Women in Flavor and Fragrance Commerce, Inc. (WFFC) has picked Catalina Lee, worldwide director, Colgate-Palmolive, to be honored at the 35th WFFC annual gala on Oct. 12, 2017, at the Westmount Country Club in Woodland Park, NJ.
 
As a worldwide director of the Colgate-Palmolive Company, Lee provides global leadership to the team responsible for developing world-class flavors that ensure the best tasting oral care products. Her team supports Colgate’s global R&D organization by developing and recommending flavors for all oral care Colgate toothpaste and mouthwash brands.  Her guidance and input to her teams have contributed to the launch of many successful toothpaste and mouthwash products. As the flavor group leader, Lee has established strong partnerships with the marketing and product development teams, facilitating a better understanding of the role of flavors in Colgate products.

Lee joined Colgate in 2015 and brought with her more than 25 years of experience in the flavor industry, most recently with Firmenich. Since 2011, she worked as a senior flavorist for North America and Latin America Oral Care at the Firmenich U.S. affiliate in Plainsboro, NJ, where she strengthened her expertise in mint flavors and sensates for toothpaste and mouthwash applications and was the lead flavorist providing flavor-creation support to Colgate.

In 2000, Lee joined Firmenich in Mexico City and was responsible for the development of sweet goods flavors for the Latin America region.  After two years, she moved to their headquarters in Geneva, where she led the development of flavors for confectionary applications. She later managed the European flavorist team as senior flavorist.
 
While in Europe, from 2010 to 2011, Lee joined Givaudan in Switzerland were she developed flavors for the European region in the sweet goods area.