dsm-firmenich has thought big from the very beginning. The company is highly focused on progress and is consistently looking to find ways to improve the lives of people and the planet through health, beauty, and nutrition – together with its customers.
The size and scope of the organization reflects the grand scale of its mission. dsm-firmenich is the result of a merger between a global leader in health, nutrition, and bioscience, DSM, and the world’s largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company, Firmenich.
Though the two businesses only merged in 2023, dsm-firmenich boasts a combined history of more than 150 years’ scientific discovery and innovation, as well as a legacy of creating a safe and respectful environment that fosters collaboration, creativity, and accessibility for all.
Maurizio Clementi plays a key role in dsm-firmenich’s quest to improve nutrition and health across the world. As Executive Vice President of the Taste division, he is a leading figure in the organization’s Taste, Texture & Health (TTH) business unit, which has three core focuses: making foods and beverages more delicious (the ‘desirable’), more nutritious (the ‘essential’), and more sustainable.
“In the Taste division, we embrace the power of flavor to drive consumer emotion and preference, while ensuring we are making the food system more sustainable, health-friendly, and affordable,” Maurizio states. “We, together with our customers, are currently tackling some of society’s biggest challenges – such as food loss, waste, and rising obesity rates – as we try to accelerate the global diet transformation toward better wellbeing for people and our planet.”
This mission is intensified by an increasingly dynamic market that requires dsm-firmenich to anticipate and mitigate global and regional supply chain challenges.
“Even in the face of industry-wide challenges,” Maurizio says, “we partner closely with our suppliers and remain transparent with our customers, taking the necessary steps to protect their brands, ensure consumer delight and, most importantly, offer healthy options that encourage the right choices at the shelf.
“In line with this, Albert Plans, our Operations Leader in Taste, has been driving a pivotal modernization of our footprint. Recently, we partnered with Parsec—the developer of the TrakSYS Manufacturing Execution System (MES) platform—to successfully implement MES at TTH dsm-firmenich, supporting our move toward high automation and agility.”
Deep Understanding
dsm-firmenich makes use of a comprehensive range of innovative solutions to fulfil its health, nutrition and sustainability goals – from natural and renewable ingredients to renowned science and technology capabilities. Just as important as the solutions themselves is the organization’s co-creation with customers, and its deep understanding of what consumers need.
“Our portfolio is built on a scientific superiority that is foundational to making us a ‘category of one’ in terms of the breadth and depth of solutions and products we can provide,” Maurizio points out. “However, having all the tools doesn’t make you a craftsman.
“Our customers’ products win in the market because we deeply understand both consumers’ emotional connection to what they eat and drink (such as what makes homemade food taste special), as well as taste formulation challenges (such as bitterness and texture). In short, we can anticipate the evolution of our customers’ markets, and we know how to translate their unique qualities into taste experiences that consumers love.”
Scientific research and discovery have been instrumental to dsm-firmenich’s success when it comes to taste, texture, and health. It’s not all about science though; the company owes much to the taste creators who design its flavors.
“There are more astronauts in the world than flavorists,” Maurizio declares. “It’s a unique profession, so we really try to be empowering, giving them space to be creative, as well as welcoming regular feedback to ensure we are always improving.”
Flavorist School
The role of a Flavorist at dsm-firmenich is highly complex and requires up to three years of training to become an associate, while it can take 15-25 years to achieve the title of Master Flavorist. To attract and nurture top talent, the organization operates a training academy that prepares flavorists for a life-long future in the business.
“Just last year, we welcomed the inaugural class of students to our revamped Flavorist School,” Maurizio reports. “Drawing on more than one hundred years of creation knowledge and experience, this school is dedicated to improving both the art and science of flavor development for generations to come. It also exemplifies our commitment to empowering the success of our people.”
Human Insights
One of the biggest challenges for the TTH business is anticipating new consumer food preferences. However, Maurizio has always stressed the importance of converting challenges into opportunities, & the Taste division is highly capable of adapting to satisfy the latest trends.
“Everything we do is guided by current and future consumer needs, like the rising trends of personalization, affordability, and health,” says Maurizio. “We can do everything from making higher protein content in foods taste good, to analyzing foresight signals as part of a proactive package for meeting evolving consumer preferences.
“Our proprietary insights and creativity are the glue that binds us with customers as we collaborate across all levels of product development,” he continues. “Digitalization, AI, and proprietary tools are also now in place, giving flavorists more time to focus on the uniquely human, creative elements of developing a complete taste experience.”
Health and Sustainability
Today, health is a key focal point for dsm-firmenich, its clients, and consumers. With the help of its eminent workforce, and in collaboration with customers, research institutions and partners, dsm-firmenich is proud to have recently removed over two trillion calories from sugar from people’s diets, as well as eliminating enough salt in food to help over three million consumers meet World Health Organization guidelines for salt intake.
“We have seen dramatic changes in consumer food choices lately, as people grow more conscious about the impact of diet on their health, but remain unwilling to compromise on taste,” Maurizio affirms. “Whether markets are guided by government legislation or consumers re-thinking healthy consumption, we stay agile and quickly adapt to the latest shifts in the way people enjoy food and beverages.”
As a true innovator, it’s no surprise that dsm-firmenich is leading the industry in terms of sustainability. Integrated into all aspects of the company’s operations, sustainability takes many forms at dsm-firmenich, from responsible sourcing to mindful consumption.
“In April,” Maurizio explains, “we hosted our Sustainability Investor Day in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland, where we invited our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investors to learn more about our integrated approach to sustainability, highlighting how it significantly impacts business performance and drives positive change at scale. We also explained our sustainability program and our 2030 targets, such as reaching one billion people with our solutions to reduce micronutrient deficiency, and reducing our Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 25% from a 2021 base year.”
As an organization that strives, in all areas, to bring progress to life, dsm-firmenich welcomes the future with confidence, knowing that its work today will make for a better tomorrow. For Maurizio and the TTH business, that future will be built around a commitment to positive change in areas like preventative healthcare; enjoyable, healthy and sustainable dietary choices; and holistic wellbeing.
“Our ambition is to be an unmatched ‘category of one’ company and to use our unique position for good,” Maurizio concludes. “We will accomplish this by working together with our customers to co-create food & beverages that combine the Essential, Desirable, and Sustainable through creativity, science and innovation – resulting in solutions that drive meaningful progress to life.”
