.2 million, up 6.2 % from the first quarter of the previous year. The negative effect of lower sugar sales prices was more than made up for by higher sales volumes. The trajectory of the sugar market was most recently driven by the sugar imports from Ukraine and the expectation of increased EU sugar production in the 2024/25 campaign.
The Sugar EBIT result in the financial first quarter was a deficit of € 4.1 million, a pronounced deterioration from the year-earlier period. This reflected especially the significant fall in sugar selling prices, which was steepest in the regions heavily affected by the imports of Ukrainian sugar.
Outlook
For the full 2024/25 financial year, AGRANA expects a significant reduction in operating profit (EBIT) compared to the previous year. Group revenue is projected to show a moderate decrease.
Total investment across the three business segments in the 2024/25 financial year, at approximately € 120 million, is to be moderately below the 2023/24 value and in line with budgeted depreciation. About 12 % of this capital expenditure will be for emission reduction measures in the Group’s own production operations under the AGRANA climate strategy.
In 2024, orange prices paid to citrus growers in São Paulo/Triângulo Mineiro may remain at high levels. The supply may continue to be lower than the industrial demand, keeping the availability limited in the in natura market.
So far, there are no solid aspects that allow to project the volume that will be harvested in the 2024/25 season; however, the orange juice supply may not be enough to meet the demand, especially because of the expectation of low juice stocks in June 2024.
CitrusBR says that the volume in stocks by the end of the 2022/23 season (in June/23) was only 84.745 thousand tons equivalent to concentrate juice. Cepea calculations based on the orange production forecast by Fundecitrus indicate that the volume in stocks by the end of the current season (2023/24, in June/24) may not be higher. This scenario may be reinforced in case exports continue intense and the productivity remains below-average.
Therefore, it would be important if the orange volume harvested in São Paulo and in Triângulo Mineiro is above the average over the last years in order for the processed volume to meet exports and allow a recovery in stocks by June 2025. However, challenges faced in the second semester of 2023 (greening and heat waves) may bring difficulties for a good harvest in 2024/25.
It is worth noting that Brazil does not have major competitors regarding the global orange juice supply. Mexico, an important supplier for the US market, has been facing difficulties in the production, especially because of the dry weather, while Florida has been facing the impacts of greening. In this scenario, a decrease in the Brazilian availability might affect the world orange juice supply.
Investments
Although the profitability scenario had been positive in 2023, major investments in São Paulo are not expected for 2024, due to the high incidence of greening. The planting can continue firm in Triângulo Mineiro, but the availability of soil and water for irrigation are limited.
In the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year (the three months ended 31 May 2023), AGRANA, the fruit, starch and sugar company, achieved very significant growth of 23.1 % in operating profit (EBIT) to EUR 63.5 million. Revenue increased by 9.0 % to EUR 966.1 million. “We have made a successful start to the 2023/24 financial year and are especially pleased with the continuing healthy profit trend in the Sugar segment and the good performance in the Fruit segment, where structural measures to boost profitability of the fruit preparations business are already producing results. In the Starch segment, the expectation of a challenging financial year was proved correct in the first three months. EBIT declined significantly in this business segment, due especially to a lower ethanol performance driven by sales prices,” explains AGRANA CEO Markus Mühleisen.
Results in each business segment for the first quarter of 2023/24
Fruit segment
The Fruit segment’s revenue in the first quarter was EUR 401.1 million, up 11.2 % from one year earlier. The revenue expansion both in the fruit preparations and fruit juice concentrate businesses was the result of price changes. EBIT of the segment as a whole increased to EUR 24.4 million in the first three months of the financial year (Q1 prior year: EUR 19.9 million). The earnings result in fruit preparations was significantly above the year-ago level. The improvement was attributable mainly to a positive business performance in the Europe region. The fruit juice concentrate business as well further grew its earnings compared to the already very good year-earlier quarter. This was driven by improved contribution margins of apple juice concentrate made from the 2022 crop.
Starch segment
The Starch segment’s revenue of EUR 317.1 million in the first quarter was steady year-on-year (Q1 prior year: EUR 319.1 million), as lower sales volumes coincided with higher selling prices. Across most product categories, customers now are not fully utilising sales contracts that were concluded in fall and winter 2022 against the backdrop of the then-prevailing tight availability and resulting high market prices. Demand for native and modified food starches as well as saccharification products is more restrained, even in the normally stable food market. Many customers are facing weaker consumption and are increasingly running down their inventories. At EUR 22.1 million, EBIT in the Starch segment was down significantly from one year earlier (Q1 prior year: EUR 29.3 million). A key reason lay in the low-margin ethanol business, as a result of a considerable decline in Platts quotations.
Sugar segment
Revenue in the Sugar segment was EUR 247.9 million, up 20.0 % from the first quarter of the previous year. This growth was driven by a substantial increase in sugar selling prices. EBIT, at EUR 17.0 million, represented a marked improvement from the year-earlier period. The Sugar segment’s very good EBIT in the first quarter of 2023|24 reflected the significantly increased sugar sales prices in particular, as well as many reorganisation measures taken previously.
