Croda prioritises the African hair care market through open innovation

By Abby Vorster

The global speciality chemicals company innovates for its customers’ needs. To do so successfully, Foots says Croda works closely with its customers, employing a unique business model.

Over the past seven years, the global company’s presence in emerging markets has increased. Using regional centres, the business has transferred its competitive products, processes and expertise to operations in Asia, Latin America and Africa, where they are tailored to local conditions.

Steve Foots, pictured centre, with the Croda South Africa personal care team

‘Croda has established technical teams, sales teams, and production facilities in some of the fastest growing economies in the world, doubling its number of R&D centres worldwide,’ says Foots. ‘This has put the company in the best position to understand what consumers really want and to innovate for customers’ needs.’

The Centre of Excellence for Africa at Croda South Africa was established in 2015. Since then, most R&D for textured and curly hair types has moved from NorthAmerica to its African operations.

‘In North America, Croda’s haircare R&D focused specifically on two different types of curly hair. Yet we soon realised there are more than 16 types,’Foots explains. ‘This is a key example of how being closer to market has given Croda a sharp focus in its innovation strategy, connecting the company with its customers, both big and small, subsequently connecting our customers to their consumers.’

The company’s team in SouthAfrica has taken a proactive approach to generating real data on real African hair.Because hair care research is an expensive and sensitive process, strict ethics and protocols had to be established before the team began recruiting consumers from the surrounding community. Asa result, Croda South Africa founded the right programme, propelling the global company to the forefront of research and innovation in the African hair care market.

Open innovation

Croda aims to be the partner of choicefor its customers, potential customers,academia and technology developers,to build new supply chains, evaluatedisruptive technology and provide themarket with solutions at a faster pace.These developments are achievedthrough what the company calls ‘open innovation’.

With its open innovation programme, Croda provides those it works with, with access to specialist market, formulation and product application knowledge in exchange for access to their world class knowledge, expertise, facilities and equipment.To date, Croda has undertaken 400 projects with universities in the UK. It has also acquired 12 technologies through its open innovation programme. Croda is internationalising the programme to scout for next generation technologies inAfrica, particularly focusing on locally developed, natural plant actives and ingredients.South Africa is a breeding ground for innovation. Its plant diversity is the third largest in the world and presents a green goldmine for the global cosmetics industry. By creating wider ecosystems where everyone can contribute to innovation, local communities can also be uplifted and empowered.

Foots comments: ‘We are interested in working with universities and strategic partners to identify next generation ingredients from the region for cosmetics, hair care and personal care applications. We can also help academic institutions and startups overcome the barriers they face when it comes to commercialising their innovations.’

The company’s areas of interest for open innovation include novel ingredients that offer performance benefits in the personal care industry and new processing technologies that allow Croda to manufacture products in a more efficient and sustainable manner.

‘Over the next decade, winning companies of the world will be those that not only deliver strong and consistent financial results but also strong and consistent non-financial results. This is achieved by uplifting communities, reducing emissions, accelerating transition to renewable ingredients and focusing on sustainable innovation,’ he adds.

Sustainable innovation

Croda has a longstanding commitment to invest in sustainability and innovation. Sustainability is embedded in its strategic thinking and forms a crucial part of how the global business adds value to its customers.

In October, Croda announced the official launch and certification of its ECO range of bio-based surfactants. These ingredients are designed to meet increasing market demands for sustainable, high performance ingredient options. The new 100 percent bio-based and 100 percent renewable range of non-ionic surfactants is said to be the widest commercially available and is certified to meet the criteria of the USDA BioPreferred programme (www.biopreferred.gov). The ingredients are also manufactured using renewable energy.

With the ECO range, Croda has created a step change worldwide by offering bio-based and renewable options that reduce reliance on fossil fuels and lower the carbon footprint of these ingredients versus their petroleum-based alternatives. By simply replacing a petroleum-derived ingredient with its renewable variant, a significant improvement in bio-based content and renewability can be achieved without a sacrifice in product performance.

Now customers won’t have to choose between meeting their sustainability goals and delivering high performance products to consumers – they can have the best of both worlds with Croda.

Croda – www.crodapersonalcare.com