In-cosmetics Global: Evonik features biosolutions to meet rising consumer demand

22 Apr 2024 --- Evonik highlights its growing portfolio of biosolutions, including its biosurfactants and biotech actives. Personal Care Insights spoke to the company at In-cosmetics Global in Paris, France, to get an inside look at the latest innovations driving sustainability in the sector.

Evonik is leveraging its biotechnology platform which is part of the company’s life sciences division, Nutrition & Care. It uses biotechnology to create “high-value” system solutions for personal care.

Anne Mu, global head of Applied Innovation Bioactives at Evonik, tells us: “Bioactives is a category or segment within Evonik where we are grouping a portfolio of products that are all active ingredients. They are either produced by biotechnology or have proven biological activities in skin and hair care. So this is a very unique group of offers to the market, addressing both the market pool for ethical consumerism and the technology for sustainable biotechnologies.”

Dr. Kai-Steffen Krannig, head of Botanicals and Natural Actives at Evonik, adds: “The market for botanicals and natural actives is a clear growth market. This is even more true for plant-based active ingredients. With the launch of the new segment, botanicals and natural actives, Evonik wants to follow this trend and become the leader in this trend, bringing more naturality to our beauty.”

Consumers demand clean beauty
Earlier this year, Evonik manufactured the first products from its new biosurfactants plant — “the first in the world” to produce rhamnolipids on an industrial scale. The official opening of the plant is planned for next month.

“Consumers are asking more and more for natural reality, natural beauty and especially sustainability. And we want to be part of that trend and even be a driver in the future,” says Krannig.

The company asserts that its biosurfactants have “exceptional” sustainability credentials without compromising performance.

Mu emphasizes the demand from consumers for clean beauty solutions: “It’s always Evonik’s ultimate intent to offer and address consumer needs more in line with our strategy toward sustainable technologies and a transformation of the unconventional technologies with more sustainable, more future-oriented ones.”

Anne Mu, global head of Applied Innovation Bioactives at Evonik.Vegan collagen
At the show, Evonik showcased its skin-identical vegan collagen, produced from renewable feedstocks using a fermentation-based process, Vecollage Fortify L.

“It’s a recombinant human collagen polypeptide. It serves as a replacement for animal-derived collagens, enhancing the offer to the market for cruelty-free, sustainable, biotechnology-based solutions,” says Mu.

The ingredient is a recombinant collagen for the dermis, the middle layer of the skin. It was developed in partnership with Modern Meadow, specializing in fermentation-based protein development. It provides dual benefits by fortifying collagen in the skin by preventing age-related degradation and stimulating the skin’s own collagen production.

The specialty chemicals company says it will launch further biotech-based vegan collagens this year in cooperation with Jland Biotech.

Acquisitions furthering botanicals and natural actives
Evonik says it is using its “expertise” in the Botanicals & Natural Actives business segment. It continues that the new segment will enable the company to “better meet the growing demand for botanical extracts and claim-substantiated natural actives.”

The actives and cosmetic ingredients business is supported by the recently established Evonik Skin Institute, providing customers with support for claim-substantiated cosmetics.

To bolster this sector, Krannig elaborates on Evonik’s recent mergers and acquisitions.

“We started the journey in 2016 with the acquisition of Allergan biopharma. In 2021, Botanica in Switzerland joined us, and in 2023, Novachem from Argentina. Now we are very happy to really have strong merged segments with a great portfolio and great new people to drive innovation and bring you natural actives to the market.”

“Even though Novachem is a smaller company compared to Evonik, they are a very strong and great player in natural actives from Latin America. From Evonik, we want to bring in the global distribution network to launch the products of Novachem globally and we want to make use of the innovation power of both companies to develop the future,” comments Krannig. Evonik is focusing on biosolutions for personal care products.

“Our main message is the launch of our new product, NeoPlanta Withania and welcoming Novachem from Argentina to the family. So we are very excited to share this with the community and also be ready to launch the first products in the next couple of months.”

NeoPlanta Withania by Evonik is a soothing and protective agent. It is a biotechnologically optimized extract from the traditional Ayurvedic herb withania somnifera. It aims to enhance the natural skin’s protective shield from external factors such as oxidative stress and UV. NeoPlanta Withania is used in skin care products and is COSMOS certified.

Additionally, Evonik’s Ecohance Remo XP won the Best Functional Ingredient Award. The chemicals company claims it is a mild, adaptable ingredient that works well in personal hygiene products as a hydrophilic emollient, rheology modifier and sensory enhancer.

Evonik’s Tego Filmstar One MB — a “fully bioderived and biodegradable film former” — won silver under the Kenvue Trusted Science Award. The product provides water resistance with a “similar” performance to fossil and non-biodegradable formers.

By Sabine Waldeck, with additional reporting from Anita Sharma at In-cosmetics Global in Paris, France

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