Industry Roundtable Part 1: Suppliers Respond to COVID-19

Welcome to Part 1 of the Covalo digital industry roundtable, where we interview companies and brands about current relevant topics in the personal care industry.

In our first segment, we hear from Croda, Clariant, CLR Berlin, Soho Aneco and Alchemy about how they have handled the current travel restrictions and cancellation of fairs, how they plan to use online channels to promote their latest product innovations, as well as their predictions for 2020 and beyond.

Explore Croda's ingredients on Covalo

Explore Clariant's ingredients on Covalo

Explore CLR Berlin's ingredients on Covalo

Explore Soho Aneco's ingredients on Covalo

Explore Alchemy's ingredients on Covalo

In a nutshell: How have personal care suppliers dealt with the coronavirus crisis?

1. Most companies have found creative ways to work around the travel restrictions and social distancing rules that are in effect.
2. Webinars, podcasts, virtual product launches, video conferencing and social media campaigns are the go-to digital strategies for remaining accessible to customers.
3. The lockdown proves not to be a major obstacle for suppliers with resources for web-based solutions.

Read the full roundtable discussion below:

Q: We’re all aware that in-cosmetics Global, one of the world’s leading personal care trade shows, would have taken place this week. What would you have presented there?

Croda: The Global Croda Personal Care team has recently launched an array of new product launches including:

• Our ECO Range of 100% renewable, 100% bio-based surfactants.
• Synchrolife from Sederma, a peptide based active ingredient that fades the signs of fatigue generated by screenlight.
• Our Solar Protection team has launched Solaveil HTP-1, a sunscreen grade Titanium Dioxide powder that balances effective particle size with appealing aesthetics.
• A 100% non-animal derived, non-GMO blend of waxes and emulsifiers, Syncrowax SB1 provides a vegan alternative to natural beeswax.

• Phytessence Hazel Leaf, from Crodarom is a scalp care ingredient bringing vitality and energy to the scalp.

Clariant: We have developed:

• Velsan Flex: our latest preservation booster is naturally-derived with a renewable carbon index (RCI) of 93%, high water solubility, suitable for a broad range of applications, while reducing the concentration of traditional preservatives by up to 50%.
• BeautyForward Edition 4: we worked with journalists, influencers, formulators and marketers to identify trends across the globe and create formulations that address these trends, hoping to inspire those developing new beauty products.
• Emollients and Emulsifiers: selecting the right ingredient is now even easier! Our new material allows customers to easily access: technical parameters, formulation compatibilities and sensory profiles and pick the right one for their needs.
• Active Ingredients: New highly sustainable active ingredients from controlled and 100% traceable origins.

CLR Berlin: CutiBiome CLR is a synergistic complex of lipophilic extracts from Manuka, Black Pepper and Magnolia. It provides essential support for the natural balance between skin and its microbiota in difficult situations, like acne and dandruff.

Soho Aneco: We would have presented cosmetics and personal care raw materials as follows:

Mild surfactants:

• APG (Alkyl polyglycoside) of various specifications.

Actives (whitening, moisturizing ingredients and other actives):

• New generation anti-aging retinoid: AC-HPR (INCI: Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate).
• Super antioxidant: AC-EGT (INCI: Ergothioneine).

For more products, visit www.anecochem.com.

Alchemy: We were planning to introduce our new Cosmos-approved water thickener, Clearthix S. On our texture bar, we had two exclusive formulations to showcase its unique properties: an all-over moisturiser and a hydrating facial gel. Our texture bar would also feature a new CBD Muscle Balm formulated with Sapogel Q, our palm free oil-gelling agent.

Q: In times of remote working, what is your company focusing on most?

CLR Berlin: Where possible, CLR employees are working from home. At the same time, we are working hard to make sure that our operational activities remain at the required level. Within those departments which require the physical presence of our employees, we have implemented all the necessary precautions to minimize any risks associated with hygiene and the COVID-19 virus.

Soho Aneco: We are focusing on basic and innovative research and product development in order to reserve more innovative ingredients for the future.

Alchemy: Remote working is a very interesting experience for us, leading to more creative ways of communicating with our clients and distributors. We have therefore increased our use of social media, e-shots and video conference platforms.

Q: Regarding digital customer experience – how do you interact with your customers? Do you have any webinars or virtual trade shows planned or in development?

Croda: The Personal Care team at Croda continues to engage with our global customers through our social media channels, our recently launched podcast channel ‘Decoding with Croda’ and our newest series of ‘Power Hour’ webinars where we’ll talk about latest launches, upcoming trends and offer a live Q&A session with our presenters. You can also visit our website at www.crodapersonalcare.com and connect with Croda experts through Live Chat for those in North America and Western Europe.

Clariant: Yes. On top of traditional customer meetings to maintain our support via digital conferences, we are offering a series of customer webinars to introduce the innovations we will also launch at in-cosmetics Global. This is a commitment from our side to not delay access for our customers to these new ingredients and innovative formulations. We have three customer webinars presenting all innovations, and in addition another webinar focused on our trends and formulations guide – BeautyForward.

CLR Berlin: In order to give CutiBiome CLR a flying start despite not being able to present it to our customers face-to-face, we have developed a virtual exhibition on the product, the concepts it fits into and general trends we see in the marketplace on our website. Our virtual exhibition can be found here.

Soho Aneco: We interact with customers through email, phone, website and online platforms such as Covalo. Webinars or virtual trade shows also are being planned.

Alchemy: We have organised a series of webinars with our network of distributors to introduce our new launch. We encourage customers to contact their local distributor to find out everything about our new Clearthix S.

Q: What opportunities and trends do you see for 2020 and how do you plan to tackle them?

CLR Berlin: The microbiome is definitely here to stay and as we gather more knowledge about it, will provide many new opportunities to the cosmetic industry. Further to that, the consumer will continue to evolve where younger generations are clearly much more demanding than older generations. They are not just demanding from the point of view of product efficacy, but also on topics such as sustainability. The cosmetic industry and its products need to become more sustainable.

Soho Aneco: The future trend is natural, safe, environmentally friendly and sustainable. Actually, some needs are always there, such as ingredients for sensitive skin, whitening, antiaging. Consumers will be more rationally to choose. We will adhere to the above principles, develop and supply ingredients.

Alchemy: We expect end-users to become more demanding when it comes to sustainability. From an ingredient perspective, biodegradability and sustainable sourcing will be as important as natural products. Therefore, our range targets these trends with alternatives to liquid micro-plastics and palm-derived ingredients.

So there you have it. This concludes our first segment of industry news surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and its ramifications on the personal care industry. We will continue to monitor the situation and publish more reactions from suppliers as they come in.

If you would like to be featured in future editions of Covalo's industry roundtable, don’t hesitate to contact us.