The Eckes-Granini Group concluded the 2022 business year with satisfactory results and is optimistic about the current year 2023. With a + 7.1 % increase in turnover to 917 million euros (2021: 856 million euros), the supplier of fruit juices and fruit beverages achieved 2022 the highest increase in turnover in five years. Volume sales also developed slightly positive compared to the previous year, rising by 3 million to 808 million litres. Eckes-Granini recorded an increase of + 1.3 % in value-based sales at the retail level during the past business year, accompanied by a decline in volume sales (- 2.1 %) compared to the previous year. This resulted in a stable, unchanged market share of 12 % in terms of value, with a slight increase in volume market share of + 0.2 % to 11.3 %. With regard to the largest markets for fruit juices, nectars, and fruit drinks (FJND) in Europe, market shares were gained in France in particular, but also in the Baltic countries, Finland, and Austria.
Eckes-Granini expands market leadership in Europe
Like all companies in the beverage and food industry, Eckes-Granini had to deal with a tense raw materials situation, freight space shortages and supply chain difficulties during the past year. In addition, there was an unprecedented explosion in the cost of raw materials, partly due to poor harvests, as well as packaging materials, energy, and transport. However, these massive cost increases could some of the additional costs through targeted investments in its brands, successful product launches and decisive crisis management. Tim Berger, CEO of the Eckes-Granini Group, comments on the past business year: “Thanks to our rapid and flexible response to the difficult market environment in 2022, we were able to achieve good sales growth and – viewed across the whole business – an increase in market share. We are satisfied with the result in view of the challenging general conditions. We used the challenges of the past year as a catalyst for the optimization and further development of existing processes and structures. For example, we were able to react effectively to raw material shortages and ensure a consistently high delivery capability.”
Weaker economic environment shapes market performance in 2022
In the food retail sector, the FJND market in Europe 2022 showed a positive trend in value sales with + 1.3 % compared to the previous year. Volume sales, on the other hand, declined by – 3.7 %. While the market dynamics in 2021 were still influenced by the Covid 19 pandemic, the Ukraine war and its consequences had a significant impact on market development in 2022. On the one hand, price increases contributed to the rise in value sales. At the same time, however, consumers‘ willingness to purchase declined, with corresponding consequences for volume sales figures.
Innovations and the expansion of new distribution channels as growth drivers
Eckes-Granini benefited in particular from the successful introduction of numerous product innovations in 2022. Overall, the medium-sized family-owned company achieved 30% of its growth through innovations alone, despite reduced marketing investments. One of these innovations are the hohes C Functional Water in the Water Plus category, which were excellently received by the market. Eckes-Granini was also able to expand the market leadership of hohes C Shots in 2022 and successfully establish the Shot concept in additional countries, such as Austria, Hungary, and Spain, in France under the Joker brand and in Denmark, Sweden and Finland under God Morgon. 2022 also marked the most successful Out-of-Home year in the history of Eckes-Granini. The strategically important business segment of hotel, gastronomy and on-the-go consumption made a comeback in many countries, especially in France, where Eckes-Granini grew significantly. Contrary to market dynamics, Eckes-Granini also succeeded in gaining market share in e-commerce and e-retail, doubling its share of sales within three years.
Eckes-Granini remains committed to people and the environment in 2022
Despite all the challenges, a more sustainable business remains a central focus of Eckes-Granini’s corporate strategy. Following an intensive review, the independent Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) confirmed in January 2022 that Eckes-Granini‘s greenhouse gas reduction targets are in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Eckes-Granini also actively campaigned for the introduction of the juice deposit, made the switch early on and provided extensive information on the advantages of the recycling system in campaigns. In addition, the family- owned company has supported the Team Rynkeby charity cycling initiative for many years as part of its CSR commitment. In 2022, around 10.4 million euros were collected for seriously ill children and their families. Eckes-Granini was also pleased to receive the Top Employer 2023 award in Germany again after 2022.
Positive outlook for the current year
prices and fluctuating availability remain a major issue. In addition, there are uncertainties in consumption regarding the reaction of consumers to inflation. “Overall, the past year with all its challenges has been an opportunity for us to show that we take our responsibility regarding the category, the food retail industry, and our consumers seriously. We succeeded in livin g up to our role as category thought leader. In 2023, we want to build on this and have already made a promising start to the new business year with numerous new beverage concepts and innovations,” says Berger.
About the Eckes-Granini Group: Eckes-Granini is the leading supplier of fruit juices and fruit beverages in Europe. For the ind e- pendent family-owned company headquartered in Nieder-Olm, Germany (Rhineland-Palatinate), the focus is on committed and competent employees, strong brands in the areas of juices, fruit beverages and smoothies, and a long-term strategic orientation with sustainable value creation. Today, Eckes-Granini operates mainly in Europe with its own national companies and strategic partners and generates annual sales of 917 million euros with a total of 1703 employees. The com- pany’s foundation is formed by the internationally renowned premium bran ds granini and Pago to- gether with strong national and regional brands for juices such as hohes C, Joker and God Morgon. Consumers in 80 countries worldwide and especially in Europe know and appreciate our fruit juices and the variety of fruit drinks.
Provisional, unaudited operating profit of EUR 158 million
The preparation of the consolidated financial statements of the AGRANA Group for the period to 28 February 2023 reveals a provisional, unaudited operating profit of EUR 158 million, which is therefore significantly higher than the Company’s own guidance (“up to + 50 % compared to prior year”).
The provisional consolidated earnings before interest and tax (EBIT)* for the 2022/23 financial year (1 March 2022 to 28 February 2023) amount to EUR 88 million (2021/22: € 24.7 million). EBIT takes into account impairment charges taken against assets and goodwill in the amount of EUR 91 million which were recognised in the half-year financial statements (prior year: net exceptional items expense of EUR 70 million). Group revenue will amount to EUR 3.6 billion (2021/22: EUR 2.9 billion).
