For years almond growers depended on the dairy industry for supplemental income, as almond shells and hulls are a common bedding material for dairy cows. Now, changes in that industry have almond growers searching for other valuable uses of the almond byproducts—uses which may include cosmetic and personal care ingredients.
But it’s not just hulls and shells that end up in beauty products. Numerous ingredients come from almond sources. And, The California Almond Sustainability Program (CASP) is making the sourcing story of those ingredients more transparent.
Beauty ingredients from almond derivatives and materials
Almond Oil and other almond products are already used in cosmetics and personal care. Shells are processed into granules and used in skin exfoliation product formulas. Hydrosols and flower extracts are used as humectants. Proteins from the nut are used in skin care and hair care products. And ‘almond milk’ is a go-to skin care ingredient as well.
Borrowing from the nut- and alternative-milk movement in the food and beverage industry, beauty makers have been using almond milk, cashew milk, coconut milk and similar inputs in personal care product formulations for years. Following the 2019 edition of Cosmoprof North America, Cosmetics Design Editor Deanna Utroske noted as much in an item highlighting 3 beverage industry trends inspiring beauty product development.
CASP and beauty ingredient transparency
Many of the CASP tools are designed to help growers work more efficiently and sustainably, and to benchmark their progress for stakeholders.
But the initiative also shares information with almond handlers, which facilitates fuller supply chain transparency for the product manufacturer and potentially for the end consumer.
“CASP includes a module specifically for handlers. Handlers may also receive a compilation of data from their growers, who have the option to submit information about their operations anonymously, in aggregate. This information allows handlers to address questions from buyers about how the almonds they are purchasing are grown,” explains a page on the Almond Board of California site almonds.com.
Supply traceability makes almond ingredients more desirable
More and more opportunities for almond products are showing up in beauty. Sugar extracted from hulls shows potential as feedstock for biotech production of cosmetics and personal care ingredients.
And early last autumn, legacy almond grower Harris Woolf Almonds launched in the beauty ingredient marketplace with its single-source sweet almond oil, as Cosmetics Design reported.
Now, because consumers are looking for the sort of transparency, as more and more growers take advantage of sourcing and traceability tools like CASP, brands and beauty manufacturers will be further incentivized to work with almond inputs.
