42 INTERVIEW


Croda Europe is platinum sponsor of the 32nd International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists (IFSCC) Congress in London on 19-22 September. Here, in conversation with Personal Care Global editor Tim Probert, Consumer Care President at Croda, Dave Shannon, discusses the British company’s strategy


TIM PROBERT (TP): Personal care is a very competitive marketplace. What is your strategy to stay ahead of the competition? DAVE SHANNON (DS): Sustainability plus innovation equals growth. That is a high-level big picture view, but very much what we are focused on and, going forward, we aim to shift our business into the more premium end of the market. We have historically been


considered as a big supplier of formulation chassis ingredients and we will of course continue to do this, but our focus for future innovation will be on sustainable and active ingredients. We aim to grow both


organically and inorganically, and we have a robust acquisition strategy that will support this growth. We will also continue to promote our expertise in formulation development to harness our power of being a complete sustainable solutions provider for the personal care market. Small, niche brands known as indie beauty brands have become increasingly popular, especially in the US and China. We are now seeing the emergence of these


brands in other parts of the world, which provides lots of potential opportunities for partnerships and building new relationships. These indie brands often have


a vision and they are looking for suppliers that can help them realise it. These brands often have an idea of a product they would like to take to market, including specific claims and trends that have shaped the design. At Croda, we can not only help these companies to fulfill their ambitions through our sustainable ingredient portfolio, with our formulation capabilities, we can also assist in getting these products to market. Due to our global,


differentiated portfolio we are able to provide solutions including claims, sensory and texture as well as the chassis system, to maximise the in-use experience.


TP: You are looking for more value than commoditised products? DS: Absolutely. Our strategy is to focus on fast-growing niches, more in the active ingredients space. We are looking to continue to ‘premiumise’ our business, looking for sustainable growth


INTERVIEW


Croda: a small glimpse at the


big picture


with more niche sustainable ingredient offerings. When volumes become too


large, prices tend to fall and margins get squeezed. We are looking for fast-growing niches we can scale to drive business growth.


TP: Can you give me an example of these niches? DS: These are the types of ingredients that are under- developed and under-explored. They have clinically proven, scientific performance claims alongside sustainability credentials. They could be a particular


species of plant, an active ingredient or a delivery system. Consumers nowadays are not only looking for purpose-driven brands they can connect with but are also actively seeking brands that are trustworthy and performance-led. We can help our customers to


Nourishing hair block PERSONAL CARE September 2022


deliver that value to consumers. With nearly 100 years of


innovation and a shared purpose of using ‘Smart Science to Improve Lives’ at Croda, we will continue to drive this success in the personal care industry.


TP: How about fermented or other lab-made ingredients? Is synthetic biology something you are exploring? DS: Although long-range and long-term, synthetic biology is something we are considering, and we are partnering with various experts to work on a range of different projects.


TP: What is the low-hanging fruit to replace existing ingredients with synthetic biology? DS: These would be the more niche products than mass- produced chassis ingredients, certainly in the first instance. We will be focusing on the


more premium end of the market, meaning skin and hair care that have a much higher retail value.


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