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In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen

Givaudan CEO: The Art of Perfumery, Creating Iconic Scents and Building a Caring Culture

In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen

Norges Bank Investment Management

Norges Bank, Nicolai Tangen, Business, In Good Company

4.7 • 236 Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What's the secret behind the world's most iconic scents and flavours? Nicolai Tangen travels to Switzerland to speak with Gilles Andrier, CEO of Givaudan, the global leader in fragrances and flavours. They explore the creative process behind developing perfumes for brands like Tom Ford, the impact of Givaudan's legendary perfumery school on the fragrance industry, and the science of making food healthier without sacrificing taste. Gilles shares his leadership philosophy of balancing performance with humanity, and why experimentation matters more than career planning. Tune in for a journey into the world of taste and smell!

In Good Company is hosted by Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management. New full episodes every Wednesday, and don't miss our Highlight episodes every Friday. 

 

The production team for this episode includes Isabelle Karlsson and PLAN-B's Niklas Figenschau Johansen, Sebastian Langvik-Hansen and Pål Huuse. Background research was conducted by Isabelle Karlsson.

 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi everyone, I'm Nikolai Tangen, the CEO of the Norwegian Sorean Wealth Fund, and today I'm in Switzerland and in really, really good company, because I am at Givaudin, the world leader in flavors and tastes and smells and all these fantastic things which surround us.

0:19.1

And I'm here with Gilles-Landrier,

0:22.0

who has been the CEO for 20 years,

0:24.1

and warm welcome.

0:26.4

Thank you, and warm welcome to Switzerland

0:28.7

and to Givodon and here in Kentan.

0:30.7

Wonderful. And it's kind of

0:32.2

incredible to be here at your R&D center,

0:35.2

the center of the world's

0:36.8

smell and tastes.

0:37.8

So let's kick off.

0:39.8

What is Givada in brief?

0:49.8

What do they do?

0:51.3

What do you do?

0:52.3

I can say it in different ways.

0:56.2

You know, yeah, we make the world taste and smell very good.

1:02.0

You know, but we actually, we really thought about our purpose a little while ago,

1:06.8

and we wanted to expand beyond just the world of fragrances and flavors.

1:11.1

So the way we express what we do and what we are meant to do

1:14.6

is to make consumers happier and healthier,

1:18.2

which gives us a broader perspective on what we could do for them beyond the taste and smell.

1:23.5

Why is smell and taste so important in connecting people?

...

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