South Plainfield, NJ (USA), 25 February 2016 – Lonza today announced the celebration of the grand opening of its Global Centre of Hair Care Technology in Blackley, near Manchester (UK). With its proximity to a number of key global and regional hair care customers and its ease of access, the established Lonza Consumer Care site at Blackley was an ideal location for this new Centre.
The Centre will serve as the hub from which Lonza Consumer Care expands its presence in the hair care market. By utilizing the expertise present in the R&D Centre, the team will apply ingredient expertise and formulation design to create novel concepts that are substantiated through advanced measurement techniques.
“Establishing this lab allows us to deliver specialty, science-backed solutions targeting the hair fibre and collaborate with manufacturers and marketers of hair care brands globally,” said Penny Antonopoulos, Head of Global Marketing, Personal Care.
The Personal Care business of Lonza Consumer Care is driven by the philosophy “Inspire the Formulator... Excite the Consumer...™”. Drawing inspiration from the global consumer, the Lonza team is inspired to provide chemistries with demonstrated benefits beyond traditional cleansing and conditioning applications, to maintain hair in its healthiest state.
“The addition of this Centre to Lonza's R&D footprint allows us to leverage our fundamental understanding of the properties of hair and generate robust data packages that will strengthen the benefits of the current hair care portfolio, as well as create new product developments,” said Dr. Jamie Hawkes, Ph.D., Global Head of Haircare Technology.
The Centre utilizes industry standard equipment and test methods in order to generate efficacy data to help meet customers' specific needs. The Centre has also developed bespoke testing equipment and test protocols that will generate additional data to add value to their products.
In the evolving world of hair care, consumers look for products that resonate with their hair emotional needs but also deliver sound, demonstrated benefits. “By collaborating with our customers and giving them data that they would need to generate themselves, we are effectively helping them shortcut their development process, which ultimately is in the best interest of both parties, who can work together to create formulas that meet consumer expectations,” Dr. Hawkes said.
“With the Global Centre of Skin Care Technology located in South Plainfield, New Jersey, and the Alpharetta Innovation Technology Centre located in Georgia – both in the United States – this global network will provide solutions that resonate with the scalp and hair care needs that today's consumers around the world desire,” Antonopoulos added.