“Our prestige beauty products depend on the highest quality raw materials,” says Roberto Canevari, executive vice president, global supply chain, ELC. “By producing our own biotechnology-based materials at one of our main manufacturing campuses, we are able to manufacture at-scale in a more responsible way. This is a great example of how our end-to-end value chain is partnering to advance innovation and sustainability across the enterprise.”Semi at Adobe Stock
The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has opened its BioTech Hub focused “exclusively on manufacturing cutting-edge bio-based raw materials,” per the company. The site supports the company’s broader pivot away from a reliance on biomass and natural resources, while ensuring business continuity.
Based near its campus in Oevel, Belgium, the site (led by Caroline Paulussen, Ph.D.) will manufacture active biomolecules from plant, yeast and bacteria sources to be applied in ELC skin care products across a range of brands.
In this way, the company seeks to boost the sustainability of its products, pivoting toward bio-based alternatives to traditional ingredients.
Commercial production will begin in 2025 and will allow ELC to boost its in-house production of bio-based raw materials.
The Belgium-based team will work with ELC researchers in Melville, New York to optimize fermentation and bio-based materials. Raw materials resulting from the project will be piloted and scaled up in cooperation with manufacturing teams in Belgium.
“Our prestige beauty products depend on the highest quality raw materials,” says Roberto Canevari, executive vice president, global supply chain, ELC. “By producing our own biotechnology-based materials at one of our main manufacturing campuses, we are able to manufacture at-scale in a more responsible way. This is a great example of how our end-to-end value chain is partnering to advance innovation and sustainability across the enterprise.”
“At ELC, our team of exceptional scientists leverage breakthrough innovation and cutting-edge technology, combined with a passion for sustainability, to drive the development of the efficacious and high-quality ingredients that go into the luxury products our consumers know and love,” says Carl Haney, executive vice president, research, product and innovation officer, ELC. “This new value chain site will serve as a critical space for our scientists to continue embedding sustainability at the start of the product development process and build upon our strengths in fermentation and proprietary ingredients.”
“Our BioTech Hub will support our efforts to provide more responsible and cutting-edge beauty solutions to consumers,” says Jamal Chamariq, senior vice president, EMEA UK&I and travel retail, global supply chain, ELC. “The location of the new center in Belgium also will enable us to partner more closely with leaders in biotechnology, further enhancing our innovation ecosystem in Europe and beyond.”