AGRANA’s Management Board currently forecasts a very significant improvement in EBIT during the ongoing 2023/24 financial year (more than + 50 %). The assumption is that consolidated revenue will increase significantly (by more than + 10 % and up to + 50 %). Key uncertainties however remain the war in Ukraine and its consequences.
The 2022|23 annual results and the 2022/23 annual report will be published as scheduled on 17 May 2023.
*After exceptional items and share of results of equity-accounted joint ventures
Firmenich, the world’s largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company, is excited to announce its 2023 flavour of the year, dragon fruit, celebrating consumers’ desire for exciting new ingredients and bold, adventurous flavour creation.
“This marks our 11th flavour of the year, which is something our customers have come to look forward to each year. Dragon fruit’s bold vibrancy is a perfect choice as we embark an exciting year of change,” said Maurizio Clementi, ad interim President, Firmenich’s Taste & Beyond division. “Our in-depth Human Insights have identified the strong shift towards wellbeing and sustainability in people’s food and beverage choices, as well as newly-emerging elevated expectations in terms of taste. As everything we do is rooted in nature and deep consumer understanding, this inspired us to choose a flavour of the year which captures both.”
Drawing inspiration from colour & Trenz™
This is the second consecutive year of a sensory partnership between Firmenich and Pantone®. The global colour authority has just launched its 2023 colour of the year, PANTONE® 18-1750 Viva Magenta™, which it describes as a “brave and fearless, a pulsating colour whose exuberance promotes optimism and joy.” Mikel Cirkus, Global Creative Director for Taste & Beyond said: “In the same way that Pantone’s colour of the year captures the emerging themes seen in the world around us, our choice for flavour of the year does so by translating new signals into positive sensory experiences. Our 2023 choice of dragon fruit reflects the global consumer’s increasingly adventurous palate and desire for the new or exotic when it comes to ingredients and taste.”
Jeff Schmoyer, Firmenich Global Head of Human Insights, said: “Dragon fruit’s subtle flavour creates a wonderful opportunity to bring the exceptional creativity and expertise of Firmenich’s flavourists to the fore, providing the perfect canvas for them to dare to imagine bold, exciting and delicious new taste combinations.”
A fruit by any other name
Native to Central America, where it is known as pitahaya, and thriving in tropical and subtropical climates across the world, dragon fruit’s flesh is rich in antioxidants and high in calcium. Dragon fruit grows from a climbing cactus, making it a drought-resistant and naturally low water-use crop, requiring only a quarter of the water to grow compared to that of an avocado.
Much like the mystical creature that inspired its name, dragon fruit is fierce in appearance, with a scale-like skin in bold hues ranging from fiery yellow to bold magenta. However, its delicate flavour belies its imposing armor. With several different types varying in both colour and taste, dragon fruit ranges in flavour from milder melon and kiwi-like to slightly sweeter berry profiles with notes of beetroot.
Enter the dragon fruit
Part of its industry-leading Human Insights capability, Firmenich’s Trenz™ forecasting team spotted a post-Covid rise in dragon fruit across almost every major city in the world. While always popular within niche segments, the exotic fruit began showing up more universally across diverse markets and food service venues, as well as product applications, from the more intuitive juices and smoothies to less traditional formats like tea and cooked savory dishes.
According to Mikel Cirkus, this is all part of a decade-long trend for boldness and discovery in food and drink. The pandemic increased the pace of this trend, with huge spikes in consumers broadening their palates for new seasoning. Notably, expenditures on spices & seasonings at home grew 27 % CAGR1, Trenz™ found. New product innovation has followed, with on-pack claims such as “bold” and “exotic” up by 38 % since 2017, and the use of three- and four-way flavour combinations in products now cresting over 25 % of all food & beverage launches.
Firmenich’s renowned Emotions360 consumer research offered a second clue. This proprietary in-depth study of natural ingredients identified that people are very excited about dragon fruit. In fact, Emotions360’s latest wave, which surveyed 18,670 consumers across eight countries around the world, indicated that 88 % of consumers have heard of dragon fruit, and 56 % have tasted it. In terms of consumer perceptions, dragon fruit triggers associations with adjectives like bold, exotic, exciting, impressive and fun. Given this positive association, it’s not surprising that the same consumers ranked dragon fruit in the 90 % percentile among all ingredients with a high likelihood to rise in popularity in the future.
A fiery future
As much as dragon fruit is on fire in juice bars, markets, and street vendors around the world, the packaged food & beverage world was initially slow to innovate around this trend. However, this trend is changing, with product launches containing dragon fruit callouts now accelerating in all regions. In fact, dragon fruit use in CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) is growing more quickly in foods than beverages, where innovations typically appear first.
Jeff Schmoyer, Firmenich Global Head of Human Insights, commented: “Dragon fruit may be still a ‘rare’ fruit flavour for CPG food & beverage brands, but it is no longer rare to consumers. And in fact, this has translated to one of the fastest growth rates of any ingredient we’ve tracked in recent years. Given the small base and fast growth, it is certainly our boldest Flavour of the Year choice yet from a predictive foresights perspective. It’s possible that the initial lag in new product innovation is in part related to the challenge of realising the flavour of dragon fruit. Our consumer research shows that the fruit can sometimes surprise people by not having the strong flavour to match its visual appearance. Instead, the taste is light, refreshing, sweet, and delicious.”
