International Flavors and Fragrances

International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) is a major producer of flavors and fragrances with sales of $1.99 billion in 2005. Major competitors include Firmenich, Givaudan, Quest International and Symrise. IFF is a member of the S&P 500

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History

IFF was founded in 1958 by the merger between the worldwide operations of Polak & Schwarz and van Ameringen-Haebler. A.L. van Ameringen had immigrated to the U.S. in 1917 to work for Polak & Schwarz before leaving to open his own business, later to become Ameringen-Haebler in 1929. IFF predecessor Polak & Schwarz was formed in 1889 by Joseph Polak and Leopold Schwarz in the small Dutch town of Zutphen to process concentrated fruit juices.

IFF was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1964. The company has paid dividends to share holders since 1956. In 2000, the board of directors cut the dividend from $0.38 per share to $0.15 per share, beginning with the fourth quarter 2000 dividend. This action ended a 39 year history of uninterrupted dividend increases, and greatly disappointed shareholders. The most recent dividend was $0.185 per share declared on December 19, 2005, payable on January 9th 2006 to shareholders of record on December 22, 2005.

On May 9, 2006 former Chairman and CEO Richard A. Goldstein retired from IFF. Arthur C. Martinez was named as interim Chief Executive and Chairman. Martinez was formerly chairman and CEO of Sears, Roebuck and Company On June 29, 2006 IFF announced the appointment of Robert M. Amen as their new Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1. Amen was previously president of International Paper Company. Interim chief executive Arthur C. Martinez returned to his role as Lead Director of IFF.

Popcorn Lung

IFF and it's subsidiary Bush Boake Allen have been involved in several lawsuits relating to cases of bronchiolitis obliterans allegedly resulting from exposure to diacetyl in butter flavorings by workers at the Glister-Mary Lee popcorn plant in Jasper, Missouri. The plaintiffs claim the manufacturers knew about the dangers of the butter flavoring used in the popcorn factory but failed to give a warning. The defendants said they were unaware of the risk and suggested there was not enough evidence to prove their product had caused the disease. Several suits have already been settled amounting to almost $53 million in damages.^[1]

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