Beauty of nature and tradition highlighted

PT Martina Berto forms the manufacturing and marketing element of the group. Martina Berto focuses on natural, eastern raw materials which are generally sourced from Indonesia, but when necessary, raw materials will be imported from other countries as well. For example, Sariayu Colour Trends range (which translates to sense of beauty) is launched annually with a different theme that references a different Indonesian province. The launch in 2005 was Bali, and because Bali is famous for its black and white check cloth, the colour launch was set to line up with this theme. In 2009, the launch was in Java Timur, which is located in East Java. This region is well known for its population of peacocks. Unfortunately, the bird is becoming increasingly rare and Dr Tilaar wanted to draw the consumer’s attention to its plight. As a result, the colour range for this year was designed to reflect the colours of the peacock through a range consisting of lipsticks, eye shadow, blush-on powder, mascara and eyeliner. One example of her natural, eastern focus is with the sensitive skin range of cosmetics which meet the needs of the consumer who want something more natural and gentle. An example of this is a range called Biokos, which is a complete skin care range based on the ocra flower which has a similar apparent effect to using botox and is sold as a type of botox cream. Another range reflecting the Indonesian way of life is Dewi Sri Spa (Dewi Sri is the goddess of rice) which was developed so the consumer could enjoy a home spa by using products supplied to professional spas. Dewi Sri Spa is also spa chain with locations throughout Asia and the range of products is part of the export side of the company. Another aspect that marks the company out from the crowd is that it is backward integrated. Martina Berto owns its plantations, extracts the active ingredients and incorporates them into finished formulations. The entire process is strictly controlled and forms part of a herbal medicine village and farm called Kampoeng Djamoe Organik (KDO), also set up by Martha Tilaar. Currently the company sources 565 species of plants from KDO and any other ingredients are sourced from co-opted farmers who are regularly trained in cultivation techniques for sustainable growth. Martha Tilaar earmarks a percentage of the company’s turnover to R&D. A beneficiary of this is The MTIC or Martha Tilaar Innovation Centre, headed by Dr Lip Wong, which employs 50 people, two with PhDs, as well as three with master’s degrees and ten fully qualified pharmacists. Dr Anna Ranti is a pharmacist responsible for the research department which is instrumental in the research and sourcing of natural actives as well as all the testing carried out in the MTIC laboratories. They carry out all in vivo and in vitro efficacy testing on site and also offer their services to other companies in Indonesia. The department has filed 34 patent applications since 2002. Eti Setiawati, MBA, is the pharmacist overseeing the various stages of the formulatory processes. To date, more than 5,000 formulas have been successfully created. The company has a partnership with the government’s Ministry of Research and Technology to try to close the gap between academics, business and government or ABM. As part of this partnership Martha Tilaar gives an award each year. The award process involves academics proposing research projects and if these projects are chosen, the recipients receive not only the funding but also an award. In 2007, 66 academics applied for the award and three were chosen as winners with one of the ideas for firming and moisturising the skin already incorporated into a product. Collaboration is open not only to Indonesian Universities but also overseas establishments and consumers are also eligible to compete for the awards by promoting ideas to use local plants and raw materials in cosmetic products. In 2008, Martina Berto won the coveted ASEAN Business Award in the Innovation Category, which was presented in Bangkok. The company’s walls are also adorned with many local awards. In July of this year, the company set up the Indonesian Faculty for Herbal Medicine with the University of Indonesia. The inspiration behind this was a recent trip to Beijing where Dr Tilaar saw the seamless integration of eastern and western medicines using Chinese traditional ingredients. It is hoped that this faculty will increase the awareness and usage of Indonesian natural actives for the remedy of various diseases. It is also worth remembering that Indonesia has the second largest forest in the world after Brazil with a huge biodiversity available to the country and this wealth of potential has not yet been tapped. Martina Berto is a very innovative and self sufficient company which not only develops and grows its own raw materials but also manages its own distribution company, beauty school, spas and salons as well as owning an advertising company and cosmetic chain of shops, Puri Ayu (similar to the Body Shop). The company also has certification for ISO 9001, ISO 14000 and GMP.

Personal Care spoke to Dr Anna Ranti, Dr Lip Wong and Eti Setiawati of Martina Berto to find out more about new developments within the industry and how initiatives like the FormulaCare i-2010 Workshop can enhance learning:

PC: Often there is a need to develop high performance “green” products. How big are the challenges associated with this, given factors relating to “greenness” and performance can be at variance?