Givaudan is a global leader in fragrance & beauty and taste & wellbeing. In 2025, Givaudan employed over 17,500 people worldwide and achieved CHF 7.5 billion in sales with a free cash flow of 14.1%. With a heritage that stretches back over 250 years, the company is committed to driving long-term, sustainable growth by improving people’s health and happiness and increasing positive impact on nature. Jesse Wang of Givaudan in a chat with Manjushree Naik at PCHi 2026 in Hangzhou, China, delves deeper into the details.
Speaking about the new launch at the show, Wang stated, “Our new launch today is not an ingredient, it's not active, it's a technology to empower the active ingredient. Because we find some active ingredient, which is very common, they are not stable and it's hard to penetrate into the skin, so their effects are not very powerful.”
He added, “And, also, some encapsulation technology, they might affect the transparency or the, visual effect of the formula. So based on these three, we developed a new technology called Vector Hyal. And, Vector Hyal is our new generation of the delivery system.”
Wang explained, “And, for Givaudan, we already researched delivery system for over 20 years. So this year, we bring the new generation of the delivery system called Vector Hyal. So Vector Hyal first is based on the HA hyaluronic acid to make the nano-size encapsulation, which can protect the actives and penetrate deeper into the skin, and also bring a more transparent visual for the formula.”
According to him, first is the nano-size. So they transfer the high molecule with HA to the very small nano-size, and it can encapsulate the active ingredient.
“And also, it can trigger by the enzymes on our skin, which means when it brings the actives in the skin, the actives can release slowly and bring long-term effect for the skin when triggered to the skin. Also, for the actives, it can encapsulate water-soluble or oil-soluble. So all the active ingredients which we commonly know, it can make the encapsulation through the Vector Hyal system.”
Wang observed, “And, for Vector Hyal, actually, last year, we had a strategic partnership with a Brazil delivery system encapsulation company. So we purchased their share, and we made a strategic collaboration together. So we bring a new delivery system, Vector Hyal. We combine it together.”
Talking about Givaudan, Wang said, “Actually, we have over 200 years history, and we mainly focus on the fragrance, including the food and the beauty products. We are more focused on actives for skincare or personal care active ingredient. So we have a long history, and we are growing very fast. We have a very large portfolio, like anti-aging, soothing, whitening. So we have quite a lot, hundreds of products. Also, we have a group of R&D in France and in Switzerland, mainly Europe.”
Givaudan, according to Wang is different from other companies as it is led by consumers. “So every year, we keep searching or observe the consumer needs based on our internal CMI insights. So based on the insights, we observe or deep dive into the future trends.”
He added, “And, we leverage this knowledge to inspire our R&D team. And then we develop new ingredients or technology to meet the consumer needs in the future. So that's why we are different from other companies.”
While the company has a strong presence in Europe and North America, its doing well in India. “As for India, we started India business, I remember, five years ago. And right now, they are growing very fast. I don't know the exact number, but they are very, very fast with strong needs, especially for our active ingredients or whitening ingredients. India market is famous for that.”
In China, the competition is very strong. “And, you know, the local competitors, they are very active. So, right now, I think in these circumstances, we still have a very good growth.” However, the tensions in West Asia have not affected the business in China.
In regard to future, Wang stated, “First, we observe some trends, which inspire our future inspirations, like longevity or technology intelligence. So, in the future, we want to bring more active ingredient, which can bring multiple benefits. Because right now, a lot of ingredients, they only bring one benefit, and then they combine all the active together into one formula.”
He has a strong bearing on use of AI.”We want to leverage AI technologies, like we want to use AI technology to help us find the most powerful molecules to build our active ingredient. And, we want AI to help us more to have the future clinical results. Like our ingredient, this one called Evernityl, it brings long-term benefits. So, consumers are wondering, how can I see the benefit or effect in the long term? But with AI, we can show if you use this ingredient in 10 years, and there's a very clear comparison with what you don't use. So, one, you use the ingredient. Another, you don't use. In 10 years, you have a completely different effect on their face. So, this is powered by AI. So, two aspects.”
“We use AI to help us find more powerful actives and have more visual clinical results, and also help us to get some inspiration from the market,” he stated on a concluding note.
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