Closing an important gap

COSSMA: Congratulations for founding your new company Evident Ingredients! What drove your decision to found a start-up in the personal care industry?

Dr Fernando Ibarra: Thank you! We saw an important gap for a more flexible supply of raw materials, and we wanted to close that gap. But we don’t see our company as a start-up at all. At least the stereotype of a bunch of students with crazy ideas about pro-ducts that will change the world does not fit. We are an experienced and well-organized management team with a combined working history in the life-science and especially personal care industry of more than 50 years. With our first employees starting in September, we have reinforced our capabilities especially for the R&D activities and supply chain.

Was the decision to start the new business harder in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic?

Of course, we looked at the risks of starting in this situation carefully. But when talking to many of our contacts and our partners, we got a lot of encouragement and experienced the willingness of our partners to cooperate with our new company. Furthermore, we see a chance particularly in the current situation that has disrupted supply chains and makes it more difficult for large companies to adapt. We are highly flexible and supply goods much faster than some of our competitors.

The core product segment in your portfolio is your line of preservation. How do you see the changes and the future in this market?

We have seen changes but certainly no revolution in the last 20 years. I have been with Dr Straetmans in the early days when we pioneered the development of modern preservation and introduced those concepts to the market. As a global sales director I witnessed the global shift for many years and I saw that the needs of formulators have not changed a lot since then. The call for replacement of certain preservatives from NGOs and consumers is loud and clear but the reality in the shelf is still different. The main reason is that it is not so easy to change a preservative. Mainly because it is a critical factor for the product safety but also because there might be regulatory implications as well. Formulators need solutions that they can rely on from a technical point of view and from the regulatory side as well. Nobody wants contaminated products, and nobody wants restrictions for export to key markets like China, for instance. The formulator needs suppliers that will deliver the full range of technical and regulatory information with technical sales people who are trained to solve problems quickly and in a reliable fashion.

So, what would your typical approach of changing the preservation look like?

Communication is the key. We know our customers and their individual needs quite well. When we enter into a project, we try to put ourselves in our customers’ shoes and think about their targets and possible problems in the project. What does the marketing briefing look like? Are there strict cost limitations for the formulation? How high does the natural index have to be? How is the formulation built, what are the other ingredients? Once we are able to answer these and other questions, we suggest preservation systems that will most likely work smoothly in the target formulation.

When can the manufacturer start producing their cream and bring it to the market?

The preservation system always needs to be tested in a microbiological lab in the preservation efficacy test (PET) according to European Pharmacopoeia. This is a standardized used for every preservation system, both traditional or modern, synthetic or natural. Once the tested formulation has passed the test, you know that you have a safe product. It was designed to create a worst-case scenario and goes far beyond a possible contamination in real-life use of a cosmetic product.

Do you also offer support in developing a cosmetic product?

Of course! I highly respect cosmetic formulators for the work they do. It is a balance of scientific knowledge,formulation experience, empirical studies and creativity. Formulating cosmetics is an art on its own. We support formulators with more products that will help them to achieve a perfect formulation. For example, we offer natural emulsifiers that are the basic framework for building a stable and appealing cream or lotion. You can create all types of products and some of the raw materials are palm-free, if this is a requirement.

From your point of view, is it better to use palm-free products to achieve sustainability goals?

Unfortunately, the answer is not that easy. The oil palm is among the best sources for natural derived oleochemicals in terms of yield per hectare. This means that if many formulators start to replace the palm-based products with alternatives from other vegetable sources there would be an increased demand for raw materials that are not necessarily produced in a more sustainable way. The demand for larger agricultural area might be a totally undesired side-effect. At Evident Ingredients, we believe that all sources need to be used in a good balance and most of all, we all need to pay more attention to efficient manufacturing and respectful use of our resources. We do use palm-derivatives in some products, too, but strictly from sustainable sources and certified RSPO MB.

What other product segments does Evident Ingredients cover?

Our customers can find functional emollients, active ingredients and antioxidants, which are a crucial factor for product protection as well. Our antioxidants are based on natural and GMO-free tocopherols. They protect vegetable oils, natural emulsifiers and active ingredients against oxidation, resulting in loss of the product’s activity as well as in malodour due to oils turning rancid.

And what kind of actives do you have in your portfolio?

Our actives are mainly designed for more than one purpose. Take our range of natural chelators for instance. Their purpose is to bind traces of heavy metals ions and to soften water, too. It sounds to be like EDTA, but there’s a difference. Our chelators are not only naturally sourced but also readily biodegradable and therefore are no burden to our environment and natural water resources.

What is the effect of binding those metal ions and what is the benefit in the formulation?

Heavy metal ions occure naturally in water. We are not talking about toxic materials here, but things like iron, for instance, that is found everywhere in nature. When this or some other metals are present in cosmetic products, they can act as catalysts and accelerate the speed of oxidation and compromise the product quality. We need to protect the formula against this threat. Hard water (resulting from a high content of magnesium or calcium) has less dramatic consequences, but may interfere with consumers expectations. Many of us have sometimes experienced poor foam when washing our hands or shampooing our hair. This often results from the local water quality because hard water interacts with some surfactants by forming insoluble salts. The result is less foam, less cleansing performance and ugly remainders of dirt in the sink. This can be avoided by using chelators in the product.