Lake Personal Care is a division of Lake Chemicals and Minerals Ltd, a leading distributor of raw materials and ingredients in the UK & Ireland.
“Lake’s new Redditch based laboratory is dedicated to drive New Product Development in support of customer projects,” the company says.
“Drawing on Lake’s unrivalled expertise in the personal care market, the NPD laboratory will provide its supplier partners with a centre of excellence to promote their raw materials (cosmetic actives and naturals) into the market place, offering a first class formulation and reformulation service.”
Innovation a hot focus
New product development was picked out in Cosmetics Design’s recent industry survey as a key area of focus for the European market.
The survey gathered opinion and insight from industry professionals across the supply chain and market segments, and a strong showing of respondents highlighted a focus on creating new products to add to their company’s offering.
“Innovation is the word of the moment,” confirms the report. “Even taking into account the usually fast-paced nature of the cosmetics and personal care industry, a very strong majority of respondents, at 94%, confirmed that their company intends to introduce new products into the market this year.
“When working out where to innovate, 79% following the trends is a key driver in their company’s direction.”
With this in mind, Lake’s renewed focus on NPD and investment into developing manufacturing facilities appears a savvy move.
Lake Managing Director, Steven Cartlidge said: “This strategic investment in commercially relevant NPD is combined with leading cosmetic ingredients and best-in-class services to forge ultra-dynamic partnerships with customers and supplier partners.”