Interview: Andrea Mitarotonda – Neal’s Yard Remedies

Neal’s Yard Remedies is an independent British retailer of organic natural health and beauty products. Founded in 1981 in Covent Garden, London, the company now has 40 stores across the UK and its products are sold globally.
Before joining Neal’s Yard Remedies Dr Mitarotonda held several R&D positions with companies such as Oriflame Natural Cosmetics (skin care technology principal chemist), Lamberti Chemical Specialties (personal care R&D manager), Intercos (explorative cosmetics scientist) and 3M (emulsions formulation and rheology scientist).
PC: Could you take us through the creation process of a new Neal’s Yard product?
AM: Like most companies around we have our NPD process in place: nevertheless we maintain a certain level of flexibility, which makes everything more enjoyable yet challenging. I think the amazing aspect is that we value everybody’s ideas in order to create our products: no matter what your function is in the company, your voice will be heard. This is why we have a robust yet agile ‘from-idea-to-shelf’ process in place. Our products are literally a blend of many diverse skills: formulation, aromatherapy, herbalism, natural health remedies. All these components have to fit in the process.
PC: Are there any particular technical hurdles that are a common challenge for you (i.e. preservation)?
AM: The number of technical challenges when formulating natural/organic cosmetic products is immense. Preservation is certainly one of the hottest as it involves our customers’ safety, which is paramount. Then availability, consistency and cost of raw materials, among many others. Formulators know what I am speaking about. What I perceive as a real challenge for all of us involved in the natural/organic business, is a certain lack of harmonisation of rules. As NYR do business worldwide, I feel a global definition of natural and organic would be of great help. Every day I am in touch with people from the US, Europe and Asia, and it is evident how differently they perceive the whole natural/organic matter.
PC: What is Neal’s Yard’s approach to ingredient selection? When selecting an ingredient how do you balance ‘greenness’ with efficacy?
AM: When we choose ingredients we always make sure they comply with our strict internal policy. As a result of it, we have a live database of ingredients we do not want or we cannot use. One of the main pillars of this policy invokes the ‘precautionary principle’; I believe we give a choice to our customers, the choice of not using ingredients which can be harmful to their health or to the environment. Also, we formulate to Soil Association standards and we are looking at COSMOS, as well. Obviously, this makes things very complicated for us and finding the right balance between ‘greenness’ and efficacy can be tricky. Luckily enough, ingredients suppliers are progressing on a daily basis and they are now offering ingredients which are ‘green’, safe as well as efficacious.
PC: Would you say there are too many standards at present? If so, how could the situation be improved?
AM: Yes, there are too many. I think the situation could be improved, especially with regards to an effort towards global harmonisation. In this respect I believe COSMOS represents a good example of harmonisation, at least on a European scale.
PC: You also have some ‘beauty from the inside’ products (for instance the Beauty Boost). Did you find it a big step moving from topical care to ingestible products or was the process in fact quite similar?
AM: I can say we are pioneers in the field, as we started doing what is now called ‘beauty from within’ a long time ago, probably since the beginning of NYR, more than 30 years ago. It is part of our ‘holistic’ DNA: we believe beauty comes from within, and as such natural remedies and total wellbeing are central to who we are. From a technical point of view we have great in-house expertise in this field: a head herbalist and a director of natural health make sure our portfolio of teas, supplements and tinctures is always at its best. And it goes without saying, this dedicated expertise goes also into our cosmetic products.
 PC: What is the Neal’s Yard approach to sustainability, in particular with regard to the ingredients you use?
AM: Sustainability is quite a hot topic in the cosmetic industry these days. But at Neal’s Yard Remedies we have spent 30 years leading the way in sustainable skin care. Our entire range makes use of high quality, certified organic, Fairtrade, cruelty-free, wild-crafted and plant-based ingredients. We are BUAV certified crueltyfree and in 2011 became Vegetarian Society certified. This focus on sustainability has led to several ‘firsts’. For example we were the first to certify a range of products under the Soil Association’s organic health and beauty care standards in 2002. Also, Neal’s Yard Remedies was among the earliest adopters of Fairtrade certified cosmetic ingredients in 2009. The range of Fairtrade ingredients for cosmetic use is very limited, but we formulate so that our Sensual Jasmine range, for example, makes use of three Fairtrade certified ingredients: honey, apricot kernel oil and brazil nut oil. Our Sensual Jasmine Body Oil contains 50% Fairtrade ingredients. We support local communities in parts of the world where we source some of our precious essential oils, so we can be sure they are sustainable as well as ethical – we believe in people helping people. For example, our Fairtrade apricot oil is from the remote Chitral region and the northern areas of Pakistan, located in the Karakoram mountains. Our contribution is helping to feed the minds of children in northern Pakistan, thanks to the community school it’s helping to fund. In addition, it helps better the lives of women and their families. Up to 100 female workers are seasonally employed in the factory where the fruit is dried – the only place in the northern areas where women can find paid work. The collective also trains farmers in improved agricultural techniques such as organic farming. Other organic herbal ingredients will come directly from the fields surrounding our eco-factory, where we harvest different species. For everything else, we are proud to work with amazing suppliers all over the world, many of whom share our passion for sustainability, and are proud to play a part in the stories of their development and success. We often work together to tackle tricky issues. For example, there are a number of widely-publicised