IFF Named Top Company in the U.S. for Gender Equality in 2024

By: International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. via Business Wire

February 29, 2024 at 16:15 PM EST

Company named #1 in America and #10 globally by Equileap’s Gender Equality Global Report & Ranking

IFF (NYSE: IFF)—a world leader in food and beverage, home and personal care, and health—has been named the top American Company for gender equality and tenth globally by Equileap, a leading organization providing data and insights on gender equality in the corporate sector.

In its seventh annual Gender Equality Global Report & Ranking, Equileap provides a status update on gender equality in the corporate world, evaluating 19 different criteria that range from the gender pay gap and female representation at all corporate levels to parental leave and anti-sexual harassment policies. The research examined 3,795 companies, representing 103 million employees globally, that are listed on a major index or in one of 27 developed markets.

“We’re very proud of this recognition by Equileap—the largest provider of gender data to the investor community—which highlights the progress we’ve made and the deliberate actions we’ve taken to achieve gender equality for IFFers,” said Deb Borg, IFF chief human resources, diversity & inclusion, and communications officer. “This progress belongs to all of us who have imagined a more inclusive future and acted on that inspiration. We believe that embracing the uniqueness of our diverse workforce unleashes innovative possibilities at the intersection of science and creativity.”

“By intentionally considering inclusion in how we make decisions, build programs, implement our talent processes and create policies, we ask ourselves how we are eliminating barriers to access so that fair outcomes can flourish at IFF,” said Erik Fyrwald, IFF CEO. “We know that a more diverse and inclusive IFF benefits our people, customers, industry, and communities.”

IFF’s recognition as the leader in Gender Equality highlights the following progress in 2023:

Continued progress against its ESG aspiration of achieving Gender Parity at all levels, reaching 40% of the Executive Leadership Team and 38% of senior leadership in 2023
Continued to analyze pay equity; data shows the Company has no statistically significant gender pay gaps.
Committed to the Living Wage Pledge and embarked on the journey to ensure all our employees around the world receive a living wage as defined within their country.
Continued to pursue equitable representation in Leadership Development programs.
Piloted Ignite your Impact, a program designed to help women navigate some of the unique challenges they face in leadership.
Launched Mentor@IFF, IFF’s enterprise-wide mentoring program.
Launched products through IFF Health that are helping women navigate the symptoms of menopause.
Increased spending with women suppliers by 13% in our Supplier Diversity efforts.
Supported women in the communities in which we work:
- In the LMR Serbian platform, IFF supported women's entrepreneurship, providing access to alternative income streams by empowering women to manage their own beehives and make honey to sell to local markets.
- In the guar program in India, objectives included improving knowledge and support devices for women's empowerment. The project started in 2021, and since then, IFF has provided training to 230+ farmers and community members on the topic of women’s empowerment, highlighting the importance of women’s role in the field. IFF also provided 200 women farmers with farming tools to aid their work.

“While we are proud of this recognition and our progress, we recognize there’s much more to do,” said Borg. “In 2024, we will continue our partnership with EDGE—which has been instrumental in our efforts over the years—to advance equity at IFF. We will undergo EDGE Certification in all countries with 200 or more employees.”

To learn more about IFF’s leading Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts, visit here.

Welcome to IFF

At IFF (NYSE: IFF), an industry leader in food, beverage, health, biosciences and scent, science and creativity meet to create essential solutions for a better world – from global icons to unexpected innovations and experiences. With the beauty of art and the precision of science, we are an international collective of thinkers who partners with customers to bring scents, tastes, experiences, ingredients and solutions for products the world craves. Together, we will do more good for people and planet. Learn more at iff.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.