Executive Leadership Team
PETER FRENCH
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
In 1974, armed with a passion for chemistry and a vision to unite the color and fragrance markets, Peter French founded French Color & Fragrance. In the early days of the company, he worked tirelessly to build an organization that made it simple for the candle industry to find color and scent solutions under one roof. As the organization grew so did Peter’s vision. Today, Peter oversees French Color & Fragrance’s operation that provides color and fragrance solutions to a broad range of industries all over the world. He is recognized by employees and clients as a genuine and kind man who firmly believes in the value of treating people right. Peter is currently studying German, enjoys tap dancing, and promotes the love of theater to all ages, especially children.
CARILYN JENNINGS
President
Carilyn’s early career began in social work, the beginning of her lifelong passion to help others realize their goals. Skills in problem solving later served her well in the corporate world of product development, marketing, and corporate sales. Today, as company president, Carilyn draws on these experiences as she works to expand the collaborative, respectful culture that is the essence of French, continuing the tradition of “treating people right”. On the client side, that trickles down to respect for our clients… really (really) listening to them, uncovering ways to help solve their problems, and facilitating the creation of innovative fragrance, colors, and helpful solutions to make them more successful. A lover of music and a former marching band member, Carilyn is finding new enjoyment in the world of sports. From baseball, football to wrestling, she takes great pride in watching her two (very lovable) boys compete.
PATRICK BURNS
Chief Operating Officer
As Chief Operating Officer, Patrick Burns describes his role quite simply…make sure French Color & Fragrance delivers excellence to every one of its clients. To make this happen, Patrick draws on his extensive corporate technology background to develop and maintain efficient systems that ensure each area of our business runs smoothly. This is no easy task given our global reach and spanning several facilities but one that he continues to master during our continuous growth. On weekends, Patrick enjoys spending time with his wife Maggie and two teen girls. And if it’s your birthday, beware! Patrick just might serenade you with his favorite song.
Business Development
JOE MELANSON
Director, Sales
Joe prides himself on being the anti-salesperson and likes taking a low-key approach to developing relationships. After successfully helping FCF develop strategic accounts for over 7 years, he took the role of Director of Sales at the beginning of 2015 and has helped to build and lead the FCF Sales team to new heights. Joe believes that the collaborative team-building element is what sets French apart when it comes to the quality of our FCF culture and this is reflected back to us by our clients. He likes to instill the notion that simple is better when approaching solutions, and is still the best way to achieve long-term partnerships. Joe enjoys travel (especially cities), all types of art, working out including bicycling along the Hudson River and continues to play in a modified fast-pitch softball league in NYC
LAURA MCELDUFF
Vice President
Laura has been with French Color & Fragrance Co., Inc., since February, 1995. After graduating from Vanderbilt University with a BA in Psychology, she worked as a laboratory technician in Vanderbilt’s Biochemistry Department. Upon moving to New Jersey, she discovered the fragrance industry through FCF. She believes that fragrance has many benefits – it can bring back warm memories, it can change one’s mood, and it can enhance one’s sense of their own beauty and the beauty of their own surroundings. When Laura is not working with fragrance, she can often be found running on the trails of Northern New Jersey or Southern New York taking in the fresh aromas of nature; sometimes Laura participates in road or trail races or obstacle course races; or can be found at her teens’ baseball games, soccer games, or musical theater performances.
DR. OTMAR RECKTENWALD
General Manager – Europe
Otmar joined FCF in 2011 as one of the founding members of our European team. A PhD chemist by trade, he has worked both in color development and key organizational roles. But it is his passion for superior performance in our clients’ product that really drives him. A chemist at heart, he really appreciates the benefit to FCF customers of being able to have the expertise of fragrances, colors and additives under one roof. Otmar resides near our facility in Auggen with his wife and children. When visiting FCF Headquarters in the U.S., he likes to partake in a good round of karaoke!
LUKE CHENG
General Manager – Shanghai
Luke heads our China operation out of Shanghai. He has an important role overseeing the areas of sales, R&D, and manufacturing. He brings over 15 years of fine chemical engineering and management experience to FCF. Luke has a warm and friendly style which makes him a great mentor, client advocate and most importantly a great dad for his two boys. A lover of nature, art, and science, he finds FCF the perfect fit to explore his passion through fragrance, color, and performance additives.
KANAN GEORGE
Regulatory Affairs
Kanan sees FCF as the nexus of innovative solutions that utilize fragrance, color, and additives to improve the consumer experience. During the last ten years, Kanan has guided us through the changes that are taking place in regulations and ensuring that our products are compliant in this new era of increased global scrutiny of classification and safety of raw materials. In his spare time, Kanan can be found at the gym and enjoys sharing some of his popcorn with his family at the movies.
OLIVER WALKER
Account Manager
Oliver’s career in the world of fragrance and color began with an 8 year spell in the UK running the European R&D department of a large global candle manufacturer, gaining a deep and extensive technical understanding of the interactions of colors and fragrances, as well as the processes of product development and manufacturing. Drawing on this experience and knowledge, Oliver combines the practical and technical knowhow with the service and support that defines French Color & Fragrance, working to provide innovative solutions, solve problems and build lasting relationships with clients across Europe and Oz/NZ. As a keen music lover, Oliver relaxes by playing up the guitar and piano and, true to his roots, loves to sample as many variations of tea as possible during his travels. (Tip: Steep bag first)
Barbara Kanzlsperger
Account Manager
Barbara joined the FCF sales team with a wealth of experience in home fragrance. She loves to work collaboratively with clients, building product stories and helping them find the best choices and solutions for their business. She firmly believes in understanding the end consumer, and does not believe in taking a “one size fits all” approach. Barbara is based in southern Germany, and handling select accounts throughout Europe. A lover of the outdoors, Barbara enjoys scenic travel, especially on her motorcycle, discovering new places, meeting new people and enjoying the adventures that often appear on the open road.
FABIANY MUNIZ
Account Manager
Fabiany, originally from Colombia, joined FCF in March of 2015 after receiving his Masters in Merchandising and Global Retail Management at LIM College in New York City. Fabiany is a strong advocate of teamwork and “thinking out of the box”. His fun collaborative style invites coworkers and clients alike, into warm, trustworthy partnerships. Fabiany has made great strides into the LATAM markets for FCF and he prides himself on helping his clients solve issues as well as sharing relevant process and product mix options.
JOHN BENNETT
Account Manager
John manages the Western region for FCF and has over 15 years of experience in the fragrance industry. He loves the fact that a great fragrance can put a smile on someone’s face. John believes that providing world class service to all clients is not only essential but mandatory in today’s ever competitive business environment. What John likes most about FCF is that the company is totally customer driven from top to bottom in all areas of the business, both domestic and international. John enjoys fitness, nutrition, healthy cooking (and especially eating!) and is a longtime fan of the New York JETS!
