The deal looks to produce the first made-in-Europe cosmetic grade of 1,3-propanediol (PDO), a fermented ingredient made from vegetable oil used in body lotions and facial creams.
PDO can replace the petroleum-based glycols in these products as Gareth Barker, DSM’s president of personal care and aroma ingredients describes the ingredient as “bio-sourced with the process fully sustainable, contributing to DSM’s ambition to fulfil consumer demand for conscious beauty”.
“We are delighted with today’s announcement which represents another step in the long-term strategy of expanding our portfolio with bio-sourced ingredients,” he adds.
“This collaboration, leverages DSM’s position in the Personal Care industry along with the research and development expertise of Metex NØØvista, reinforces DSM’s commitment to address the growing demand from leading cosmetics brands for high performance sustainable products.
Tilamar brand
The ingredient is to sit under DSM’s ‘Tilamar’ brand, ‘Tilamar PDO with NØØvista,’ which will be produced at the METEX NØØVISTA’s new production site at Carling Saint Avold in France.
The site will have an initial capacity of 5 Kilotons (kT) to cover the growing global demand for cosmetic grade of PDO. The production at this first European plant is to start at the end of 2020.
Commenting on the deal, Benjamin Gonzalez, chairman and CEO of Metex NØØvista, adds, “We are pleased with this commercial alliance with DSM, with whom we share a common vision of how to respond to consumers’ needs for natural products.
“This partnership with a leading name in the bio-industry, which we have formed some 12 months before the plant’s start-up, is yet another validation of our technologies and our industrial strategy.
“Our teams and all our partners remain fully focused on ensuring a successful, on-schedule start-up.”
This long-term commercial agreement forms part of the first production phase of the ingredient at the Carling Saint-Avold site.
Metex previously announced that its revenues from the industrialisation of the PDO/BA technology will be made up of royalties from the sales of Metex NØØvista, payments for the technical support Metex NØØvista provides to its subsidiary, and a 55% share of the dividends.
The company also says this partnership with DSM confirms the strong demand from cosmetics manufacturers for high-performance, bio-based alternatives to petrochemical products.
‘Controversial preservatives’
Owing to its properties, they add that PDO can be used as a substitute for certain “controversial petrochemical preservatives.”
"We are very pleased to announce such a partnership with DSM, an innovation & sustainability driven company that shares our values,” says Antoine Darbois, CEO of Metex NØØvista, a subsidiary of biological chemistry company Metabolic Explorer.
It will strongly support Metex NØØvista objectives to address the new consumer’s expectations in terms of naturalness through the production of functional ingredients by fermentation.
“We believe this partnership will leverage the value of our PDO, Tilamar PDO with NØØvista, will accelerate its global market introduction and support Metex NØØvista to success in its business.”