(Adds details, background) Sept 1 (Reuters) - German flavour and fragrance maker Symrise plans to double annual sales at its pet food ingredient unit in the medium term as the pandemic fuelled an industry boom, the company’s chief executive told Reuters in an interview published on Wednesday. Symrise entered the pet food business in 2014 with its 1.3 billion euro ($1.54 billion) takeover of Diana Group and periodically added new acquisitions such as that of ADF/IDF, a U.S. maker of ingredients for dog and cat food, in 2019. “We will invest in pet food additives as a priority and continue to grow there without a question,” Chief Executive Heinz-Juergen Bertram said. “In the medium term, we see it as a business with more than a billion euros in sales.” The unit’s 2020 sales came in at around 500 million euros. The company raised its group full-year outlook in early August, citing demand recovery for ingredients used in perfumes, sunscreen, beverages or sweets associated with dining out thanks to easing lockdowns. The CEO added Symrise’s full-year margins will exceed 21% but revenue growth may only reach up to 10% due to raw material costs and supply chain uncertainties, though its business is still in a strong position. “We have so many legs to stand on. Even if one unit isn’t doing so well, others usually make up for it. That’s what makes us tick,” Bertram said. At the same time, there are still areas where the company can expand such as its cosmetic ingredients business, Bertram said, adding Symrise regularly looks at five to ten acquisition candidates. Earlier on Wednesday, the company announced it was buying a 25% stake in Kobo, a maker of ingredients for sun protection and colour cosmetics. The CEO also said Symrise can finance all planned acquisitions but will divest businesses that don’t meet the expectations for annual growth of 5% and long-term margins of at least 20%. ($1 = 0.8465 euros) (Writing by Zuzanna Szymanska in Gdansk, editing by Kirsti Knolle and Louise Heavens) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.