According to Hans-Josef Ritzert, member of its Board of Management, the move to expand was to strengthen its position as a strategic partner of its customers close to their local markets, thus supporting profitable growth.
As part of this plan, the German ingredients firm recently opened innovation centres in South Africa and Singapore, to develop cosmetics product solutions for customers in the Sub-Saharan Africa region and in Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
The company also just added a hair laboratory to the applications laboratory that has existed in Brazil since 2012, in order to support its customers in Central and South America in the development of innovative hair care products.
Consumer demands
The company says this is driven by the fact that women around the world have different demands for their hair products.
This is because, according to Evonik, women in Brazil often wash their hair twice a day and therefore need more care, with conditioners with regenerative effects, which are not washed out proving particularly popular, while in Europe, consumers prefer products of light consistence that are rinsed out.
“In body and hair care, the requirements of consumers upon personal care products vary widely around the world. In response, we provide custom-tailored solutions, which we develop right at the local site with determination and scientific excellence,” says Tammo Boinowitz, head of the Personal Care business at Evonik.
Tailored products
The new facilities supplement the company’s global network of laboratories of its cosmetic business, which also includes sites in Essen, Guarulhos (Brazil), Hopewell (USA), and Shanghai (China).
This is because the demand for cosmetics products has risen steadily in recent years, with Brazil a particularly lucrative market as an emerging economy with a growing middle class with strong purchasing power, says Evonik.
As global consumers increasingly seek high-quality products that are custom-tailored to their needs, it is the kind of move that a lot of ingredient suppliers have been turning to.