Croda Unveils Africa Centre of Excellence
Croda, a global speciality chemical company, has today officially opened its new Centre of Excellence for Africa, located in Parkhaven, Boksburg, east of Johannesburg. The new Centre is the latest example of Croda’s commitment to innovation, coupling efficacy testing and applications expertise to support customer’s innovation needs.
Company executives, esteemed local dignitaries, industry organisation representatives, valued customers and employees were on hand to mark the official opening. Roy Gardiner, The treasurer of COSCHEM and a well-known and respected key industry player, was a guest speaker and shared his insight about the industry’s current and future prospects. He highlighted that “Marketing demands are intense when it comes to product claims, which is why scientific substantiation is key. Beauty products are expected to prove their efficacy beyond label claims requiring statistical valid data from technical teams like Croda” and reiterated the beneficial impact such a facility would have on the Personal Care industry in Africa. The event offered guests tours of the Centre of Excellence, housing Croda’s South African Personal Care team and as well as R&D personnel from its other divisions. The event concluded with a ribbon cutting ceremony and toast, followed by a tour of the new facility.
South Africa was an obvious candidate for Croda to invest further in. Anticipated rising disposable incomes and the demand for more sophisticated and solution-oriented products are expected to support continued growth. Nowadays, a beauty product will be expected to prove its efficacy beyond its label claim. As such, local manufacturers are now more aware of the need to conduct product efficacy testing to substantiate the claims attached to their product offerings. Croda South Africa’s new Centre of Excellence has both an Efficacy Laboratory and a Formulation Laboratory to help customers meet these requirements. The Personal Care technical team in Parkhaven will be supporting product claims for both the Skin and Hair Care markets. These studies will involve local consumers in panel testing so that the data generated is highly relevant and valuable to local customers and brands. The Croda South Africa Efficacy Laboratory consists of a Hair Salon and a temperature controlled skin and hair testing laboratory. The Hair Salon facility is designed to test hair product efficacy on global hair types but will focus predominantly on black ethnic hair. The team will look to support the hair care formulator to select ingredients that can meet challenging briefs from mild relaxer solutions to scalp wellness deep treatments. All hair studies are conducted by a trained hair stylist with the lead of the Application Scientist.
For Skin Care, the local team has expertise in both formulation and claims substantiation. Testing protocols are conducted using state of the art equipment to generate consumer-appealing claims such as moisturisation, oil control, skin barrier function repair, shine reduction, radiance, elasticity, skin lightening and firming. To visualise the benefits to customers, the Centre of Excellence is equipped with skin imaging software that is used to evaluate the condition of the skin. All testing is completed in the humidity and temperature controlled room to ensure the regulation of skin surface conditions for optimum testing and results recording.
Croda offers expertise in formulating with UV filters, including their extensive metal oxide range. Sun Care studies are conducted using the Labsphere 2 UV 2000S and Suntest CPS+ for in-vitro SPF measurements of Sun Care products.
Croda is extremely proud of this state of the art facility and is dedicated to continue to provide innovative products and solutions tailored to the African markets. Croda South Africa joins Croda’s list of other laboratories offering formulation and efficacy support in UK, USA, France, Singapore and Mexico.
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About Croda Personal Care – www.crodapersonalcare.com
Croda Personal Care is dedicated to working with its customers to meet evolving consumer needs with new and innovative products while maintaining a commitment to sustainability and social responsibility through initiatives that include the use of certified sustainable palm oil and other renewable raw materials. The company’s expertise in formulation development, claims substantiation, market analysis and regulatory support provides customers immediate access to essential services for successful product development. Part of a global network, Croda Personal Care offers a wide and diverse product portfolio including a full line of natural, botanical ingredients from its Crodarom division and a full range of skin care actives from its Sederma division.
About Croda
Croda is a speciality chemical manufacturer who, through the imaginative and practical use of science, creates ingredients and technologies that improve people’s lives by enhancing everyday products. They are the name behind the high-performance ingredients in some of the biggest, most successful brands in the world, creating products that are relied on by industries and consumers worldwide.
Croda has more than 3,600 employees working across 18 manufacturing sites and in offices in over 30 countries. In the wide ranging business sectors that they serve, its focus is on developing and delivering innovative ingredients for: Coatings and Polymers, Crop Care, Geo Technologies, Health Care, Home Care, Industrial Chemicals, Lubricants, Personal Care and Polymer Additives.