Steps to bring the company's flavour operations within arms reach of the new president are currently underway at Danish ingredients company Danisco.
Dutchman Jos Kleppers, who stepped into the shoes of Stephen Catling at the beginning of September as president of the flavours division, has wasted no time in re-organising his patch.
"I wanted to bring the division closer together, instead of dotted around all over Europe," Kleppers, who was previously president of flavours and fragrances at Sensient in the US, told FoodNavigator.com.
The new headquarters will be based near Brussels at the company's existing Louvain-la-Neuve site in Belgium, brought into the Danisco fold in May 2002 following the acquisition of Belgium-based flavour house Perlarom. Catling chose to keep the HQ at Wellingborough in the UK - Klepper's decision to shift operations to Europe is a bid to anchor the division firmly in Europe.
"This decision will broaden our European and global reach and well position the division for future growth," added Kleppers.
He was quick to stress to FoodNavigator.com that local operations were still valuable - such as Grasse - to the company, emphasising that many companies still like to buy locally.
Kleppers' predecessor had a driving ambition to bring Danisco flavours into one of the top five flavour slots in the world. The new Dutch president has willingly grasped the baton, reaffirming these ambitions and underlining his desire to gain market share across the board.
He's off to a good start thanks to ground work by Catling. The division recently carried off stable results, the best in the company, for the first quarter ended 31 July 2003 seeing sales rise 6 per cent to DK828 million, up from DK784 million for the same period in 2002/2003.