** Berenberg sees good growth in 2025 for food manufacturing, with all flavours and fragrances companies outperforming an expected 3% growth on average in end markets

** According to the broker, volume growth in end markets will be supported by increasing promotional activity on the back of an acceleration in innovation launches

** "This scenario seems to be most positive for categories such as beauty, personal care, and ready-to-drink beverages," the broker says

** It upgrades Givaudan GIVN.S to "buy" from "hold", seeing a new era of profitability for the Swiss fragrance and flavour maker

** It says Givaudan is best placed to benefit from growth this year, given its over 50% exposure to the above categories

** "With consistently higher FCF conversion (16% sales) and ROIC than peers (14%), we argue that Givaudan deserves a valuation premium," the broker says

** It flags that Symrise's SY1G.DE self-help journey will take time, as required investments in IT and changes in the company's culture could limit margin expansion over the next two years

** It sees International Flavors & Fragrances IFF.N on-track to reduce its debt ratio to 2.5x by the end of 2025, expecting management to be now able to focus entirely on improving its execution in the remaining business

(Reporting by Linda Pasquini)

((Linda.pasquini@thomsonreuters.com))