Swiss flavours and fragrances firm Givaudan has opened its Innovation Centre in Kemptthal, Switzerland.

The centre will focus on creating differentiated and sustainable flavour, taste and fragrance solutions for the food, beverage, beauty and home care industries.

Built with an investment of Sfr120m ($120.3m), the centre is claimed to be the company’s largest investment in research to date.

The centre is part of the company’s global innovation ecosystem, which is designed to leverage its broad expertise in flavours, fragrances and natural solutions, and enables close collaboration and co-creation with its customers, partners and start-ups.

Givaudan CEO Gilles Andrier said: “Building on our 250 years pioneering heritage, our new flagship centre is the latest example of Givaudan’s strong innovation culture.

“As the newest addition to Givaudan’s vast network of research and creation centres, the Zurich Innovation Centre will act as a key enabler to deliver breakthrough science and technology solutions for our customers while tackling the industry’s most pressing challenges.”

The centre, which has more than 12,000m² of space for 300 employees, integrates hosting for start-ups, labs and kitchen space, thereby providing a holistic customer experience on-site.

Givaudan said that its science and technology teams can leverage the research capabilities in flavour delivery technologies, fermentation, sensory and application science.

Additionally, the centre will feature unique sensory and consumer insight tools and Sprint fast prototyping methodology, which enables the company to predict and plan for future consumer trends.

In January, Givaudan opened its technical and commercial centre in Casablanca, Morocco.

With the capacity to offer a wide range of flavour applications, the Moroccan facility caters to customers in the savoury, beverages, sweet goods, dairy and snacks segments.