International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) Barclays 19th Annual Global Consumer Conference summary

Strategic transformation and focus

• Reduced leverage from 4.5x to 2.5x and consistently met guidance over several quarters.

• Shifted from a one-stop-shop model to three innovation-driven standalone businesses: Scent, Taste, and Health & Biosciences.

• Enhanced leadership teams and commercial capabilities, with a focus on both global and regional/local accounts.

• Increased R&D and CapEx investments, aligning innovation with customer needs and improving manufacturing reliability.

• Ongoing separation of Food Ingredients business, expected to complete in the first half of next year.

Operational improvements and growth drivers

• Employee engagement and talent retention have improved significantly, supporting a more focused and disciplined approach.

• Commercial and R&D pipelines are now measured and managed for higher win rates and innovation output.

• Revenue growth in Q2 was broad-based, attributed more to internal improvements than market demand.

• Four strategic pillars: engaged people, customer obsession, innovation powerhouse, and operating excellence.

• Consumer Fragrances rebounded with new product launches and regained market competitiveness.

Customer mix and market approach

• Sales split is roughly a third each among large, medium, and small customers, with increased emphasis on emerging markets.

• AI tools are being deployed to automate and accelerate responses to customer briefs, enabling service to more and smaller customers.

• Larger customers are focusing on innovation to compete with growing regional and local players globally.