Tobacco Asia

12 tobaccoasia Issue 6, 2025 November / December Q&A THE TA Q A By Thomas Schmid Fabrice Taulane is director of the global business and tobacco unit of MANE SA, an iconic French firm involved in the development and manufacture of flavorings, aromas, and fragrances for foods, bever- ages, cosmetics, perfumes, personal hygiene products, pharmaceuticals and, of course, tobacco. He joined MANE more than 25 years ago, and first started working in the tobacco arena in 2004. Tobacco Asia (TA): MANE is active in practically every corner of the world today. The company's footprint is huge. However, your involvement in tobacco and related sectors – such as vape and oral nicotine products – is comparatively limited… Fabrice Taulane (FT): I'd have to say 'yes' and 'no'. Yes, it is true that we are not very visible in terms of tobacco because we are primarily focusing on one product, our flavor capsules. We have a patent for our capsules, so that is what we are concentrat- ing on. Demand is huge throughout the industry. As for the 'no' part, it only concerns at this point tobacco sector-related products that we didn't have the time to focus on until a few years ago. But now, our capsule business is consolidated, and we have of course noticed that there is demand from the tobacco industry for MANE flavors for other products also. We have enormous expertise in creating different flavors and fragrances. It's in our DNA, it's our core business. So we are starting to move heavily into these other applications as well… vapes, pouches, the kretek industry. In addition, we remain the world's only capsule supplier that simultaneously also is able to provide the flavor solution for those capsules. And thanks to our expertise in other fields, such as flavors for beverages or sweets, we are successfully translat- ing them over to the tobacco industry to offer flavor solutions never before seen in that segment. TA: So apart from your capsules, are you already actively promoting those other solutions? FT: Of course. We are participating in all the tobacco exhibitions. We are quite active, I would say. Don't forget that MANE is an international company, over 150 years old, 100% family-owned, with US$2 billion turnover in 2024, and with more than 8,000 employ- ees worldwide. That makes us the fifth largest flavor and fragrance manufacturer globally. We also operate factories around the world, which gives us the op- portunity to serve customers locally. TA: Can you guesstimate how much of your total annual volume turnover is derived from the tobacco sector? FT: This is something that we would like to keep confidential and cannot disclose. However, I can give you a hint. Between flavors and fragrances, the annual share of flavors is 55%, fragrances is 40%, and the rest is other products. Tobacco flavors is a por- tion of the 55%. So, it's a quite significant business for sure. And we hope to keep it growing in the near future, especially in Asia. TA: What's MANE's situation in Asia in terms of facilities? FT: MANE has 31 factories around the world, but the biggest ones are in China, Indonesia, Thailand, and India. TA: There is little doubt that Asia is one of the world's most dynamic places when it comes to tobacco, but maybe not so much when it comes to vaping, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches, all of which are heavily regulated, especially in South- east Asia and China. On the other hand, conventional tobacco is big in Indonesia. A few words about that…? Fabrice Taulane Director, Global Business and Tobacco Unit, MANE SA

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