Suppliers' Day: Building on Concepts

By: Rachel L. Grabenhofer

Posted: May 21, 2012

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During the NY SCC exhibition, Lubrizol’s marketing manager Timothy Roach discussed products for skin and hair conditioning and cleansing. The company's Merquat conditioner is synergistically focused for mild cleansing in addition to conditioning for color retention. In addition, the Fixate polymer which was designed to be applied to hair specifically via a foam delivery. He also highlighted the natural Glucamate VLT (methyl glucoside derived from corn/vegetal sources) that is an associative thickener. He noted that although such chemistries are not entirely desirable, creating them from more natural sources makes them greener.

Considering the development of these product offerings, Roach said, "The overall goal is to listen to what the clients want and be a solution provider and partner; to understand what they are trying to accomplish." For instance, he described the demand from consumers for special esthetics to elicit experiences. "This is what the consumers want, not the 'associative thickener,'" he said, emphasizing the importance of speaking the same language. "Lubrizol’s approach is to bring these languages closer together," he added.

Finally, regarding the company’s acquisitions, Roach explained that the aim was to leave the expertise in the hands of the experts. For example, with the acquisition of Active Organics, Lubrizol did not want to interfere with the company's established expertise, so it maintains operations and even exhibits separately. "And don't worry, they are still baking cookies," he added—a tradition of Active Organics' at almost every exhibition.

Interactive Solutions

John Paro, president and CEO of The Hallstar Company, discussed the company’s acquisitions of Biochemica and B&T srl, noting how 100% of the employees were retained, and that the real focus is on identifying synergies between the entities. For instance, Hallstar’s photostabilizer activity fits very well with the new acquisition of Biochemica because many natural ingredients can be unstable; however, Hallstar had the answer for this. "It’s all about providing the chemistry solution to a need in the marketplace," said Paro, who added, "and technologies are a continuous development process."

Featured at the event was the company's Polycrylene S1 (Proposed INCI: Polyester-X), a singlet and triplet quencher that permits formulators to combine active ingredients that were once considered to be too photo-unstable.