After 60 years of serving as an instrumental figure in the flavor and fragrance (F&F) industry, Stephen (Steve) Manheimer, has announced his retirement. As of August 2024, he is set to step down from his role as executive vice president at Kerry Group.
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After 60 years of serving as an instrumental figure in the flavor and fragrance (F&F) industry, Stephen (Steve) Manheimer, has announced his retirement. As of August 2024, he is set to step down from his role as executive vice president at Kerry Group.
While Stephen Manheimer is best known for his integral role in the growth of his family’s company, J. Manheimer Inc., he has woven himself into the fabric of the F&F community and continues to be a beacon of expertise within it, having contributed to Kerry's success in becoming a global leader in the taste industry over the past two decades.
Dr. Albert McQuaid, Chief Science & Technology officer, Kerry, shared, “Steve and the Manheimer family have been embedded in the F&F industry for decades. My own journey into the F&F industry started back in 2007 and I needed someone to help me understand how this industry worked and to get to know some of the key leaders in this industry. I was blessed to have Steve as a mentor and guide. As a technical person I have always a tendency to understand the science behind the product and with Steve I found someone who was knowledgeable and inquisitive, and who always strives to understand the fundamental chemistry and why a given product will work for a given application.”
Stephen joined the family business in 1964 after college graduation following the death of his father—at the time he was one of eight employees working at the site located in downtown Manhattan, New York, specializing in vanilla beans, essential oils and other aromatic raw materials. His admiration for the F&F industry was prevalent long before he officially joined the J. Manheimer Inc. payroll.
In 1957, Stephen won an award at the New York City Science Fair based on his storyboard and molecule model of linalool extracted from Rosewood Brazil oil.
Stephen Manheimer at the New York City Science Fair in 1957 presenting his storyboard and molecule model of linalool extracted from Rosewood Brazil oil.courtesy of Stephen Manheimer
“Smelling samples were available to illustrate the odor of the natural oil versus the isolated molecule,” he explained. “At the same time Hoffman-La Roche, entered the market with synthetic linalool, then drastically reducing the need for the Brazilian oil. The odor of the synthetic was too clean, Roche had to ‘perfume’ their product to get closer to the naturally derived one.”
Attracted by the scientific side of the business, Stephen gained experience during two summer internships with Norda in 1957-58, where he worked as a lab technician doing analytical work on essential oils, using one of the first GLC chromatographs. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (1964), Stephen attended the master’s program in chemistry at Columbia University, after his military service.
While education was important to Stephen’s journey, he also acquired invaluable insights from industry mentors including Bernard Champon, Ray Lermond, Ed Scott, Lloyd Fishbach, Carl Mann and Richard Pisano Sr.
He soon was joined by his brother Arnold and his two cousins, Bruce and Alan, to the J. Manheimer Inc. roster. From vanilla the company expanded into essential oils and later into fragrances and flavors.
J. Manheimer Inc. grew steadily from a company with seven people occupying 450 square feet to a company that ultimately had 245 employees and occupied 30,000 square feet. Forty years after Stephen joined the family business, the global Taste & Nutrition company Kerry Group acquired J. Manheimer Inc. in 2004, offering new opportunities for his appetite for adventure and knowledge of all things F&F.
Leigh-Anne Vaughan, vice president of Strategy & Marketing - Taste, Kerry shared, “Steve has inspired many people at Kerry and far beyond to embrace the wonderful world of flavors. He has helped fuel a passion for flavors across the Kerry organization that has been and will continue to be the bedrock of our growth and success in Taste.”
Adventure Begins
It wasn't long before his role at J. Manheimer Inc. would take him around the globe, exploring the source of essential natural ingredients. Below are some shots of Stephen’s 1967 trip to the Comoros Islands with William Pecout, managing the operations of Bambao, which, according to Stephen, was the most important producer of ylang ylang oils at the time.