“For this reason, Firmenich believes that its flavour creativity will play a key role in amplifying the taste and celebrating combinations of dragon fruit with other flavours,” Schmoyer concluded.
1Compound Annual Growth Rate (Source : Global Data LLC and Firmenich analytics)
Firmenich, one of the world’s largest privately-owned fragrance and taste companies, released its annual Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, tracking progress toward the group’s groundbreaking sustainability targets. Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 was marked by strong sustainability performance across the Group’s three key pillars, climate, nature, and people, backed by growing, best-in-class independent evaluation and reinforced ESG governance.
FY2022 ESG Performance Highlights
Acting on Climate Change: Firmenich was one of only two companies to receive a fourth consecutive CDP Triple A rating for climate, water, and forests. Three manufacturing sites, in Norway, Singapore and South Africa, were carbon neutral in FY22, all operating without the use of offsets. Firmenich maintained decoupling of growth in manufacturing output from its CO2 emissions: in FY22, Scope 1 and 2 emissions were reduced by 36.1 % vs. 2017, and the new ingredients sites reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 12.2 % vs. 2020. The Group maintained 100 % Renewable Electricity in its operations including in new acquisitions1. Firmenich aims to reach carbon neutrality in its direct operations by 2025, absolute carbon emissions reduction by 2030 in line with limiting temperature rise to 1.5˚C, as well as net-zero emissions by 2039 across its direct operations and value chain (Scopes 1, 2, and 3). Its net-zero targets were validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in August 2022, making Firmenich the first company in its industry to receive SBTi approval.
Embracing Nature: Building on UEBT validation of the Group’s biodiversity strategy, work began on restoration at 15 % of Firmenich sites with biodiversity risk, in line with Science-Based Targets for Nature. Implementation of 100 % verified Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) was increased. Firmenich continued to expand the proportion of ultimately or partially biodegradable ingredients in its fragrances to 96.6 % on average, having surpassed its 95 % target a year earlier. Firmenich reinforced green proteins in product development, enabling customers to accelerate the plant-based food revolution and contribute to climate change mitigation.
Caring about People: Building on gender pay equity and its work to strengthen inclusion, Firmenich achieved Living Wage certification by Fairwage Network in 2022 ahead of the Group’s 2025 target, a key step to ensure decent living standards for all employees and their families. The Group advanced its high global health and safety standards with an improved 0.26 Total Recordable Case (TRC) rate, and a third consecutive Gold Award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). Firmenich continued to maintain zero human rights non-compliance and scaled up its effort to drive concerted business action by becoming United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Impact Sponsor for Labor and Decent Work.
Overall, Firmenich achieved an upgraded rating from Sustainalytics with a score of 7.5, in the global top 50 of approximately 15,000 companies, that highlights the Group’s low ESG risk profile. A second consecutive Platinum rating by Ecovadis with an industry-leading score of 88 % placed Firmenich in the top 1 % of all companies assessed worldwide. The Group was also rated for the first time as one of the “2022 World’s Most Ethical Companies” by Ethisphere®, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.
Firmenich continued to work actively in alliances and partnerships, including the UN Global Compact, the Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT), One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B), and the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), to drive positive change at scale and foster effective action on climate, nature, and people in the business community.
1Firmenich moved to majority ownership of ArtSci in May 2022. This entity is not included in the scope of the report and will be integrated gradually in the Group’s ESG framework in FY2023.
Tim Berger (Photo: Eckes-Granini Group)
The past business year was a year of contrasts for the Eckes-Granini Group GmbH a year full of contrasts. The second pandemic year pandemic year and customer conflicts in the food retail sector once again presented the company with challenges, while 2021 also marked the start of the largest transformation in the company’s history. Sales revenue decreased moderately from 873 million euros in fiscal 2020 to 856 million euros (- 1.9 %), while sales volumes also declined, falling by 38 million litres to 805 million litres (- 4.5 %). Germany and France were particularly affected by the decline in sales volumes. Here, differing views on price adjustments led in part to the discontinuation of supply relationships with partners in the food retail sector. As a result, Eckes-Granini posted EBIT of 57.2 million euros (previous year: 71.0 million euros). The decline of 13.8 million euros is attributable to the effects of the pandemic, customer conflicts in the food retail sector and significantly higher costs for raw and packaging materials compared to the previous year. Tim Berger, CEO of Eckes-Granini Group GmbH, looks back on the business year as follows: “Despite considerable challenges posed by Corona, lower sales volumes and massive cost inflation, we succeeded in gaining market share – especially in the Nordic and Baltic countries – and strengthening our position during the past business year. Overall, our sales grew in nine out of ten countries. We also performed well in our international business in European countries and outside Europe.”
Eckes-Granini remains market leader
While the market for fruit juices, nectars and fruit beverages (FJND) was still able to benefit from food stockpiling in 2020, it declined in both value (- 2.1 %) and volume (- 4.4 %) in the second pandemic year. In particular, there was less demand for ambient, non-refrigerated fruit drinks sold via retailers. Accordingly, the 2021 segment recorded a decline of 3.7 % in sales and 5.2 % in volume sales, thus performing somewhat weaker than the market as a whole. In this generally weaker market environment, Eckes-Granini recorded a 0.7 % decline in market share in terms of value (market share 12.2 %) and a 0.8 % decline in volume (market share 11.3 %). The good news is that brands continue to gain market share. The e-commerce segment also continues to grow strongly but is not included in these figures. Eckes-Granini was able to make significant gains here, growing by + 35 %.
