Mane Group Names First Female CEO

PARIS — Mane Group has named Samantha Mane as its new chief executive officer.

In the position at the world’s fifth-largest fragrance and flavors supplier, she succeeds her father, Jean Mane, who serves as chairman.

Samantha Mane is the first woman to run the company, which is the only major international player in the sector to remain an independent, family-run concern. It is the biggest fragrance and flavors supplier in France.

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Mane, who is 40, is among the five members of the fifth generation of the Mane family, which founded the company in 1871.

“It is with great enthusiasm and pride that I take on this new responsibility today. I’m thrilled to continue this family-run entrepreneurial adventure and to lead a group with such a wealth of human resources and spirit of innovation,” said Mane in a statement. 

“Our independence and family ownership have enabled us to have a long-term vision and make bold choices for 154 years,” she continued. “I want to build on the group’s roots, values, creativity and high standards that make us unique, and continue to uphold our commitment to the environment.”

Her father ran Mane, which is based in Bar-sur-Loup, in southeastern France, between 1995 and 2024. 

Samantha Mane joined the company in 2007. In 2016, she began managing the group’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region, which is the largest geographically for the company. Mane’s EMEA zone business more than doubled its sales over the next eight years under her purview.

Mane also serves as vice president of Prodarom, a French union representing ingredients and perfume industry composition manufacturers.

In the statement, Mane Group lauded her for making transformational and strategic changes, including the creation of the company’s Paris fine fragrance flagship and digitalizing group processes.

“A forward-thinking leader, Samantha Mane has put in place the group’s marketing development for the African continent’s fast-growing economy,” said Mane Group in the statement.

Under her oversight, 20 percent of company’s 8,000 employees are focused on research and development, helping spur Mane’s innovations.

“Samantha Mane has helped grow and diversify the group’s customer base through solid industry partnerships, all whilst creating employment opportunities,” the company said. “Her stance on the environment echoes that of the group, which has been taking action to protect the climate for many years.”

Mane joined a French business collective for the climate, called Convention des Entreprises pour le Climat.

Her family’s company has 50 R&D centers and 29 production sites. It was the first fragrance and flavors company to sign the United Nations Global Compact, in 2003. It is involved in the Science Based Targets Initiative, among other climate protection activities.

Victor Mane began what’s now Mane Group when he transformed by distillation the flowers and plants the executive grew in the Grasse region of France into olfactive raw materials.