Like many distributors, Univar has been taking steps recently to grow its natural, sustainable, clean, and green offerings. In May, the company bought European ingredient maker Earthoil to add that company’s seed and nut extracts and oils to its product portfolio.
“Earthoil presents us with an attractive opportunity to add a natural ingredient product portfolio that we can leverage across our growing customer base in the European and global natural beauty and personal care market,” Univar’s EMEA president Nick Powel told the press in May.
This latest deal with Sino Lion is a more conventional distribution partnership, not an acquisition. But for US-based beauty makers, it’s additive in much the same way.
New business
Sino Lion has been in business since 1993. Based in New Jersey, the company develops and makes “functional ingredients, fine chemicals, bulk drug actives, and natural active products [for the] cosmetic, personal care, health food, and pharmaceutical industries,” according the bloomberg.com company overview of Sino Lion USA.
Univar emphasizes the company’s “broad portfolio of specialties [including] mild and naturally derived amino-acid surfactants, preservatives, chelates and multiple specialty chemistries.” The Univar media release also calls the company “an important addition to the Univar beauty and personal care portfolio,” noting that “Sino Lion represents a variety of natural ingredients to meet growing demand from brand owners located around the world.”
New opportunities
For Sino Lion, the deal means greater access to beauty makers, product development teams, formulating chemists, and ingredient buyers across the United States. As that company’s chief scientific officer Dr. Evelyn Su tells the press, “Sino Lion and Univar will together introduce innovative new prototypes and sustainable ingredient technologies designed to address the latest consumer preference trends of going green, natural and sustainable in the beauty and personal care industry.”
“Customers across the US will benefit tremendously,” she believes, “from Sino Lion's affordable natural surfactants, natural preservatives, natural chelates and many more along with Univar's extensive supply chain network, commitment to customer success, and leading digital technology.”
As for Univar: “We are very impressed with Sino Lion's natural ingredients for the beauty and personal care market and are honored to have these innovative products as part of the Univar portfolio,” Kelly Gilroy, beauty and personal care business director at Univar, comments in the media release.
---
Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.
