Symrise has entered into an agreement to form a joint venture (JV) with Andhra Pradesh-based pharmaceutical actives maker, Virchow Group, to manufacture personal care ingredients from the Symrise portfolio.

The new company, Vizag Care Ingredients Private Limited, is based in Visakhapatnam, India, including one local chemical manufacturing site. Production is to begin in H1 2024.

Symrise owns the majority in the JV. The expansion plans over the coming years are anticipating substantial annual capacities to deliver the ambitious growth trajectory of Symrise in cosmetic ingredients. Symrise's global sales organization will carry out promotion and sales activities of the products manufactured by the joint venture.

"With the Vizag Care Ingredients joint venture, Symrise is creating and controlling additional capacity for fast-growing, high-value cosmetic ingredients," says Dr. Joern Andreas, President Scent & Care, Symrise AG. "Underpinned by a strategic commitment to backward integration, this new facility serves as a critical enabler of our ambitious growth plans.”

As the first chemical manufacturing site of Symrise outside Europe and the Americas, the Visakhapatnam facility forms an important milestone in the company's history.

Through this partnership with Virchow Group, Symrise looks forward to strengthening its leading position as a supplier of high-quality personal care solutions. This includes multifunctional product protection ingredients, high-performance actives & botanicals, and next-generation UV filters.

"Our entire customer base will benefit from the proximity, efficiency, and sustainability advantages that come with a supply of our market-leading cosmetic ingredients portfolio out of India," continues Dr. Andreas.

"Virchow Group and Symrise share the same values, so this partnership perfectly fits. Together, we will manufacture modern ingredients in India that drive innovation, safety, and efficacy for our global customers. In addition, we seek to make an impact in the local community of Visakhapatnam by continuously investing and creating jobs.”

"We feel delighted to partner with Symrise, a global leader in the manufacturing and supply of cosmetic ingredients. Virchow as an established world leader of several pharmaceutical actives brings expertise in high-volume synthetic chemical manufacturing and knowledge of good manufacturing practices. The joint venture serves as a diversification of Virchow Group into specialty chemicals,” said Prasanth Nandigala, Director at the Board of Virchow Group companies.