Mane
Le Bar-sur-Loup, France
2024 Sales: €1.770 billion
During a year of economic challenges globally, the Mane’s Group delivered solid growth, demonstrating its focus on leveraging innovation capabilities, pursuing its sustainability-challenging targets, and continuing to invest 10% of its revenue to further strengthen its market leadership in targeted local and international markets.
Business Accomplishments
Full-year 2023 sales were €1.770 billion ($1.915 billion), an increase of 4.2% compared to 2022. “We are very pleased with our 2023 performance demonstrating our ability to support the growth of our customers. I am extremely proud and grateful to all Mane collaborators around the world for their continued commitment, and for their good results in a challenging economic environment” Jean Mane, president and CEO of Mane, said.
Jean Mane, president and CEO, Manecourtesy of Mane
There have been some fine achievements, in particular Mane Indonesia, and Mane Mexico whose sales exceeded significant thresholds. LATAM flavors recorded solid results and continue to grow at a rapid pace. New clients solidly implanted in the region spurred growth, particularly in the key markets of Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. Global and emerging businesses in both Sweet and Savoury segments also showed solid growth over the prior year.
Flavors showed solid growth across Europe, too. The Maghreb and the Middle East produced excellent results. All our teams worked hard to maintain and develop our customers' business. Key clients performed extraordinarily well, with strong growth in product ranges.
In North America, flavors were able to capture growth over the prior year, despite a challenging market as our customers focused on driving efficiency throughout their supply chain. Changes in demand patterns to pre-COVID levels and productivity pressures to curb consumer inflation were the norm. In this context, the business still grew both top and bottom line. Our broad portfolio of flavor, seasoning, herbs & spices, preservation systems and color serves the Snack market particularly well, as this category continues to grow double digits. Dairy also outperformed the prior year as we continue to lead with differentiated vanilla solutions. Mid-market customers, especially in the functional nutrition and snacks segments, continue to drive speed of launch. Working jointly with clients continues to drive advantage and has helped them to accelerate launches of winning products. Mane encapsulation technologies and delivery systems enhancing unique consumer experiences, such as flavor change or morphing, continue to gain market traction.
Fine Fragrance also reported excellent results, with another year of double-digit growth in Europe, major market launches for several of our long-standing customers, and significant wins for new global and regional customers. Finally, for Fragrance Consumer Goods in EMEA, all sales offices and categories reported growth, with good overall performances. The home care segment performed particularly well, with strong consumer demand for home fragrances and candles. In this market segment, consumers are looking for premium fragrances and beautiful olfactory signatures. The quality of our raw materials and the unlimited creativity of our perfumers enable us to respond effectively to this trend.
Investing in Growth Markets
“With a view to continuing our growth and meeting the 2026 targets set by the Group, always keeping in mind our determination to serve our customers extremely well, we have once again continued to invest this year,” said Jean Mane.
“In June this year, I was delighted to inaugurate our brand-new Pinghu plant in China. This new site will enable us to give a major boost to the development of the flavors market in China and neighboring countries. In India, we have opened this year the second KANCOR site in Byadgi, Karnataka, which will allow us to quadruple our spice extraction capacities, with continuous extraction technologies and a supercritical CO2 extraction unit. This brand-new production site will also enable Mane Group to strengthen its activities in the natural colorants and antioxidants sectors, among others,” Jean Mane continued.
On the African continent, the Group pursued its investments this year, with the inauguration of a new Fragrance Creative Centre in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, as well as new premises and flavor application laboratories in Accra, Ghana.
Finally, in the United States, Mane just celebrated the expansion of its new Wayne site, which will enable it to triple the production of fragrance compositions starting in 2024. Good progress on the new liquid flavor production unit at Woodlawn has also been made, with the full commissioning occurring before year-end.
The innovation center at Mane headquarters centralizes several structures such as scientific documentation, a laboratory for new technologies, pilot lines, a test platform for new processes, an extraction workshop, and laboratories to further research on encapsulation and extrusion.courtesy of Mane
In Paris, the building that will house the future Fine Fragrance Creative Centre has been delivered, and the teams will move to this new facility in a near future. After Barcelona, Dubai, Shanghai, and Milano, this new space will be one more milestone in our investments in Fine Fragrance, enhancing creativity, strengthening our ability to understand consumer needs, and reinforcing our Consumer Insight expertise. We will bring our perfumers a unique place to express their creativity and multiply our co-creation projects with our customers, offering them a place for exchange and infinite fragrance innovation.