Full focus on innovation, digitization, and sustainability
In the area of product innovations, the company got off to a flying start with the market launch of hohes C Super Shots in Germany and Joker Shots in France. The popular hohes C Super Shots are currently leading the two-digit growth of the shot category in Germany (+ 31.1 %). Since the past business year, the Eckes- Granini Group has also been investing heavily in new distribution channels and cooperative ventures, and growth and the acquisition of new customers in e-commerce are developing particularly promisingly.
The Eckes-Granini Group also scored points in sustainability in 2021. With the publication of the first Group-wide sustainability report and the implementation of numerous measures, Eckes-Granini took important steps toward a more sustainable orientation of its business activities last year. To reduce emissions in line with the latest climate science criteria and achieve its ambitious targets, Eckes-Granini has been working with the independent Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) since 2021.
Successfully heading for the future with a strong growth strategy
2021 marked the launch of the Eckes-Granini Group’s Strategy 2025 and thus the largest transformation in the company’s history. “The transformation in the FJND market will continue and requires new ways of thinking and working – also from us as ‘category thought leaders’,” says Tim Berger. “At the same time, our goals are clearly defined: In 2025, we want to generate one billion euros in net sales and achieve a market share of 15 % in Europe. We successfully laid the foundation for these ambitious goals in 2021 and are now building on them. In the past fiscal year, we succeeded in maintaining our market leadership position despite numer ous challenges and a difficult market environment, growing locally and driving for- ward key innovations. We have thus made a solid and motivated start to 2022.”
About the Eckes-Granini Group Eckes-Granini is the leading supplier of fruit juices and fruit beverages in Euro-pa. For the inde- pendent family-owned company headquartered in Nieder-Olm, Germany (Rhineland-Palatinate), the focus is on committed and competent employees, strong brands in the areas of juices, fruit beverages and smoothies, and a long-term strategic orientation with sustainable value creation. Today, Eckes-Granini operates mainly in Europe with its own national companies and strategic partners and generates annual sales of 856 million euros with a total of 1697 employees. The com- pany’s foundation is formed by the internationally renowned premium brands granini and Pago to- gether with strong national and regional brands for juices such as hohes C, Joker and God Morgon. Consumers in 80 countries worldwide and especially in Europe know and appreciate our fruit juices and the variety of fruit drinks.
Symrise AG outstandingly capitalized on the economic recovery in 2021 and successfully continued the profitable growth course. The Group once again significantly increased sales and earnings. Symrise grew Group sales in reporting currency by 8.7 % to € 3,826 million (2020: € 3,520 million). Without taking into account portfolio and currency effects, organic growth amounted to 9.6 %. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) at € 814 million were significantly above the prior-year figure of € 742 million. The Group maintained profitability at a high level with an EBITDA margin of 21.3 % (2020: 21.1 %). Against the backdrop of the positive development, the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board of Symrise AG propose a dividend increase for the 12th year in succession. Shareholders are to participate in the success of the company with a dividend of € 1.02 for the fiscal year 2021.
Dr. Heinz Jürgen Bertram (Photo: Symrise)
“2021 was a successful year all round for Symrise. We made good use of the tailwind generated by the global economic recovery and we aligned our sails accordingly. As a consequence, we very successfully continued our course of profitable growth. Additionally, we were also able to realize trailblazing purchases and investments. This allowed us to strategically diversify our know-how and our portfolio, further increase our appeal to customers and differentiate our profile in the market. Since September, Symrise has also been a member of the DAX, Germany’s leading index. As a result, our share has continued to gain a higher profile and enhanced appeal, particularly on the international capital markets. Part of our capital market philosophy is for our shareholders to participate in the successful development of Symrise AG. The Executive Board and Supervisory Board therefore propose the twelfth dividend increase in succession in the amount of € 1.02 for the year 2021,” said Dr. Heinz Jürgen Bertram, CEO of Symrise AG. “For the current fiscal year, we confirm our long-term target to achieve an average increase in sales of between 5 and 7 % (CAGR) and to exceed market growth. Furthermore, we are once again targeting high profitability for 2022 with an EBITDA margin of around 21 %, in spite of the increasing raw materials costs and energy prices.”
Economic recovery drives demand and leads to strong sales growth
The impacts of the coronavirus pandemic significantly diminished in large parts of the world over the course of the year. The behavior of consumers normalized and demand surged. Symrise increased sales in reporting currency by 8.7 % to € 3,826 million (2020: € 3,520 million). Organic sales growth amounted to 9.6 %. Symrise not only exceeded the average growth of the relevant market but also the most recent sales forecast issued in November 2021 of around 9 %. Regarding the regions, Latin America once again recorded the strongest organic growth of 13.5 %, followed by Asia/Pacific with 10.3 %. The regions EAME and North America also delivered very good growth with 8.8 % and 8.5 % respectively.
Significant increase in EBITDA and net income
In fiscal year 2021, Symrise increased earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to an outstanding € 814 million. The Company exceeded the prior-year level by 9.6 % (2020: € 742 million) in spite of the increased raw materials costs and costs of strategic growth initiatives amounting to € 174 million.
