International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) Risk Factors

The global nature of our business, our increased size and employee count, the significance of our international revenue, our focus on emerging markets and presence in regulated industries create various domestic and local regulatory challenges and subject us to risks associated with our international operations. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the "FCPA") and similar anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws and regulations in other countries generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or keeping business or for other commercial advantage. In addition, U.S. public companies are required to maintain records that accurately and fairly represent their transactions and have an adequate system of internal accounting controls. Under the FCPA, U.S. companies may be held liable for the corrupt actions taken by directors, officers, employees, agents, or other strategic or local partners or representatives. As such, if we or our intermediaries fail to comply with the requirements of the FCPA or similar legislation, governmental authorities in the U.S. and elsewhere could seek to impose substantial civil and/or criminal fines and penalties which could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, operating results and financial condition. We operate or may pursue opportunities in some jurisdictions, such as China, India, Brazil, Russia and Africa, that pose potentially elevated risks of fraud or corruption or increased risk of internal control issues. In certain jurisdictions, compliance with anti-bribery laws may conflict with local customs and practices. From time to time, we have conducted and will conduct internal investigations of the relevant facts and circumstances, control testing and compliance reviews, and take remedial actions, when appropriate, to help ensure that we are in compliance with applicable corruption and similar laws and regulations. For example, in August 2019, during the integration of Frutarom, we were made aware of allegations that two Frutarom businesses operating principally in Russia and Ukraine made certain improper payments, including to representatives of a number of customers. Our investigation substantiated the allegations that improper payments to representatives of customers were made and that key members of Frutarom's senior management at the time were aware of such payments. We did not uncover any evidence suggesting that such payments had any connection to the U.S. In addition, Frutarom grew through rapid acquisition and, as part of our integration efforts, we have implemented our anti-corruption and similar policies throughout a number of those acquired companies, many of which were not previously subject to these U.S. laws. Detecting, investigating and resolving actual or alleged violations of the FCPA or other anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws and regulations is expensive, could consume significant time and attention of our senior management and could subject us to investigations and inquiries by governmental and other regulatory bodies. Any allegations of non-compliance with such laws and regulations could have a disruptive effect on our operations in such jurisdiction, including interruptions of business or loss of third-party relationships, which may negatively impact our results of operations or financial condition. Any determination that our operations or activities are not in compliance with such laws and regulations could expose us to severe criminal or civil penalties or other sanctions, significant fines, termination of necessary licenses and permits and penalties or other sanctions that may harm our business and reputation. Given the international scope of our business, we also sell certain of our products to countries that are subject to U.S. and other sanctions under general licenses and authorizations related to such products, technologies and transactions. For example, the U.S., the European Union and other countries have imposed sanctions and export controls on Russia, Belarus and occupied regions of Ukraine. As a result, we have limited our export of ingredients to customers in Russia, Belarus and occupied regions of Ukraine to only those that are permitted and meet the essential needs of people. Compliance with sanctions laws is highly technical and requires careful oversight, and it is possible that actions taken by us, our subsidiaries or our suppliers may cause us to be in breach with these laws, which could have a material adverse effect to our business. In addition, our reputation and our customers' willingness to purchase our products depend in part on our compliance by our suppliers, distributors, customers or other counterparties with ethical employment practices, such as with respect to child labor, wages and benefits, forced labor, discrimination, safe and healthy working conditions, as well as with all legal and regulatory requirements relating to the conduct of their businesses (including the ones mentioned in the preceding paragraphs). While we generally require that third-parties we work with agree to our code of conduct, we do not exercise control over our suppliers, distributors, vendors and customers and due to the global nature of our business cannot guarantee their compliance with such ethical and lawful business practices or such legal requirements. If our counterparties fail to comply with applicable laws, regulations, safety codes, employment practices, human rights standards, quality standards, environmental standards, production practices, or other obligations, norms, or ethical standards, our reputation and brand image could be harmed, and we could be exposed to litigation, investigations, enforcement actions, monetary liability, and additional costs that would harm our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

