INGREDIENTS SUPPLY
SUPPLY AMID DISASTER
L
et’s be honest, if we were to give 2020 a Latin moniker it would be ‘annus horribilis’. Beyond the global Covid-19 pandemic, which, at time of writing, has killed 1.64 million worldwide and is responsible for a contraction in the global economy of 4.3%, last year also witnessed devastating wildfires in Australia, North America and Brazil, as well as monsoon flooding across many Asian countries. While natural disasters have occurred since time immemorial, the climate crisis means extreme weather events, especially heatwaves and heavy rainfall, will only increase in frequency and severity. With this in mind, how can an industry like beauty, which so frequently relies on farmed natural feedstock, learn to work seamlessly around disaster when it strikes?
NATURE: A CRUEL MISTRESS “When we look at natural raw materials for cosmetics, there are various factors that can cause scarcity of ingredients,” says Amarjit Sahota, President and founder of ethical research company Ecovia Intelligence.
“Natural factors, such as erratic weather conditions, floods, droughts, disease and pestilence, can all affect crop production,
14 January 2021 RECENT SCARCITY
Thomas Kerfoot is Director of O&3, which specialises in the wholesale of natural oils. Speaking with Cosmetics Business in late 2020, he noted: “This year there were monsoons in Sri Lanka and India, which had a major effect on the supply of virgin coconut oil.”
Kerfoot adds that the monsoon and Covid-19 occurring at the same time hit the supply of
cosmeticsbusiness.com
Last year saw several headline-making disasters impact the supply of cosmetic raw materials. So how are suppliers working to ensure you get your ingredient order come rain or shine? Julia Wray reports
agricultural and wild harvested. The decline in crop harvest affects the supply of natural ingredients. For example, prices of jojoba oil have traditionally been affected by adverse weather conditions in producer countries.” As well as nature being red in tooth and claw, there are also man-made reasons for ingredient scarcity, which include over-harvesting, deforestation, social unrest and workforce issues. “These factors can prevent plants and raw materials from being collected and processed,” adds Sahota, who points to disruption in the supply of sandalwood due to over-harvesting as an example. He also flags climate change as a man-made reason affecting natural factors, which he says looks set to impact crop production in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa the hardest.
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