Just a few kilometres from Lake Geneva, known locally as Lac Leman, MANE Switzerland is both a focal point for nearby customers and the heart of a truly global network. Procurement teams manage raw materials from around the world, while researchers carry out ambitious R&D projects, a combination that makes the site strategically important for the Group.
In 1969, Maurice Mane, the grandson of MANE founder Victor Mane and father of Jean & Michel Mane, respectively President of the Group and Americas Director, decided to set up a new site in Switzerland. His choice of the small village of Vouvry was not made by chance but was driven by his genuine desire to be close to the company’s major Swiss customers.
Since then, the Vouvry facility has been extended several times, notably in 2015 with a new building designed with the eco-friendly transition in mind and where solar panels are currently being installed. “When we expanded the site, we added offices, along with analysis and application laboratories,” says Alain Croux, MANE Switzerland General Manager and Group Director of Global Purchasing.
Today, the activities include:
- sales office
- research and development
- global purchasing
- global Master Data Management
- manufacturing site.
A leading role for Global Master Data Management
However, MANE Switzerland is also home to the Group's global purchasing department. All the raw materials purchased by MANE worldwide are managed by a dedicated unit at Vouvry entitled Global Master Data Management. “Its role is to identify and document all the specifications for our raw materials and to harmonise these at a global level,” explains Alain Croux. “Once they are documented, the next step is to record them as a Golden Standard, which contains all the precise reference data for every raw material and formula. This information can then be shared across the entire MANE Group, enabling us to manufacture the same flavours and fragrances for all our customers around the world.”
When a customer requests a different sensory profile, the team creates a new Golden Standard by adjusting the specifications of the raw materials. This new standard is then made available to all the perfumers and flavourists within the MANE Group.
Vouvry, a Centre of Excellence for applying advanced flavour technologies
At the same time, the site also has a Centre of Excellence specialising in research and development for a range of flavouring applications, including:
- coffee
- chocolate
- beverages
- savoury products
- confectionery.
These R&D activities are carried out in application laboratories fitted with the state-of-the-art equipment needed for evaluating flavours in finished products. The highlight of the new facilities is a fully equipped kitchen where the MANE Culinary Chef is given the freedom to create customised brand or product solutions for food industry professionals.
For the beverages sector, a research project might focus, for example, on creating a unique and memorable brand signature for coffee. In the food segment, where the move to plant-based proteins is gathering pace, the R&D teams are working on a ready-to-use flavouring in an extruded solid form. The key to success is their use of an extrusion technology that offers better protection for molecular structures during the production process. Such advances will help to meet the demand from the growing number of consumers who want to avoid animal protein, but who would like vegetable protein to taste like meat.
Vouvry’s culinary experts are developing recipes to enhance MANE’s portfolio of natural products, including spices, extracts and ingredients, while also sharing their expertise with other chefs within the Group. Their aim is to promote innovation, through the development of vegan ready meals, for example, and to create interesting sensory profiles.
A constant connection to the whole Group
Working closely with teams at the Group’s headquarters in southern France, the researchers in Vouvry are also developing completely new flavour molecules. “We collaborate with the chemical teams at Le Bar-sur-Loup to find molecules with new organoleptic or olfactory properties,” explains Alain Croux. “Once these have been developed, we manage their industrialisation in our factories around the world.” Along with this appetite for creating new flavourings and taste experiences, there is also a desire at Vouvry to maintain the company’s traditional strengths in flavours.
Not surprisingly, with such a broad range of activities carried out on a single site, Vouvry’s links with the rest of the Group are extensive. “Between the Global Master Data Management unit, the global purchasing department, and our international R&D projects, we are in constant communication with teams around the world,” declares Alain Croux. Taken together, MANE’s Swiss subsidiary has not only met the needs of local clients for more than 50 years, it has also helped the Group to become a major player on the world stage.