The completion of the N&B Transaction in 2021 was conditioned upon the receipt by DuPont of an opinion that the transaction generally will qualify as a tax-free reorganization. The tax opinion was based upon various factual representations and assumptions, as well as certain undertakings made by DuPont, IFF and N&B. If any of those factual representations or assumptions were untrue or incomplete in any material respect, any undertaking was or is not complied with, or the facts upon which the opinion was based are materially different from the facts at the closing of the N&B Transaction, the transaction may not qualify (in whole or part) for tax-free treatment. The N&B spin-off and certain aspects of the pre-spin-off internal reorganizations to form N&B could be taxable to DuPont if N&B or we were to engage in a "Spinco Tainting Act" (as defined in the Tax Matters Agreement, by and among DuPont, N&B and IFF, a form of which is attached to IFF's registration statement on Form S-4 (Registration Number 333-238072)). A Spinco Tainting Act is generally any action (or inaction) within our control or under the control of N&B or their affiliates, any event involving our common stock or the common stock of N&B or any assets of N&B or its subsidiaries, or any breach by N&B or any of its subsidiaries of any factual representations, assumptions, or undertakings made by it, in each case, that would affect the non-recognition treatment of the spin-off and internal reorganizations for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as described above. Under the Tax Matters Agreement, we and N&B will be required to indemnify DuPont for any taxes resulting from a Spinco Tainting Act. If we were required to indemnify DuPont pursuant to the Tax Matters Agreement as described above, this indemnification obligation may be substantial and could have a material adverse effect on us, including with respect to our financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, we are not indemnified for tax liabilities related to pre-spin-off periods. Tax liabilities could increase as an outcome of final determination of tax examinations and could adversely impact our financial results.

Legal requirements relating to the collection, storage, handling, use, disclosure, transfer, and security of personal data continue to evolve, and regulatory scrutiny in this area is increasing around the world. This regulatory environment is increasingly challenging and may present material obligations and risks to our business, including significantly expanded compliance burdens, restrictions on transfer of personal data, costs and enforcement risks. Many governments have enacted or are enacting new or updated data protection laws, including data localization laws that require data to stay within their borders. All of these evolving compliance and operational requirements, restrictions on use of personal data, as well as the uncertain interpretation and enforcement of laws, impose significant costs and regulatory risks that are likely to increase over time. Our failure to comply with these evolving regulations could expose us to fines, sanctions, penalties and other costs that could harm our reputation and adversely impact our financial results.

Attracting, developing, and retaining talented employees is essential to the successful delivery of our products and has become more difficult and costly in the current labor market. Furthermore, as we continue to focus on innovation, our need for scientists and other professionals will increase and may result in increased labor costs. The ability to attract and retain talented employees is critical in the development of new products and technologies which is an integral component of our growth strategy. Competition for employees can be intense and if we are unable to successfully integrate, motivate and reward our employees, we may not be able to retain them. If we are unable to retain our employees or attract new employees in the future, our ability to effectively compete with our competitors and to grow our business could be adversely affected. In addition, we have announced, as part of our strategic transformation initiatives, certain headcount reductions to re-align our workforce to match strategic and financial objectives and optimize resources for long-term growth. Such reductions could lead to increased uncertainty, attrition or lower morale amongst those employees who are not directly affected by the headcount reductions as those reductions are being implemented, which may result in decreased productivity or could otherwise impact our results of operation. In addition, the loss of any member of our senior management could materially adversely affect our ability to execute our business plan and strategy. We may not find an adequate replacement in a timely fashion, or at all and any replacement may view the business differently than current members of management. Future executives may make changes to our strategic focus, operations, business plans or financial guidance and outlook, with corresponding changes in how we report our results of operations. We can make no assurances that we would be able to properly manage any shift in focus or that any changes to our business would ultimately prove successful. Lastly, our success may depend on the ability of our new Chief Executive Officer to integrate and quickly adapt to and understand our business, operations, and strategic plans. This will be critical to the Company and our management's ability to make informed decisions about our near-term strategic direction and operations. While our Board of Directors strives to mitigate the risk through a robust management succession process, which includes the outgoing Chief Executive Officer serving in an advisory role until December 2024, leadership transitions can be inherently difficult to manage. An inadequate transition may cause disruption to our business due to, among other things, diverting management's attention away from the Company's financial and operational goals or causing a deterioration in morale.

