Sustainability and clean label drive NPD in personal care as much as in nutrition, says Omya exec

05 Apr 2019 --- The personal care space is fertile ground for innovation and a highly exciting space thanks to ever-evolving consumer trends. This is according to Stefan Lander, Omya Vice President of Consumer Goods, who spoke to NutritionInsight at In-cosmetics Global 2019, held in Paris this week. Lifecycles in the cosmetics industry are short and allow increased, fast-moving NPD that is not as possible in other industries. As a result, the company is seeing market opportunities for its calcium carbonate based products and is further expanding its activities beyond the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Omya is a Swiss producer of industrial minerals, such as fillers and pigments derived from calcium carbonate and dolomite, as well as a worldwide distributor of specialty chemicals. The company has a long-standing portfolio of innovative products and solutions for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical formulations.

Whether due to regulatory hurdles or other time-consuming parameters, product development can be time-consuming. “In the pharmaceutical industry, for example, product lifecycles are more extensive. Sometimes you need five or six years to release a product, while in cosmetics, within six years the product is launched and then already off the shelves,” Lander says.

“You have to continuously feed the market,” he notes. Whether releasing a similar product or an entirely new one, the point is to offer innovation to consumers. A similar platform but with added specifics, such as more functionality is just as appealing, according to Lander. A good connection to active ingredients is also important. He poses the question, “what can the product do to improve the applicability of actives?”

“That’s what we see happening in cosmetics. The market is more demanding but a lot of fun. For us, it is absolutely exciting to be active in this space. The good thing is, we not only have our own products, but we have a distribution portfolio. We have quite a wide field of products we can use in our formulations,” Lander says.

Calcium carbonate products in cosmetic use
Three years ago, continuous innovation became Omya’s strategic target and the company’s direction is to increase its innovative efforts even more within the next five years. Calcium carbonate is an ingredient that has a lot of potential for innovation, according to the company.

“We have taken this millions-of-years-old material and we have innovated it with specific patented technologies from Omya and we transfer them in more value products,” Lander says.

Omya presented two products at the show. The first one is Omyadent, which targets dental care.”It is a natural mineral. We have recrystallized on the surface a different mineral that also helps to improve the re-enamelazation and whitening of teeth,” Lander explains.

“The second one from the same range, called Omyaskin.” The product is a microsponge based on the same technology as Omyadent. “Calcium carbonate is the core and the surface of Omyaskin. It works as a white pigment, helps with sebum absorption and acts as a mattifier. All of these things which the industry now is looking out for,” Lander notes.

Sustainability and clean label attract consumer attention
Products that target wellbeing and hold “natural” claims are popular with consumers and clean label remains in demand, according to Lander. “Products that make people feel comfortable, but with a natural base.” Sustainability is the buzzword and a major trend in the industry, which Omya foresees reaching its peak during 2020.

Omya has been active for over a century and a huge part of its goals is to be sustainable in terms of production, logistics, sales and product quality. The company has a specific team, operating within the company, that is focused around sustainability and directly reports to the board, on all the latest developments and routes towards environmentally friendly practices.

“We even have agreements with major global customers on what we want to deliver in terms of sustainability and therefore that is good progress for us. Let’s not forget that to operate a sustainable quarry is not an easy task but it’s a major focus of ours,” Lander explains.

In the pipeline
For Omya, the latest ingredient launches are only the beginning. This platform is and will be rolled out into other business segments, such as the pharmaceutical industry and the food industry. In the food industry, there is a high demand for products which are indicating activities on the pharmaceutical side, according to Lander, and this allows the company to enter the space.

“There we can add more of these platforms. And I already know that we have other ingredients as well, in our innovation funnel, based on different minerals, which we will be able to reveal in a year’s time. The next five years we have a full pipeline of innovations we can offer the market,” Lander concludes.

By Kristiana Lalou with additional reporting from Lucy Gunn

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