The deal was inked at the end of last week and will come into effect from January 16, 2014, when the company will become the distributor for the chemicals giant across nine US states.
Those states include California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, but it is California, where a number of big cosmetic and personal care manufacturers are located, that is likely to prove to be the focus of the activities.
Agreement focuses on an important US market
Stephanie Leshney, Ross Organic president and CEO said that the company was looking forward to the challenge of servicing BASF’s needs in the western region.
“It’s an honor to be aligned with the largest, most comprehensive specialty ingredients manufacturer in the personal care industry,” Leshney said.
In the US the cosmetics and personal care market is largely located in the New Jersey and New York areas, where an estimated 70% of the industry is located.
California is likely to be the biggest focus
But California has also developed in recent years as the second most important manufacturing centre for the industry, where in particular a number of natural and organic players have developed off the growing popularity of that category.
Ross Organic will now distribute a total of 60 branded ingredients from the BASF personal care business portfolio, including Avanel, Cetiol, Copheral, Generol, Irgacare, Lamesoft, Plantacare, Rheocare, Tinogard and Z-Cote.
“The selection was made based on the distributor’s strength in the west coast as well as the expertise in the personal care market segment,” said Eduardo Padilla, director of corporate distribution, BASF North America.
“We are very pleased with this new agreement and look forward to working closely with Ross Organic.”