SITE VISIT


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Their tertiary structure was maintained,


thereby ensuring the formation of a film that was both resistant and elastic. Wheat proteins were also used to develop


Liftiline, an active ingredient with an immediate tensor effect in the form of a reduction of roughness of the skin microrelief and improved skin tone.


When the two ingredients were launched,


Silab’s turnover was around six million French francs - approximately €1m ($1.1m). Three years after Tensine and Liftiline had been on sale, turnover had risen fivefold. “It was a new chapter for Silab. The


alternatives we proposed were very close to bovine serum albumin,” says Closs-Gonthier. “Due to their success, we became solely


focused on active ingredients for cosmetic applications.”


From small acorns grow large oaks Fast forward to 2024 and Silab now has annual


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sales of €62m, of which 60% is to overseas markets. The Silab Cosmetics business unit makes over 100 active ingredients of natural origin, while Silab Softcare – established in 2016 – makes dermocosmetic ingredients to treat skin disorders such as atopic dermatitis and acne. In addition, Silab has five subsidiaries:


Silab Inc. in East Brunswick, New Jersey and Long Beach, California in the USA; Silab South America in São Paulo, Brazil; Silab South East Asia in Singapore; Silab North East Asia in Tokyo, Japan; and Silab China in Guangzhou and Shanghai. On top of that, Silab has more than 20


distributors who only market Silab active ingredients in their territory. Silab treats these distributors almost as if they are its own employees, with regular training seminars and shared IT documents. These distributors tend to be family-


owned like Silab and they are paid on a sales/


performance basis with no retainers.


Innovation: Silab’s raison d’être All of Silab’s active ingredients are made at its growing Saint-Viance headquarters near Brive- la-Gaillarde in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-central France, where there are around 400 employees on site. Around a quarter of staff are dedicated to


research and 20% of Silab’s investments are devoted to innovation. Moreover, 2% of sales revenue is invested in industrial property and Silab has 363 patents filed nationally and internationally. Silab frequently signs partnerships with


public or private research establishments such as universities, Inserm (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research), INRAE (National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment) both in France and abroad.


September 2024 PERSONAL CARE


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