Design-led innovation at Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive’s chief technology officer Pat Verduin PhD told attendees at this year’s online Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) 2021 conference that the personal care giant was shifting its innovation strategy towards a
“design-led” approach, generating plenty of reader interest.
Rather than focusing on traditional line extensions, the company would instead invest in new product development where design and user experience teams were involved from the start to develop a
“well-rounded product” that fitted Colgate-Palmolive’s brand purpose and delivered a
“great user experience”.
Garnier Leaping Bunny and L’Oréal global green science shift
Companies need to rethink how they implement sustainability initiatives and should integrate them it into the ‘heart’ of their business models, a panel of experts at the Global Fragrance Summit organised by the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) has claimed.
Bérangère Magarinos-Ruchat, global head of sustainability at Firmenich, emphasised that sustainability is about an
“end-to-end approach to responsible business”.
“It s not just about climate change, it s not just about the environment in the way that people would think a few years ago. [Sustainability] in every sense also means sustainability on social impacts… It s also everything around, legal compliance, ethics, how you re running your business. It really goes from making sure you don t do anything wrong, all the way to benefiting from innovation, and growing business for good.”
The French Indie brand has a range of minimalist, active skin care serums, moisturisers and peels all available online via its direct-to-consumer model (Image: Typology) French direct-to-consumer (D2C) startup Typology has achieved B Corp certification just two years after launch – a move of great significance to its founder who wants to carve out a positive impact brand.
Launched in February 2019, the vegan, cruelty-free, Made in France skin care and cosmetics startup offered a range of minimalist products, including tinted, exfoliating and night serums; moisturisers; scrubs and peels; and botanical oils for the face, body and hair – all available via its D2C website.
Scientists in Germany are researching ways to revolutionise the chemical industry by replacing petroleum-based raw materials with sustainable proteins from rapeseed oil waste.
The Freising-based Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging’s TeFuProt project aims to counteract the scarcity and long-term price increase of fossil fuels by using food waste for industrial applications.
The processing of rapeseed oil, widely used in food production, results in protein-rich by-products known as rapeseed meal and press-cake.
“Up until now, this residue has been used mainly as a foodstuff in livestock farming but this usage is limited because of the bitter substances contained,” said Andreas Fetzer, scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute.
Unilever beauty business reshuffle
Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever, told attendees at this year’s online Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) 2021 conference that the company would make some
“strategic choices” in the months and years ahead, and had already formed a
“dedicated management team” to start the process of separating out certain, smaller beauty and personal care brands.
Alongside these divestments, the company would also seek potential acquisitions in the prestige beauty space – a division Unilever wanted to grow to €3bn in the next few years, he said.
Natural CBD enters the EU CosIng database
News that the European Commission had added natural whole-hemp cannabidiol (CBD) to its cosmetics ingredients CosIng database sparked plenty of interest in the beauty world.