Next time you open a shampoo bottle or bite into a cream biscuit, somebody in a lab worked out that smell and taste. Most people never think about it. Brands do, though, because a good fragrance or flavour can decide whether a product sells. That work is done by a small group of specialist makers, and Indian ones are slowly getting bigger. Here are three worth having on the radar.
Two Ways to Play the Scent and Taste Boom
The global fragrance and flavour market was around US$33.3 billion in 2024, and it’s expected to reach US$44.6 billion by 2033, growing about 3.15% a year (that yearly rate is called CAGR, or compound annual growth rate). India looks much livelier. The Indian market was about US$2.52 billion in 2024 and is forecast to hit US$4.95 billion by 2033, at 7.7% a year. More packaged food, more personal care, more cafés and quick-service restaurants, all of it needs scent and taste. Brands lean on specialist makers to get that right.
Sacheerome: Small, Quick and Debt-Free
Sacheerome is a Delhi-based maker that sells to other companies, mostly big consumer brands. It listed on NSE Emerge, the exchange’s platform for smaller companies, in June 2025. FY26 was a strong year. Revenue came in at ₹152.39 crore, up about 42% from ₹107.54 crore. EBITDA, which is operating profit before interest, tax and depreciation, was ₹40.66 crore at a 26.02% margin. Net profit was ₹28.44 crore, nearly 78% higher than last year. The second half alone saw net profit rise 51.19% to ₹13.50 crore.
Now look at the cash, honestly it’s a big swing. Cash and bank balance shot up to ₹45.13 crore from just ₹1.92 crore, and borrowings are gone. Yet ROCE, which tells how well a company uses its money, slipped to 36.32% from 40.22%. Idle cash could be part of the reason. It may improve once money goes into the new YEIDA plant in Uttar Pradesh, where land is bought, construction is on and machinery is ordered. Flavours is still tiny, ₹8.68 crore of sales against ₹143.38 crore from fragrances, so there’s room to grow.
S H Kelkar: Big Name, Heavier Balance Sheet
S H Kelkar, which sells under the Keva brand, calls itself the largest Indian-origin fragrance and flavour company in the country. Its quarter ended June 2026 looked good on the surface. Consolidated revenue rose 14.1% to ₹662 crore, EBITDA went to ₹89 crore from ₹73 crore, and margin moved to 13.4% from 12.6%. Net profit jumped 77.4% to ₹45 crore.
Look closer though. Of the ₹69 crore profit before tax, ₹30 crore came from an exceptional item, which is normally a one-off gain. Profit before exceptional items and tax grew 14.3% to ₹39.4 crore. So underneath, growth is steady but nothing wild. The split inside is interesting too. Flavours revenue rose 63.2% to ₹112 crore and its EBITDA went to ₹35 crore from ₹14 crore. Fragrances grew 9%, but its EBITDA slipped to ₹56 crore from ₹59 crore.
Flavours is only about 17% of sales, yet brings in nearly 38% of the two divisions’ EBITDA. One weak spot is global ingredients, where revenue fell 44.7% to ₹8 crore and it made an EBITDA loss of ₹2.3 crore, hit by lower demand in some export markets.
Debt is the catch. Net debt is ₹852 crore, or 0.65 times equity, partly because the company stocked up raw materials for supply safety. It still expects double-digit revenue growth and better margins in FY27.
Privi Speciality Chemicals: Aroma Chemicals with a Global Reach
Privi makes aroma chemicals, mostly pine-based ones, and sells to the world’s top fragrance and FMCG companies. It’s been at this for over 30 years and now runs 7 manufacturing facilities with 48,000 MTPA of capacity, exporting to more than 40 countries. Q1 FY27 was strong. Total income rose 20.01% to ₹681.42 crore, EBITDA grew 18.73% to ₹167.47 crore, and net profit jumped 35.97% to ₹84.21 crore.
One thing worth flagging, a fire damaged an export consignment at a warehouse near JNPT, costing ₹2.78 crore, though the company has filed an insurance claim and expects to recover it. Debt is coming down too, net debt to EBITDA fell to 1.29 times from higher levels earlier. Privi also has a joint venture with Givaudan, the world’s largest flavour and fragrance company, called PRIGIV, and it’s targeting ₹5,000 crore revenue and over ₹1,000 crore EBITDA by FY29-30.
Why All Three Make the Watchlist
They give three different flavours of the same theme. Sacheerome is the small, debt-free, fast-growing one, with a new plant that could lift capacity from the 7,60,000 kg it has now. S H Kelkar is the bigger, older one, with global reach, eleven creation centres and a flavour business that’s picking up speed.
Privi sits somewhere in between, a big pine-chemicals exporter with a marquee partner in Givaudan and a debt load that’s steadily shrinking. The risks are real, though. Sacheerome is small and its numbers come from one plant in Delhi, S H Kelkar carries heavy debt, and Privi took a one-off hit from the warehouse fire this quarter.
Bottom Line
All three companies ride the same slow, steady demand for scented and flavoured products, and all three showed profit growth in the latest numbers. Sacheerome earns its spot for growth and a clean balance sheet, S H Kelkar for scale, the flavour push and a promised improvement in margins, and Privi for its global manufacturing footprint, the Givaudan tie-up and a clear 5,000 revenue and 1,000 EBITDA roadmap.
None of them are a sure thing. Sacheerome needs to put its cash to work, S H Kelkar needs to bring debt down and show profit growth without one-time gains, and Privi needs to keep deleveraging while absorbing the fire-related hit. Watchlist material, then, and worth tracking every quarter before anyone puts money in.