The Estée Lauder Companies Moves to In-House Production of More Bio-Based Ingredients, marking a significant step in the company’s sustainability journey. The company has officially opened its BioTech Hub, which is dedicated “exclusively on manufacturing cutting-edge bio-based raw materials,” as stated by the company. This new site is part of the company’s broader strategy to reduce its reliance on biomass and natural resources while ensuring business continuity.
Located near its campus in Oevel, Belgium, and led by Caroline Paulussen, Ph.D., the BioTech Hub will focus on producing active biomolecules sourced from plants, yeast, and bacteria for use in ELC’s skin care products across various brands. This move highlights the company’s commitment to increasing the sustainability of its offerings by pivoting towards bio-based alternatives to traditional ingredients.
The Estée Lauder Companies Moves to In-House Production of More Bio-Based Ingredients as it prepares for commercial production, which will commence in 2025. This expansion will enable ELC to ramp up its in-house production of bio-based raw materials, bringing greater control and efficiency to its manufacturing processes.
The Belgium-based team will collaborate closely with ELC researchers in Melville, New York, to optimize the fermentation process and bio-based material development. The raw materials generated through this project will be piloted and scaled up with support from the manufacturing teams in Belgium, ensuring a smooth transition from research to large-scale production.
“Our prestige beauty products depend on the highest quality raw materials,” says Roberto Canevari, Executive Vice President, Global Supply Chain at 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.”
The Estée Lauder Companies Moves to In-House Production of More Bio-Based Ingredients to further advance the integration of sustainability in its operations. Carl Haney, Executive Vice President, Research, Product and Innovation Officer at ELC, explains, “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. 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.”
Jamal Chamariq, Senior Vice President, EMEA UK&I and Travel Retail, Global Supply Chain at ELC, also highlights the importance of this new hub: “Our BioTech Hub will support our efforts to provide more responsible and cutting-edge beauty solutions to consumers. 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.”
