The company says that the investment in the multifunctional facility offers an open space design that aims to foster industry pollination that will help to create more tailor-make solutions for its clients.
As well as the cosmetics and personal care area, the facility will also be targeting the development of solutions for the home, industrial processing and agricultural additive areas.
Beauty will be a key focus
But cosmetics and personal care development is expected to be a key focus, with executives at the company confirming that its development team will be specifically targeting the hair care and styling, skin care and sun care categories.
Secondary to this focus is expected to be the color cosmetics area, where the team will be looking at the development of raw materials, or some cross-business opportunities for face care that might include BB And CC creams.
The BASF team at the Mexico City facility will be working directly with customers to develop solutions that tap into some of the most cutting-edge trends and new technologies on the market by providing on-site technical expertise and market insights.
The importance of the Mexico market
Mexico is the second biggest market for beauty in Latin America, after Brazil, and is particularly strong for color cosmetics and hair care. It is also fast-paced and innovative, and by default sets many beauty trends for the rest of the region.
“The Mexican market is an important growth driver for Care Chemicals,” said Scott Thomson, senior vice president, Care Chemicals North America, BASF.
“Partnering with our customers to drive innovation has always been a key part of our strategy and the new center will enable us to jointly develop unique market creations.”