Women in Fragrance and Flavors Commerce announce honorees for summer awards event

Founded in 1982, New Jersey-based Women in Fragrance and Flavors Commerce is a professional organization dedicated to providing it members with education, support, and networking opportunities.

The organization’s membership comprises women working in all facets of the industry, from sales to technical roles, from purchasing to customer service, from perfumers to communications professionals and beyond.

Recognition Award​

This year, the WFFC is giving out three Recognition Awards, one for leadership, one to an outstanding flavorist, and one to an exceptional perfumer.

Celine Roche, a senior marketing account manager at Givaudan, will receive the Nancy Poulos Leadership Award. According to the organization’s press release, “Celine is an executive and client advocate with 19 years of experience in the flavor and fragrance industry. She began in Southern France working for Calchauvet (now Firmenich), where she specialized in natural ingredients and collaborated on fine fragrance development with renown perfumers.” ​She has also, over the years, worked for Mane; and she served as president of the WFFC for 2 years. Roche has been a member of the organization since 2002.

Susan Arslaner, senior technical perfumer at Symrise, will be honored with this year’s Perfumer Recognition Award. Arslaner started her career in the fragrance business as a perfumery lab tech, and has moved through the ranks to work as a perfumery specialist, technical perfumer, and senior technical perfumer.

And, Kathi Sparks, chief flavorist at ADM Nutrition will receive the 2018 WFFC Flavorist Recognition Award. “At ADM Nutrition, she enjoys mentoring her team through professional development, flavor creation collaboration and project management while continuing to develop across categories in sweet, beverage and savory,”​ explains the WFFC release.

Innovation Excellence​

Linda Lakind, flavors marketing director for North America at Firmenich, will receive the WFFC’s 3rd Innovation Excellence Award at the ceremony on Thursday, June 21, 2018 at the Liberty House Restaurant in Jersey City, New Jersey.

The board created this new award in 2016 to honor women “who [offer] novel contributions to the industry, and acts as a role model for guiding change and innovations,”​ as the press release explains it.

Lakind has, “for more than 25 years...been monitoring and forecasting consumer, market and flavor trends, sharing these observations with innovative new product concepts to a wide range of food and beverage customers. She is passionate about providing companies with insights to create great tasting products for their consumers around the globe,” ​according to the WFFC release.

To learn more about WFFC, click here​. And, to register for the June 21st awards dinner, click here​.  

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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.