Symrise achieves growth in pet food, with a slowdown in the palatability business

German firm Symrise reported group sales of €5 billion ($5.2B) in its 2024 financial year, an increase of 5.7%, with organic sales growth of 8.7%.

The company’s Taste, Nutrition & Health segment, which includes its pet food business, increased 3.8% in sales to €3 billion ($3.1B). Symrise attributed this increase to profitable sales growth and increased efficiency.

According to the earnings report, the firm’s pet food portfolio saw single-digit organic growth. The segment was particularly strong in Latin America and Asia Pacific, where it reported double-digit organic growth. Turkey, Belgium and Spain also drove growth last year.

“Last year, Symrise once again demonstrated that our unique, diversified portfolio enables us to grow highly profitably even in times of geopolitical uncertainty, rising costs and high volatility in our core markets,” says CEO Jean-Yves Parisot.

Pet palatability and nutrition

Symrise’s pet palatability business saw “good sales development” with high single-digit growth. However, this marked a slowdown from earlier quarters of the year when the company reported double-digit growth.

Pet nutrition, which includes a variety of natural and functional ingredients, reported negative growth. It’s not clear how steep the decline was.

On an earnings call, Jean-Yves Parisot blamed the fluctuating price of eggs for some of the new losses. He says that the company is adjusting the selling price of ingredients accordingly. “It should not and will not endanger the profitability of the business,” he concludes. Egg prices have risen as avian flu disrupts egg production in North America and Europe.

The CEO believes that Symrise is well-positioned to continue its growth and reaffirms its growth expectations through 2028.