In Le Bar-sur-Loup, the headquarters, the CIS (Center Innovation Sarrée) is now fully operational. This innovation center centralizes several structures such as scientific documentation, a laboratory for new technologies, pilot lines, a test platform for new processes, an extraction workshop, and laboratories to further research on encapsulation and extrusion. At the Perfumery Centre of Research, the Group has strengthened its Consumer Insights and Sensory Analysis expertise, with a new dedicated area and the latest generation equipment. This investment reinforces our deep insights into consumers’ needs and will guide our creative teams to envision tomorrow’s fragrances.
Finally, to meet the ever-increasing demands of our customers and remain competitive in the marketplace, the Group has launched new programs to implement new IT and Artificial Intelligence systems that will have a positive impact on workflows and operational efficiency.
Sustainable and Ethical Value Chain
Mane is pursuing its CSR initiatives, committed to operating the most sustainable and ethical value chain. For the third time in a row, CSR actions have been awarded the Ecovadis Platinum rating medal, the highest accolade. Mane Group also achieved a significant improvement in its CDP ratings (A Climate; A- Water; B Forest), and it is maintaining its efforts, with ambitious climate objectives by 2030.
To reinforce our commitment to the climate, we also became a member of RE100 initiative, joining more than 400 companies worldwide committed to achieve 100% renewable electricity consumption by 2030. At the same time, we reaffirmed our commitment to ethical and responsible conduct by reissuing our Code of Ethics and rolling out related training in all our subsidiaries. In 2023, the hottest year on record, we have voluntarily turned many of our environmental actions to engage our employees and raise their awareness of the need to significantly reduce our carbon footprint (conference by Dr. Jean Jouzel, deployment of the “Fresque du Climat”).
In India, Mane Kancor was recognized by the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) in 2023 for the company’s active engagement in various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, which encompass various fields such as women empowerment, education, infrastructure development, and healthcare. Mane Kancor has also secured the prestigious “Commitment Bade” in the Ecovadis sustainability assessment in recognition of the company's commitment to sustainability initiatives. “And I am proud to say that Mane Kancor has won the Kerala State Ministry of Industries award for the best-performing enterprise in exports” added Jean Mane.
Finally, the Group joined the Climate Fund for Nature, an initiative by Mirova, a sustainable investment firm, to support high-quality projects dedicated to nature protection and restoration. Mane has joined forces with the fund initiated by KERING and the L'OCCITANE Group to provide long-term financing for projects, confirming a growing interest from major corporations in investing in nature-based solutions, in addition to our decarbonization trajectories.
Jean Mane shared, "To reinforce our commitment to the climate, we also became a member of RE100 initiative, joining more than 400 companies worldwide committed to achieve 100% renewable electricity consumption by 2030."courtesy of Mane
Major Influencers for Innovation
Health and wellness continue to be a major influencer in driving flavor innovation. Further, in 2023, productivity savings, increased taste impact and modulation, and unique trigeminal sensorial consumer experience continue to push innovation demands in this market. Many product categories are impacted and engaged in innovative solutions: cost pressure on cocoa and vanilla, demand for impactful naturals in Beverage, Dairy, Confection and Savory, replacement of juices, and masking of nutritional components such as protein in all segments. As consumers seek natural “good for you” labels, combined with great taste at reasonable prices, these challenges will continue to drive innovation. Mane technologies serve these needs exceptionally well. Our consumer insights team continues to explore the preferences of Gen-Z consumers and has focused specifically on protein consumption as well as their consistent craving for coffee, hydration, and recovery.
We are committed to developing flavors solutions helping consumers optimise their diet with healthier food without sacrificing taste. Our taste modulation experts have implemented a precision program named Sense Capturea Precision Taste Modulation to achieve the optimal taste experience that consumers expect. This cutting-edge and unique approach combines aromatic intelligence with product knowledge based on advanced analytical technologies and sensory methodologies, in-house and external expertise: from salt reduction to sugar reduction, fat replacement, or plant-based transition, we address all aspects of the taste for even the most complex food product or drink, enhancing the expected perceptions and reducing the undesired dimensions of taste.
Scents that Go Beyond Smelling Good
Fragrances have always been recognized to convey emotions, and the demand for emotional fragrances is strong. Mane's Wellmotionb program brings together consumer insights, scientific research and perfumers ‘creation expertise to overcome this challenge. We have set up a specific consortium to pool together expertise with the final objective of being able to certify the emotional impact of our fragrances.
In terms of creation, we see a continuous demand for signature and quality in a highly educated market of connoisseurs. The market is in demand for very mischievous floral notes. In this context, our expertise E-pure Jungle Essencec, illustrates the re-birth of enfleurage combining a first step of enfleurage in oil and a second step of supercritical CO2 extraction is a green alternative to absolutes which captures the signature scent of fresh flowers. It opens up new and unparalleled creative possibilities.
