Swiss-Dutch fragrance giant DSM-Firmenich cleared in U.S. cartel investigation

DSM-Firmenich is no longer under investigation in the United States for alleged cartel activity. The U.S. Department of Justice recently notified the Swiss-Dutch health and nutrition company that the probe has been closed, according to its annual report.

Authorities in France, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom searched Firmenich’s offices in March 2023 as part of a wider probe into fragrance manufacturers. The investigation focused on companies producing scent ingredients for items like perfume and cosmetics, amid concerns from the European Commission about potential market distortion. The company was also served with a subpoena in the United States.

Firmenich completed a merger with DSM, a specialty chemicals group, later in 2023. In its annual report for 2025, the combined Swiss-Dutch company says authorities in additional countries launched probes into potential competition violations, adding that it is unable to share more details at this time.

Symrise, another company in the sector, said earlier this month that American prosecutors had closed their inquiry into suspected wrongdoing. The German firm maintains it acted properly and argues that regulators elsewhere should likewise halt their investigations.

Once the antitrust probes were made public, U.S. customers and consumer groups launched civil lawsuits against several fragrance manufacturers. Besides DSM-Firmenich and Symrise, the defendants included Givaudan from Switzerland and the U.S.-based IFF, which settled for 26 million dollars in October to resolve some of the claims, according to Reuters.

A representative of DSM-Firmenich could not be reached right away to provide a response.