issues regarding the use of palm oil. Due to the high demand of the food and cosmetics industries, palm plantations have been the greatest factor in the deforestation of Malaysia and Indonesia, leading to climate change impacts as well as habitat loss for vulnerable species like the orang-utan and Sumatran tiger. At Neal’s Yard Remedies, we’ve been working with our suppliers to ensure that we use accredited sustainable palm sources – our main supply is from Colombia and our soap bars use RSPOcertified palm oil. We have worked to achieve organic certification on our soaps to ensure an independently audited traceable supply. It is also guaranteed GM free. However, the big problem with palm oil is that it is also widely used in the chemical industry as a cheap starting point for the manufacture of a huge variety of raw materials, spanning from surfactants to actives that are then used in personal care products. We are working hard on this issue as well, in order to find palm-free alternatives. One good example is our Organic Glycerin, which is not derived from palm. In parallel, we are looking at cooperations with innovative, forward-looking suppliers in order to join forces to reduce the amount of palm-derived ingredients. However, sustainability does not mean only cosmetic ingredients: our commitment to sustainability goes even further. We are looking at opportunities from different angles and are working also on the packaging side. For example, NYR have been recently awarded the first World Land Trust Certificate (WLT) in the UK for using WLT certified packaging for our 2012 Christmas Gift range. It is a real positive that our carton supplier and NYR have teamed up with the most energy efficient board mill in Europe to deliver 9,700 cubic meters of CO2 saving that has secured 815 square metres of rain forest, forever. On the energy side of things, we were the UK’s first CarbonNeutral high street retailer. In addition, our eco-factory in Dorset and company stores are powered by 100% renewable electricity, including energy from our own solar panels. Our eco-factory was built in order to optimise the use of natural resources, for example we collect and use rain water for some facilities (e.g. toilets), the external walls are made of insulating materials so we can minimise the use of the heating system. Our commitment to people means we have just been ranked by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 Best Companies 2012. The survey acknowledged that the company is run on strong ethical principles, that employees were proud to work for the company, and feel that they make a real difference to the world by caring for the environment. Sustainability is in our DNA. Today, more than ever we believe, sustainability is a ‘must have’ rather than a ‘nice to have’ and we continue to evolve our products and our business to reflect our core values.
PC: There has been a significant growth in the amount of active ingredients on the market, particularly with regard to anti-ageing. Have you been impressed with their efficacy?
AM: This is correct, and it is important to observe how suppliers have been looking more actively at the natural/organic world in the past few years. This is interesting, as in a way, the best source of active ingredients is still Mother Nature; when using vegetable oils as emollients, for instance, we are delivering a wide variety of essential nutrients. I do believe that the whole formula, if properly ‘built’, works as an active ingredient itself: each ingredient will contribute to the overall efficacy. This is quite a complex topic, though, involving concepts such as skin delivery, but it works pretty well – there is interesting literature proving this approach in the field of moisturisation, for instance. In terms of being impressed by a particular type of active, my answer would be ‘peptides’. They can comply with all the natural requirements of a company like NYR and they are extremely efficacious. When you can avail of such powerful natural derived actives and you can enclose them within a natural/organic product, you are actually delivering top anti-ageing efficacy.
PC: Which ingredients do you particularly enjoy working with?
AM: This is going to be driven by my background and passion: colloid chemistry, rheology, polymers and the like. I enjoy thinking in terms of technology platforms: combinations of emulsifiers, surfactants, polymers which allow formulation flexibility in order to deliver sensory as well as efficacy. The world of hydrocolloids is fascinating as there is so much to learn from the food industry, as combinations of natural gums can create such a diverse portfolio of sensory attributes. On the emulsification side I like liquid crystal systems, in particular hydrosome formers. I have thoroughly studied their stabilising and moisturising properties, which are amazing, especially if you consider that most of these systems fall into the definition of natural-derived emulsifiers. So much more than only HLB theory. In terms of surfactants I like products such as sodium coco-glucoside tartrate, disodium coco-glucoside citrate, lactylate and glutamates; the first two in particular can help develop performing detergentbased products.
PC: How closely do you follow trends in the wider (less organic-focused) cosmetics industry?
AM: We look at global trends in the beauty market as an inspiration and we try to set trends in the natural/organic arena. Transforming global trends into natural products: this is the challenge. On the raw material side, I like looking at as many ingredients as possible: if you think in terms of functionality of a certain raw material, then you can take inspiration even from ‘forbidden’ ones (and we have many!) and transpose this functionality into a natural/organic concept. If you don’t know how silicones work and feel, how can you try and mimic their sensorial profile with natural ingredients?
PC: How do you see your portfolio of products changing over the next five years? More ‘Beauty from Within’ products, men’s grooming etc?
AM: I think it is important to maintain a balance between well established and liked products and new developments. As a natural company, we have to provide our customers with natural/organic ‘head to toe’ alternatives – this links directly to your previous questions on global trends. I think we will be focusing very much on make-up, anti-ageing and the fine line between them. But also, an eye on ‘glocal’ needs and Organic Certification in the US.