CosmeticsDesign.com USA caught up with its president James Hughes at the recent Suppliers Day in New Jersey, where he explained that his company are the first to offer this service to cosmetic companies in the US looking to cater to the marine ingredients trend.
"Up until now cosmetic companies have heavily relied on France in particular when sourcing these type of ingredients and to be honest, the US didn't realize there was a major market for it here in terms of sourcing," Hughes explains.
"In those instances where companies were importing from France, we received feedback from the industry in that some were running into problems, like it taking 6-8 weeks to receive an order whilst others reported customer service as not being great."
Catering to the marine trend…
According to Hughes; it was only when a Florida-based cosmetic company called on them to source custom made ingredients that they realized they could offer a highly specialized service to the industry.
"Abirorganics called us after running into difficulties importing from France. They wanted something that was quite specialized - like ingredients that had been developed so that they had no smell of the sea for example, so we quickly learned from there that we could hone our skills to offer a highly unique service."
The company, up and running just over six years now, also develops novel actives while specializing in locating and producing ingredients from the oceans of the world specifically for the nutraceutical and cosmetic industries.
It currently has on-going collaborative partnerships in 17 countries located in the North, South and Central America, Africa, Europe, Australia and Asia and has a portfolio of seaweeds, algae, marine protein, shark cartilage, chitosan, chondroitin sulfate, fish oils, powders and extracts of oyster.
Sustainably sourcing
Before parting ways at the show, Hughes drove home the message that sustainability is at the core of everything the company does.
"In terms of being eco-friendly and sustainable in what we catch, it is really all down to ensuring that we are properly harvesting what we are taking from the sea floor. Seaweed for example is completely regenerable providing that you take it from its roots and harvest the entire plant again."