Colors & Effects announces distributor of the year

14-Feb-2017 - Last updated on 14-Feb-2017 at 16:57 GMT

Ross Organic receives the 2016 Distributor of the Year Award from BASF Colors & Effects (image courtesy of Ross Organic)

The global pigments brand of chemical maker BASF awarded Ross Organic with the first-ever distributor of the year award, a notable milestone for both companies and a sign of things to come as well.

This past June BASF created the Colors & Effects brand, which caters to customers in an array of industries, from coatings and plastics to printing and agriculture. Within the brand, there’s a team for each client group, including one to serve the cosmetics industry.

“This brand underlies the key strengths we bring to the market: chemical expertise and a broad portfolio of colorants and high performance effect pigments,” Alexander Haunschild, senior vice president and managing director or Colors & Effects, told the press last summer.

“BASF continues to invest resources into this change and we are confident we have the right experts and portfolio to help our customers continue to innovate.”

Distribution partner

Ross Organic has been distributing BASF pigments for two years, working with the company even before the launch of the global Colors & Effects brand.

All the same, this is the first time Colors & Effects is honoring a partner with the Distributor of the Year Award. Ross Organic received the award for its work in 2016 and notes that even in the short time the two companies have worked together the product line has grown.

“To see this kind of market response has been phenomenal. Receiving the award is an honor and an important validation of how effective our sales and service team can be with new products,” acknowledges Jesse Kreider, VP of sales and strategy for Ross Organic, in a press release about the award.

Ross Organic acquired

At the start of 2017, Azelis acquired Ross Organic to get in on the natural cosmetics and personal care ingredient market, as Cosmetics Design reported.

Ross Organic will continue with its distribution business as usual as part of Azelis. “It is with great pride and enthusiasm that we join Azelis Americas, the leading specialty chemical distributor in North America,” said Stephanie Ross Leshney, co-owner and president of Ross, when the deal was announced.

“We are confident that this move will further strengthen Ross Organic’s customer and supplier capabilities, as well as ensure we remain the preeminent personal care distributor in the Western US.”