The group-wide EBITDA margin rose in the second year of the pandemic to 21.3 % and therefore exceeded the prior-year level (2020: 21.1 %).
Symrise increased net income by € 68 million to € 375 million (2020: € 307 million). Earnings per share rose to € 2.74 (2020: € 2.27). In view of this positive development, the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board will propose to the annual general meeting on 3 May 2022 a dividend increase to € 1.02 per share for the fiscal year 2021 (2020: € 0.97).
Net debt with 2.4 in targeted margin range
As of 31 December 2021, net debt including pension and leasing liabilities decreased to € 1,964 million (2020: € 2,029 million). This corresponds to a ratio of net debt to EBITDA of 2.4.
The business free cash flow amounted to € 486 million (2020: € 564 million).In spite of the increase in earnings, it was defined above all by higher investments, an increase in inventories (strategic stockpiling in order to mitigate the risks due to delays in international supply chains) and a high level of trade receivables as a consequence of the strong growth in sales.
In a year-on-year comparison, the equity ratio rose from 39.8 % to 49.0 %. Symrise thus has a very solid foundation for continued sustainable growth of its business in the future.
Taste, Nutrition & Health segment
In April 2021, Symrise merged the former two segments Flavor and Nutrition into a new segment and renamed it Taste, Nutrition & Health to reflect the purposefully implemented portfolio expansion. It is intended to align the expanded activities even more closely with customer needs and hence make know-how, technologies and product knowledge a shared asset. Over the course of the year, Symrise strengthened the activities through the acquisition of the Canadian manufacturer Giraffe Foods and invested in a stake of the Swedish animal health company Swedencare. The core business no longer includes the food color application areas which have been sold to Oterra as well as the Drinkstar Velcorin activities. The distribution model with Lanxess was terminated effective 1 January 2022.
Taste, Nutrition & Health increased sales by 8.5 % to € 2,335 million (2020: € 2,151 million). Organic growth even amounted to 10.6 %. The change in behavior in out-of-home leisure activities and the increasing trend of on-the-go consumption resulted in a particular high demand for beverage applications. Furthermore, the segment benefited from very dynamic growth rates in the Pet Food segment.
Taste, Nutrition & Health increased EBITDA to € 531 million (2020: € 471 million). The EBITDA margin at 22.7 % was at an outstanding level and significantly exceeded the prior-year value (2020: 21.9 %).
Symrise confirms long-term growth and profitability targets
According to experts estimates, the global economy will slow down slightly in the current fiscal year after the strong recovery in 2021. Symrise is excellently positioned with its robust business model, the diversified application portfolio and its broadly based regional presence and customer base. The Company therefore confirms its long-term growth and profitability goals. Symrise continues to target above market growth and increase average annual sales by 5 to 7 % (CAGR). This objective also applies to the current financial year 2022, in spite of increasing raw material costs.
Symrise is committed to organic and inorganic growth, which includes the acquisition of the Dutch company Schaffelaarbos in January 2022 and the Chinese Wing Pet Food in February 2022. Furthermore, Symrise will maintain strict cost consciousness and continue the holistic sustainability management in all its divisions.
Profitability is projected to remain at a high level in 2022 with an EBITDA margin of around 21 %. Over the medium term until the end of fiscal year 2025, Symrise has a target of achieving an EBITDA margin in the corridor of 20 to 23 %.
Eckes-Granini Group GmbH can look back on a challenging business year in 2020, which was strongly influenced by the global COVID-19 pandemic. With an EBIT of 71 million EUR and an EBIT margin of 8.7 %, business results fell short of expectations in the past year, but the international corporate group for non-alcoholic fruit beverages nevertheless draws a satisfactory conclusion. Compared to the previous year, the company managed to almost maintain its EBIT margin, which was 8.9 % in 2019. Total turnover fell from EUR 921 million in the 2019 financial year to 873 million EUR in 2020 (-5.2 %), while sales volumes also declined in 2020, falling by 10 million litres to 843 million litres.
Tim Berger (Photo: Eckes-Granini Group)
“The past business year was without a question a challenge for all of us. However, together we have managed to respond to this extraordinary situation with great flexibility and willingness to perform. We have maintained our supply chain and production throughout the year and expanded our market leadership in Europe. The COVID-19 pandemic will continue to affect us in 2021. This year, we will set the strategic internal course for sustainable growth “after Corona”,” says Tim Berger, CEO of the Eckes-Granini Group.
After an initially promising start to the first quarter of 2020, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a massive setback in the out-of-home business from March onwards. In almost all European countries, restaurants and hotels were completely closed for months due to the Corona restrictions. Accordingly, Eckes-Granini suffered losses of up to 50 % in the out-of-home business in some markets.
Strong food retail partially offsets losses in the out-of-home business
The demand for fruit juices and fruit beverages developed positively in 2020. In contrast to previous years, which saw a declining trend, the FJND (Fruit Juice Nectar Drinks) market developed positively in 2020, both in terms of value (+2.2 %) and volume (+1.5 %). In particular the chilled-juice and ambient-juice segments were able to grow. With a growth of 3.9 %, Eckes-Granini grew almost twice as fast as the market in terms of value and was thus the growth driver in the FJND category again last year. In the food retail segment, the Eckes-Granini Group increased sales by 3 %, driven in particular by higher demand as a result of the ongoing Corona pandemic. Overall, the good results in food retail helped to compensate, at least in part, for the drastic decline in the out-of-home business.