We evaluate our inventory balances of materials based on shelf life, expected sourcing levels, known uses and anticipated demand based on forecasted customer order activity and changes in our product/sales mix. Efficient inventory management is a key component of our business success, financial returns and profitability. To be successful, we must maintain sufficient inventory levels and an appropriate product/sales mix to meet our customers' demands, without allowing those levels to increase to such an extent that the costs associated with storing and holding other inventory adversely impact our financial results. If our buying decisions do not accurately predict sourcing levels, customer trends or our expectations about customer needs are inaccurate, we may have to take unanticipated markdowns or charges to dispose of the excess or obsolete inventory, which can adversely impact our financial results. Current supply-chain related issues could also lead to raw material shortages and inventory depletion, which may adversely affect our operations. See "-Supply chain disruptions, geopolitical developments, including the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas war and wider Middle East developments (including disruptions to the Red Sea passage), or climate-change events (including severe weather events) may adversely affect our suppliers or our procurement of raw materials, and thus may impact our business and financial results." Additionally, we believe excess inventory levels of raw materials with a short shelf life in our manufacturing facilities subjects us to the risk of increased inventory shrinkage. If we are not successful in managing our inventory balances and shrinkage, our results of and cash flows from operations may be negatively affected. We sell certain accounts receivable on a non-recourse basis to unrelated financial institutions under "factoring" agreements, some of which are sponsored by certain customers. The cost of participating in these programs was immaterial to our results in all periods. Should we choose not to participate, or if these programs were no longer available, it could reduce our cash flows from operations in the period in which the arrangement ends.

The global economy continues to experience high rates of inflation. Though inflation appears to be gradually declining in certain parts of the world, inflationary pressure and price uncertainty is expected to continue in 2024. As a result of the broader inflationary environment and supply chain disruptions we have experienced, and may continue to experience, volatility and increases in the price of input costs, such as certain raw materials, transportation and energy costs. We might also suffer from supply disruptions from supplier exits as higher costs may become unaffordable for certain suppliers. In addition, though many central banks have paused monetary policies such as increasing interest rates to counter inflation, rates remain at historical highs and may continue to remain at such levels. These and other monetary policies to counter inflation could negatively affect our borrowing costs and those of our customers and suppliers, as well as exchange rates and other macroeconomic factors. If we are unable to increase the prices of our products to our customers to offset inflationary cost trends, or if we are unable to achieve cost savings to offset such cost increases, we could fail to meet our cost expectations, and our profits and operating results could be adversely affected. Our ability to price our products competitively to timely reflect higher input costs is critical to maintain and grow our sales. Increases in prices of our products to customers or the impact of the broader inflationary environment on our customers may continue to lead to declines in demand and sales volumes. Further, we may not be able to accurately predict or hedge for price fluctuations of input costs, or predict the volume impact of the price increases in our products, while our competitors may be able to more successfully adjust to such input cost volatility. Increasing our prices to our customers could result in long-term sales declines or loss of market share if our customers find alternative suppliers or choose to reformulate their consumer products to rely less on our products, which could have an adverse long-term impact on our results of operations. Increased cost volatility trends may also impact the business and financial situation of our customers or suppliers, which could in turn affect the demand or supply, respectively, by such parties. Future inflationary and deflationary trends are beyond our control, and we may not be able to sufficiently mitigate any impact on our business and financial situation.

During 2023, our 25 largest customers, a majority of which were multi-national consumer products companies, collectively accounted for approximately 32% of our sales in the aggregate. Large multi-national customers' market share, especially in the consumer product industry, continues to be pressured by new smaller companies and specialty players that cater to or are more adept at adjusting to the latest consumer trends, including towards natural products and clean labels, changes in the retail landscape (including e-commerce and consolidation), and increased competition from private labels, which have resulted and may continue to result in decreased demand for our products by such multi-national customers and volume erosion, especially in our Nourish business. Furthermore, consolidations amongst our customers have resulted in larger and more sophisticated customers with greater buying power and additional negotiating strength. If such trends continue, our sales could be adversely impacted if we are not able to replace these sales. In addition, large multi-national customers and increasingly middle market customers continue to utilize "core lists" of suppliers to improve margins and profitability in the flavors and fragrance segments. Typically, these "core list" suppliers are then given priority for new or modified products. Recently, these customers are making inclusion on their "core lists" contingent upon a supplier providing more favorable terms, including rebates, which could adversely affect our margins. We must either offer competitive cost-in-use solutions to secure and maintain inclusion on these "core lists" or seek to manage the relationship without being on the "core-list." If we choose not to pursue "core-list" status due to profitability concerns or if we are unable to obtain "core-list" status, our ability to maintain our share of these customers' future purchases could be adversely affected and therefore our future results of operations.