Jérôme Bruhat’s interview

jérôme bruhat

Chief Executive Officer

How would you assess Robertet’s performance in 2025? 

Once again this year, the Robertet Group delivered a high‑level performance, with organic revenue growth of 7.6%. This highlights the Company’s strengths. First, our vertical, unique and diversified business model, which is highly resilient in today’s unstable and uncertain environment. Second, our expertise in natural, high-quality products that is as relevant as ever to our customers. Last but not least, our agility enables us to adapt to new situations anywhere in the world. 

Nevertheless, this performance was tempered by unfavorable euro exchange rates. Our profitability is improving, with a 120 basis point increase in EBITDA margin and 15% growth in net income. This momentum, driven by the commitment of our employees and the confidence of our customers, gives us the means to invest in our future. It rewards the loyalty of our shareholders and our partners. 

What key events and initiatives from the year are shaping the Group’s future? 

In 2025, Robertet marked its 175th anniversary, an important milestone to reaffirm its core foundations: a family-owned company, deeply rooted in Grasse, with a distinctive know-how. 

Our top priority is to prepare for the future, invest, and accelerate our growth. To achieve this, we have expanded our international presence. We have opened subsidiaries in Australia and Poland. We have expanded our industrial footprint in India and Indonesia, while further strengthening our facilities in Grasse. To better serve our customers, we have also invested in new top-quality creative centers in Shanghai, New York, Mexico, Dubai and Singapore. We now have a total of 17 worldwide. At the same time, we are stepping up our digital transformation through strategic projects in data management and AI-assisted creation. Finally, underscoring our long-term ambition, we raised our 2030 revenue target at our first Capital Markets Day, held in Grasse in May. 

What international challenges were overcome this year?

The geopolitical context, customs barriers, currency fluctuations and regulatory constraints are all challenges that are beyond our control. With passion and boldness, we rise to meet these challenges thanks to the great agility of our teams and our business model. To continue growing in a more complex world, we are implementing a “glocal” approach, leveraging local commercial, creative and industrial resources, working as closely as possible with each customer, while drawing on strong support from the global experts at our headquarters. We have diversified our production sources, expanded our manufacturing capacity and embraced digitalization, improving collaboration and efficiency. Mastering the extraordinary complexity of our business, including the management and development of over 1,600 natural products, is a daily challenge. 

How do you see the market evolving over the next few years?  

Consumers will continue to prioritize pleasure, health and naturalness. These underlying trends should consolidate Robertet’s positioning in the market. Now more than ever, we remain committed to addressing sustainability, climate change, and societal challenges. Our Platinum rating from Ecovadis once again recognizes our CSR performance. We are pressing ahead with our sustainable development strategy, in particular with the SBTi roadmap launched in 2025, and the certification of our strategic supply chains. This is a considerable but necessary effort if we are to remain at the forefront of natural offerings for our customers.  

In each country, we work with new brands that meet new consumer needs, offering high-quality products and cutting-edge technology that align with local expectations. This opens up opportunities in certain markets where we have historically had less of a presence. In a more complex and less predictable world, trust is essential and is built over the long term with our customers and suppliers, as well as with our outstanding teams. 

How is Robertet positioning itself in response to these changes?

Robertet remains confident in its model and positioning. Our agility and expertise, combined with the complexity of our business and the tailor-made solutions we provide for each customer, will be major assets moving forward. We continue to innovate, to leverage all techniques for transforming natural materials, both old and new, and share them with our creative teams, perfumers and flavorists, to develop products of the highest quality. Innovation in natural ingredients, industrial techniques, unique creations, information management and new technologies will be more central than ever to our mission: to invent the future of naturals.