Ongoing health awareness among consumers offers growth potential
The rising demand for fruit juices is also attributable to the continuing strong health trend among consumers. This is reflected in the positive development of the
Eckes-Granini Benefit Ranges, which have won over consumers with their additional health benefits. In Germany, Hungary, Austria and Lithuania, for example, the hohes C PLUS range grew by a total of 10 %, thus outpacing the overall growth of Eckes-Granini brands (+5.9 %) in these markets. The juices in the God Morgon Benefit range also benefited from this trend, with growth of 5 %, as did the shots of the Eckes-Granini brands Rynkeby, Brämhults and Marli.
In solidarity through the pandemic
The difficult situation in the out-of-home market was not the only challenge Eckes- Granini was facing in the pandemic year 2020. Ensuring smooth processes along the supply chain, in production and in operations also demanded a great deal from employees in terms of flexibility and commitment. Nevertheless, in the midst of the global crisis, it was important for the Group not to lose sight of its long-standing business partners and the situation in the communities in which Eckes-Granini operates. In an effort to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, Eckes-Granini supported restaurant owners Germany, Austria and France, among other countries, with donations. Under the umbrella of the Group-wide “Corona Relief Fund”, all eleven national subsidiaries of the Eckes-Granini Group also donated some 500,000 litres of fruit juice to people in systemically important professions and to charitable institutions from April to September 2020. And in the pandemic year, the international charity cycling initiative Team Rynkeby also collected 8.7 million EUR for seriously ill children despite many restrictions with regional country tours. Eckes-Granini has been a main sponsor and partner of the charity cycling race since 2016.
Sustainable management was also a priority in 2020
In the past business year, Eckes-Granini achieved a number of strategic milestones on its way to becoming one of the world’s most sustainable fruit juice producers by establishing an in-house sustainability team. The orange juices of Brazil, granini and God Morgon have carried the Group’s own “Sustainably Grown” label since last year and are produced from 100 % sustainably grown oranges. Through its cooperation with ClimatePartner, Eckes-Granini has also come closer to its goal of successively reducing all greenhouse gas emissions caused directly or indirectly by its own business activities and offsetting them through a compensation project in Portel, Brazil.
Setting the course for future growth
“We have set ourselves a lot of goals for 2025. At the top are innovations strictly oriented to the wishes, expectations and needs of consumers. The current beverage market offers Eckes-Granini numerous growth opportunities, which we will explore. Our goal is to significantly increase our sales revenues and market share in Europe and beyond by 2025″, says Tim Berger, CEO of the Eckes-Granini Group. To this end, the Eckes-Granini Group will continue to develop and expand its strategic brands and existing channels in a targeted manner over the next five years and invest substantially in dynamic growth categories. There will be a clear focus on channels that promise profitable growth, especially e-commerce.”
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About the Eckes-Granini Group: Eckes-Granini is the leading supplier of fruit juices and fruit beverages in Europe. For the independent family-owned company headquartered in Nieder-Olm, Germany (Rhineland-Palatinate), the focus is on committed and competent employees, strong brands in the areas of juices, fruit beverages and smoothies, and a long-term strategic orientation with sustainable value creation. Today, Eckes-Granini operates mainly in Europe with its own national companies and strategic partners and generates annual sales of 873 million euros with a total of 1708 employees. The company’s foundation is formed by the internationally renowned premium brands granini and Pago together with strong national and regional brands for juices and fruit beverages. Consumers in 80 countries worldwide and especially in Europe know and appreciate our fruit juices and the variety of fruit beverages.
In the first quarter of the 2020/21 financial year (ended 31 May 2020), AGRANA, the fruit, starch and sugar company, achieved a slight increase in both revenue and operating profit (EBIT) despite the COVID-19 crisis. AGRANA Chief Executive Officer Johann Marihart comments: “The key factor in the solid Group EBIT was a very significant profitability improvement in the Sugar segment compared to the same quarter last year. EBIT in the Starch segment was moderately below the year-earlier level, with the decline due mainly to a short-term slump in bioethanol prices at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have since recovered again. Ethanol sales remained stable in volume terms despite the lockdown, thanks to the firm export market for bioethanol with high CO2 reductions and to the sale of 10 million litres into the disinfectant sector. In the Fruit segment, earnings were significantly below those of one year ago. Thus, the performance of the fruit juice concentrate activities was down as a result of the prior-year harvest and there were COVID-19-related decreases in the fruit preparations business.”
Results in each business segment in Q1 2020|21
FRUIT segment
Revenue in the Fruit segment, at € 303.7 million, was off slightly from one year earlier. Revenue from fruit preparations fell somewhat, as a result of lower sales volumes. In the fruit juice concentrate business as well, volumes were the reason for a moderate revenue decline relative to a year ago. EBIT in the Fruit segment was € 16.0 million in the first three months, a reduction of 26.6 % year-on-year. The causes of the deterioration lay primarily in the fruit juice concentrate business, which notably saw reduced delivery volumes in combination with lower contribution margins of apple juice concentrates produced from the 2019 crop.