Stephen was sure not only to document his travels and experiences but was keen to safeguard items from his family business’ past.
“I’m a collector, a genetic flaw perhaps, I inherited it from my mom and when I joined the family business in 1964 I was given my great uncle's desk who founded the Manheimer business. In his desk I found some wonderful things and said, ‘These things have to be kept over the years.’ I not only kept all of the things he kept, but also added other historical essential oil and F&F ingredient memorabilia.
Stephen Manheimer and William Pecout, managing the operations of Bambao, on a 1967 trip to the Comoros Islands.courtesy of Stephen Manheimer
These items encapsulate the beginning of the F&F industry in the United States, and what it looked like in the late 1800s and 1900s. My personal ephemera that I’ve donated [to the New York Botanical Garden LuEsther T. Mertz Library] is priceless.”
The full list of materials includes correspondence, notes, clippings, printed matter, manuscripts, specimens, artifacts, videos, manuals, market reports, directories, calendars, blueprints, sculptures, lists, grant proposals and reports, photographs, field notes, field drawings, paper ephemera and memorabilia.
Stephen's investment in the F&F industry stretched beyond his own family’s institution, lending his vast knowledge to associations across the United States.
In 1973, Stephen became the youngest president of the Essential Oil Association, the precursor of what is now the Fragrance Creators Association (FCA), where he remained on the board until 2003. Not one for downtime, Stephen served on the board of the Research Institute of Fragrance Materials (RIFM) and was a member of the International Advisory Council for the Monell Chemical Senses Center from 2001 to 2018, when he joined Monell's Board of Directors.
In 2017, the International Federation of Essential Oils and Aroma Trades (IFEAT) honored Stephen with the Ron Neal Award of Excellence, for career contributions to the essential oils trade. To this day, Stephen continues to travel the world learning about the ever-evolving industry alongside his wife and fellow industry stalwart, Laure Moutet Manheimer, sharing their wealth of knowledge to feed the future of F&F.
John Savage, President and CEO, Taste, Kerry, shared, “Steve has been a mentor and friend to me for almost 20 years, over that time he has been very generous in sharing his expertise and knowledge, these have been invaluable both to me and to the success of our Taste business at Kerry.
I have learned a lot from Steve, but one thing stands out above all, and that is strong relationships are at the heart of success in the F&F industry, from strategic supplier relationships to great relationships with our customers and colleagues. Steve is a master of great relationships, and I am very thankful to him for instilling the importance of this in me. I wish Steve, his wife Laure, and his whole family much happiness in the years ahead.”
More to Come
While Stephen Manheimer is retiring his role as executive vice president at Kerry, he is far from saying goodbye to the F&F industry as he will continue with his appointment on the board of directors at the Monell Chemical Senses Center and recruiting fellow family-owned companies to share their memorabilia with the New York Botanical Garden LuEsther T. Mertz Library to keep the history of the F&F industry as strong and vibrant as its future.
One of the few things that Steve holds in higher regard than the many fascinating aspects of the flavor industry, is of course his wonderful family.
McQuaid commented, “Kerry has a long-standing relationship with Monell Chemical Senses Center, where the link between taste metabolism and food is researched and mechanism of action is understood. This relationship has Steve’s passion for science and goal to strive to understand the fundamentals of taste.
In wishing Steve well for the future, Edmond Scanlon, CEO of Kerry Group, noted that he first met Steve over 20 years ago. Scanlon added, “Steve’s deep knowledge of, and passion for the flavor industry was immediately apparent, as was his great affability and charm. In the years I have known him since, those first impressions have been confirmed many times over, and added to with his many other talents–in business and in life–and his varied interests.
One of the few things which Steve holds in higher regard than the many fascinating aspects of the flavor industry, is of course his wonderful family. I know that he and they will be looking forward to having more time to spend together in the years ahead. Steve has been a great friend to me, and to many across our organization and beyond. I wish him and Laure all the very best for their next chapter."
