Symrise expands Kobo Products partnership, focusing on UV filters and color solutions

09 Oct 2023 --- Symrise has increased its holdings in the US company Kobo Products to 49%. Kobo, based in South Plainfield, US, is a pigment and powder specialist that provides innovative, technology-based raw materials to the cosmetics industry.

The companies’ partnership with Kobo began in 2021 and now includes an agreement on the future disposition of shares of Kobo’s capital stock and the governance of Kobo. 

“Symrise has established itself as a reliable and trusted partner over the past two years. Their second investment is exactly the commitment we were seeking in a partnership of this kind. The Symrise teams have engaged in the products. We have a lot of work ahead that will create new opportunities for our customers and employees,” says David Schlossman, president and majority owner at Kobo Products.

The companies’ partnership in mineral UV filters and decorative cosmetics has expanded since last year. They have now increased capacity and strengthened the supply chain to improve support for Kobo customers.

Enhancing supply chains
The funds raised in this transaction will expand capacity and enhance the supply chain to continue its growth trajectory and further optimize its business operations.

Symrise and Kobo collaborate for mineral UV filters“Kobo Products is the perfect partner for our activities in the field of inorganic sunscreen filters and color solutions for decorative cosmetics,” says Dr Jörn Andreas, the executive board member responsible for Scent & Care at Symrise.

“With its innovative product range, Kobo perfectly complements our portfolio.”

Kobo offers its customers a color range of surface-treated pigments and dispersions for makeup products and mineral sunscreen products. Kobo owns group companies in the US, France and Brazil.

Symrise in headlines
In recent launches, Symrise introduced an anti-dandruff active, Crinipan PO. The premium-grade, high-purity ingredient offers proven efficacy and an option to replace zinc pyrithione, an EU-prohibited substance. The company introduced piroctone olamine to its portfolio, which it touts as a widely recognized and trusted anti-dandruff ingredient.

Around the same time, the company created SymCalmin Avena, a cosmetic ingredient made from certified organic oats that can help soothe the skin and regulate its moisture balance while respecting the microbiome. The product’s effectiveness is “on par with that of established substances,” Symrise claims. It is designed to be formulated into all cosmetics, especially skin and body care and hygiene products.

By Sabine Waldeck