BASF has made a strategic investment in Ingredi, a Chinese supplier of natural actives and solutions for the personal care industry.
Ingredi, established in 2017, develops active ingredients from natural plants found in the Himalayas area of China.
Through the equity investment from BASF, Ingredi will be able to extend its production facilities.
In addition, BASF will jointly work with Ingredi to identify new solutions and commercialise these to the global personal care market.
“While the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) market is known by many consumers, the use of plant-based actives with a TCM background is a new trend in the personal care industry and continues to grow fast,” said BASF in a statement.
“BASF contributes its expertise in demonstrating how to successfully add these ingredients into personal care formulations and will market these products globally to its customers,” it added.
The value of BASF’s investment in Ingredi was not disclosed.
“It is a great honor for us to be recognized by BASF as such a valuable partner for the industry,” said Dr Ji Zhou, chairman and founder of Ingredi.
“The partnership with BASF will enable us to benefit from BASF’s experience in the industry and profit from each other’s knowhow,” he added.
Dr Robert Parker, director of new business development & digital officer at BASF Care Chemicals, said: “We are committed to deliver new innovative solutions to the personal care market, and to build an ecosystem of partners that can support our customers”.
