*Commentary courtesy of ADM
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*Commentary courtesy of ADM
- 2025 net income: $1.1 billion (inclusive of all categories)
- Global headquarters: Chicago
Scaling Growth Through Investment and Integration
Commentary by Calvin McEvoy, President, Global Flavors, ADM, and member of the board of governors at Flavor Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA)
In a marketplace defined by rapid reformulation, evolving consumer expectations and more demand for natural ingredients, ADM’s flavors business continues to reinforce its position as a global leader. In 2025, we delivered record performance across multiple regions and business segments, converging vertical integration, technological excellence and customer-centric innovation. Through strategic investments, portfolio expansion and deep sensory expertise, we are translating nature into reliable products, providing precise, technology driven solutions that address our customers’ challenges for today and tomorrow.
ADM’s flavors business experienced strong sales in North America in 2025, supported by steady growth across Europe and Asia Pacific. The year marked record performance across many parts of the global flavors portfolio, fueled by operational investments, expanded innovation capabilities and the successful integration of key acquisitions—Revela Foods, FDL and Totally Natural Solutions (TNS)—which strengthened ADM’s core flavors business by incorporating complementary capabilities and portfolios across dairy, savory, hops and other natural flavor systems.
Notably, we invested heavily across our global network. This included significant improvements in our Erlanger, Kentucky and Berlin and Eppelheim, Germany flavor production sites, along with innovation center expansions in Budapest, Hungary and Nairobi, Kenya.
Erlanger, our flagship U.S. flavors facility, became a focal point of investment in 2025, which is continuing throughout 2026. A recently announced $26 million investment will increase capacity, delivery reliability and supply consistency for colors and flavors derived from natural sources. The upgrade includes a 3,600-square-foot expansion—representing a 40% increase in raw material handling capabilities—and multiple digitalization, automation and integrated process upgrades.
In addition, a $15 million investment resulted in a 7,200-square-foot expansion of the Erlanger site’s world-class Customer Creation and Innovation Center (CCIC). This supported fully bringing online our new culinary and dairy innovation center, bolstering our collaboration capabilities with customers across food and beverage categories. The enhanced space enables ADM to tackle some of the industry’s most pressing challenges, including sodium and sugar reduction, improved nutrient density like added protein content, and clean-label and regulatory demands, all without compromising taste.
These capital campaigns underscore ADM’s long-term commitment to innovation, service, customer centricity and operational excellence. By decentralizing elements of our CCIC model and augmenting our regional capabilities, we are increasing flexibility and meeting customers where they are.
Moreover, with one of the broadest and deepest ingredient portfolios in the industry —encompassing citrus, vanilla, mint, hops, botanical extracts, aroma ingredients, colors derived from natural sources and more—we combine vertical integration with expert creation and development teams to help build novel and enduring products. In an era where both breakthrough innovation and thoughtful reformulation are critical, we are positioning ADM’s flavors business as a partner of choice for regional and global brands alike.
Precision Innovation Rooted in Nature
Commentary by Nicole Yo, Global Chief Flavorist, ADM
"By combining natural origin, technological excellence and regional presence, ADM delivers full-spectrum solutions precisely aligned to customer needs, from ideation and development through scale-up," says Nicole Yo.ADM
As a global leader in innovative solutions from nature, ADM supports our customers in remaining nimble through shifting consumer dietary habits, flavor expectations and demand for natural ingredients. Our vertical integration across all platforms of our flavor business, combined with precision expertise and a vast natural flavors portfolio, fortifies our ability to address reformulation needs from concept to commercialization while ensuring consistent, high-quality supply. Our exceptional access to raw materials—from citrus to mint, dairy and cheese, food bases, tea distillates and hops—provides a reliable foundation for innovation.
ADM’s research and development process begins with a comprehensive understanding of current and emerging market dynamics. By closely analyzing consumer preferences, we anticipate trends and translate these insights into actionable solutions in the lab. Within our flavors toolbox, we create proprietary captives that support sensorial shifts while authentically emulating tastes found in nature. This enables brands to deliver cleaner-label experiences without sacrificing complexity or authenticity. Innovation also extends into advanced flavor modulation, biotechnology and fermentation to help optimize performance.
Our expert flavorists and food scientists leverage a broad array of patented and sophisticated technologies, such as separation, concentration, blending and emulsification, along with proprietary processes, designed to solve our customers’ challenges efficiently and reliably. Automation and digitalization across manufacturing sites paired with our supply reliability further supports scalability.
Our global labs and innovation centers operate as an integrated network, allowing solutions developed in one market to be adapted, scaled and deployed across others with speed and precision. Recent expansions at the Heidelberg, Germany lab, the opening of a new flavor creation facility in Johannesburg, South Africa, and ongoing investments across the Asia Pacific region exemplify this approach. In 2025, ADM established satellite labs in key APAC locations, strengthening proximity to customers in one of the fastest-growing markets worldwide. Continued expansion of our lab footprint will accelerate speed-to-market, deepen collaboration and ensure solutions are tailored to regional tastes and regulatory requirements.
By combining natural origin, technological excellence and regional presence, ADM delivers full-spectrum solutions precisely aligned to customer needs, from ideation and development through scale-up.
From Cultural Signals to Sensational Flavors
Commentary by Hélène Moeller, Vice President, Global Product Marketing, Flavors & Colors, ADM
"As consumer expectations and taste preferences change, ADM’s flavor business stands at the intersection of authenticity and innovation—where nature meets precision and where global expertise transforms raw ingredients into differentiated food and beverage experiences that resonate meaningfully with consumers everywhere," says Hélène Moeller.ADM
Our flavor innovations and trend predictions are informed not only by the food industry, but also by global culinary shifts, fashion, art and design. Each year, ADM evaluates cultural movements and consumer mindsets to anticipate what will drive sensory expression.
For 2026, we predicted that consumers will focus on cultivating personal resilience and making more meaningful choices at the store. This mindset may manifest in foods and beverages that support holistic well-being, immersive experiences that deliver a "sensory theater" of tastes, textures and colors, or escapism through comforting yet contemporary "newstalgic" flavors.
Our global lens, combined with local immersion, allows us to track culinary and cultural moments as they evolve, monitoring how these ideas shape the future of flavor. For example, we also see the rise of "third culture cuisine," which celebrates blended food identities, alongside conscientious eating, intentionality and personalized experiences with an emphasis on wellness—physical, emotional and social—playing an even larger role in guiding innovation. Flavor becomes not just an attribute, but a vehicle for storytelling, identity and connection.
To enhance our foresight, we are piloting an AI platform in 2026 designed to analyze extensive data sets and accelerate consumer insight evaluation. Integrating AI-driven analytics into our trendspotting and R&D processes further fuels our agility and responsiveness while maintaining our human creativity and craftsmanship at the heart of flavor design.
As we look to what’s next, we remain rooted in three interconnected strengths. First, we believe in leveraging quality natural sources and raw materials. In fact, more than 80% of our portfolio depends on or is derived from natural components. We bring this together with advanced technology and solutions, all led by our expert development and technical teams. As consumer expectations and taste preferences change, ADM’s flavor business stands at the intersection of authenticity and innovation—where nature meets precision and where global expertise transforms raw ingredients into differentiated food and beverage experiences that resonate meaningfully with consumers everywhere.