The success of fruity and gourmand notes is undeniable. Mane Jungle Essence portfolio offers a wide range of fruity and gourmand notes, enabling our perfumers to demonstrate their infinite creativity.
Ingredients are Key Drivers of Innovation
In India our Mane Kancor research and innovation focus on developing innovative products that address sustainable solutions in multiple categories, including cosmetics, solutions for extended shelf life, natural colors, nutraceuticals, and ingredients for taste and aroma. The innovative initiatives were in line with the long-term goals of improving carbon neutrality, and more exploration of nature and ethnicity with traceable backward integrations.
Mane Kancor’s ingredient solution Rosehip Extract is recognised as one of the top three most innovative Ingredients at Fi India 2023 showcasing an increasing palette with innovative offerings.
We are in the process of developing a color ingredient spectral area that consists of the colors red, blue, and yellow with a variety of green chlorophyll solutions with competitive-quality edges. An additional field of endeavor involves the continuous development of diverse cosmetic products, such as those designed to eliminate body odor, prevent acne, and lighten skin tone. Our natural antidandruff solutions were recently granted a patent in the United States.
Created in 2011, Green Motiond is more relevant than ever! This online tool assesses the environmental impact of aromatic ingredients, fragrances, and flavors. Many of our customers have been using it for their eco-friendly briefs, designing more responsible products. A new article published in the scientific International Journal of Green Chemistry establishes the existence of a correlation between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions calculated with a full Life Cycle Assessment and the Green Motion score using a clustering approach to the 12 principles of green chemistry. The comparative analysis clearly demonstrates that by improving the Green Motion score of our fragrances and flavors, we can help directly reduce the GHG emissions of our products.
LATAM flavors recorded solid results and continue to grow at a rapid pace. New clients solidly implanted in the region spurred growth, particularly in the key markets of Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.courtesy of Mane
Forward Thinking: Company Focuses & Goals
“Mane's key objectives are set for the long term: continuing to grow and transmit, while staying fully independent and a family-owned company”.
Climate strategy is a top priority for the Mane Group, and the need for climate action has never been more dire. We will pursue our ambitious near-term decarbonization targets. We are in it for the long haul, carefully setting in motion today the actions that will help us ensure a lasting and better future.
In an increasingly complex and volatile world, and in order to meet our customers' growing demand for rapid response to their needs, the company has embarked on a process of digitalization. This will enable us to deploy tools that will not only improve our service to customers but also optimize our operational efficiency. At the same time, we will strengthen our use of Artificial Intelligence to support formulation processes, mass document analysis or consumer data processing, accelerating our ability to respond to market needs. Finally, we will also help to develop the digital culture within our company through communication and training tools, essential pillars to adapt successfully and with agility to a constantly changing world.
The immediate focus for the next 12 months is also on functional ingredients in natural antioxidants, natural color blends, cosmetic ingredients, and nutraceutical ingredients. We will concentrate on growing regions in Asia with focus on India, China and Indonesia. We will also initiate newer initiatives on sustainability across various crops around several growing regions around the world. We will also have shelf-life solutions for antimicrobial sectors and synergistic solutions for a variety of category applications. Our emerging developments in nutraceuticals will focus on the domains of animal health, mental health, and digestive health.
Flavors will continue to focus on the continuing demand for health and wellness, especially in the area of functional nutrition. The desire for natural, clean ingredients remains strong. Mane’s patented capsule technology is also being leveraged further in new segments for novel delivery and consumer experience in confection, nutrition and breath freshening. We also continue to build our manufacturing capacities to best serve our customers. In 2024 North America will open expansions for savory reaction flavors, as well as a new $100 Million investment in liquid flavor manufacturing slated to be customer-ready by Q4 of this year. For LATAM, in line with Mane’s customer-centric approach, Mane Mexico has opened new modern offices in the Polanco area of Mexico City. This new location is designed to facilitate interaction with clients with collaborative spaces that foster communication and contact. Additional capacity investments in Mexico and Brazil are also underway.
In essence, relying on our entrepreneurial spirit, we will continue to reinforce our position on the market, bringing breakthrough innovation to our customers, and addressing the utmost needs of consumers' expertise, while having people and the planet at the heart of our actions.
Footnotes
aSense Capture is a trademark of Mane
bWellmotion is a trademark of Mane
cJungle Essence is a trademark of Mane
dGreen Motion is a trademark of Mane