STARCH segment
The Starch segment’s revenue of CHF 204.4 million was slightly below the year-earlier level. The COVID-19 crisis had a negative impact on sales volumes of saccharification products, and initially also led to a drastic fall in bioethanol prices amid the lockdown and the sharp drop in demand for petrol. However, over the rest of the financial first quarter, bioethanol quotations rebounded again due to the resurgence in private transport. At € 17.0 million, EBIT of the Starch segment was moderately below the year-earlier amount. In the period under review, weaker market demand dampened prices and put pressure on margins.
SUGAR segment
The Sugar segment’s revenue of € 144.5 million in the first quarter was up significantly from one year before. Both higher sugar selling prices and increased sugar sales volumes led to this growth. Although EBIT was still negative at a deficit of € 1.0 million, it marked a substantial improvement compared to the same quarter of the previous year due to a more benign sales price environment.
The detailed financial results are provided in the interim statement for the first quarter of 2020|21 at www.agrana.com/en/investor.
Krones, the world’s leading manufacturer of filling and packaging technology, continued to grow in 2018 despite difficult conditions. The company benefited as a full-service provider from its extensive product and service range and broad international footprint.
Krones achieves growth target for 2018 financial year
Revenue increased by 4.4 % year-on-year, from €3,691.4 million to €3,854.0 million. The company thus achieved the revised target of 4 % revenue growth announced in autumn 2018. Revenue grew operationally (i.e., adjusted for currency and acquisition effects) was around 5 %. Krones increased revenue, in some cases significantly, in Europe, China and South America/Mexico. Revenue was down in the Asia/Pacific region, the Middle East/Africa and in North and Central America.
Despite the high prior-year figure, order intake increased by 4.5 % in 2018, from €3,786.8 million to €3,957.3 million. Growth in order intake was above average in Western and Eastern Europe and in China. Krones had orders on hand totalling €1,261.1 million at the end of 2018. This once again exceeded the very high prior-year figure by 1.7 %.
Krones continued to invest in the growth of its workforce in 2018, primarily for the expansion of its global footprint. The company employed 16,545 people worldwide at the end of 2018. This represents an increase of 1,246 employees on the previous year, about 400 of which related to acquisitions.
Profitability affected by one-off expenses, mainly for reorganisation
Krones’ earnings were significantly impacted by higher material and labour costs in 2018. The 5.3 % EBT margin includes approximately €42 million in one-off expenses, mainly for reorganisation.
Had these expenses not been incurred in 2018, the EBT margin would have been 6.4 %. The costs related to establishing the production site in Hungary account for the largest share of this amount. In total, earnings before taxes (EBT) in 2018 were down by 21.1 % or €54.5 million year-on-year to €204.3 million (EBT margin: 5.3 %).
Earnings decreased in both segments. In the core segment, Machines and Lines for Product Filling and Decoration, EBT went down by 15.2 % year-on-year, from €263.3 million to €223.3 million. Expenses for reorganisation reduced segment earnings here by around €25 million. In the Machines and Lines for Beverage Production/Process Technology segment, EBT deteriorated from –€4.5 million in the previous year to –€19.0 million. This mainly related to a total of around €17 million in one-off expenses.
Krones improves free cash flow by €271.4 million
Krones was able to significantly reduce working capital between October and December 2018. This had a positive impact on free cash flow, which improved in 2018 by a substantial €271.4 million compared with the prior year, to €120.7 million (previous year: –€150.7 million). The ratio of average working capital over the past four quarters to revenue developed slightly better than expected, holding stable at 27.3 % in 2018. Net cash went up to €215.1 million at the 2018 reporting date (previous year: €157.4 million). Due to the increase in total assets, the company’s equity ratio decreased slightly to 43.2 % (previous year: 43.8 %). Overall, Krones continues to possess a very robust financial and capital structure.
With the above figures, Krones has confirmed the preliminary figures published on 21 February 2019. No significant changes arose in the course of the auditing process.
Shareholders to receive stable dividend of €1.70 per share
At the Annual General Meeting on 5 June 2019, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board of Krones will be proposing a dividend of €1.70 per share for the 2018 financial year. The proposed dividend is stable relative to the previous year. The planned payout is 35.7 % of consolidated net income.
Outlook
Based on the prevailing macroeconomic outlook and the current expected development of the markets relevant to Krones, the company expects consolidated revenue growth of 3 % in 2019.
In order to achieve its medium-term corporate targets, Krones will continue in 2019 to work towards a global structure fit for the future challenges. The company does not expect any noticeable fall in material procurement prices in 2019; the same applies to labour costs. Krones’ sales price increases on all bottling and packaging equipment and for process technology with effect from 1 May 2018 are likely to have a slight positive effect on earnings in the 2019 financial year. Overall, Krones expects an EBT margin of around 6 % for 2019.
Above all due to the focus on increases in the sales price level, in the current economic and geopolitical climate, Krones sees the achievement of its targets for 2019 subject to greater uncertainties than in the past. For its third performance target, working capital to revenue, Krones expects a figure of 26 %.
The Coca-Cola Company reported another quarter of solid operating performance, capping off strong financial results for the year. While reported net revenues declined due to refranchising and currency headwinds, the company delivered organic revenue (non-GAAP) growth within its long-term target for the sixth consecutive quarter, while also gaining value share globally.
“I am pleased with our strong organic revenue and earnings growth in 2018. Our results demonstrate progress in our transformation as a consumer-centric, total beverage company and the power of a more strategically aligned system,” said James Quincey, CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. “Coca-Cola has established a strong foundation to capitalize on long-term growth opportunities and drive sustained shareowner value.” …
