How has formulation strategies in regards to supply chain adapted to become more resilient in the face of recent disruptions (e.g., COVID-19, natural disasters, geopolitical tensions)?

I realised the importance of dual sourcing for companies in 2011 after the tsunami that hit the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. Once radiation was released, we had cosmetic formulating companies come to us looking for raw materials which were single sourced from Japan and need offsets or duplicates, ASAP. This type of unexpected disaster should drive home the importance for multiple points of supply chain for specialty raw materials. Specialty raw materials in many cases are sometimes obtained from unique geographical ecosystems and can not be sourced from anywhere else. This is the case in our industry, I’m always thinking ahead to make alternatives and synthetics. A great example is carnauba wax which only comes from Brazil and Candelilla Wax which only comes from Mexico. If disruptions from environmental changes and/or political issues disrupt supply, what do you do if you need these to make your finished personal care product, alternatives and/or synthetics are your only options.

How do more recent trade barriers, tariffs, and import/export restrictions impact the global supply chain for personal care products. What strategies can be used to mitigate these risks? Can localizing supply chains—such as sourcing ingredients regionally—help mitigate risks, and what trade-offs does this present in formulation

If you must consider making raw materials at another location to minimize risk, this takes time, money and resources that most companies don’t have. For the average personal care company, they need to consider raw material sourcing before ever making a formulation. Look at all these INDIE Brand companies who don’t make their products but use some unique exotic raw material from the far reaches of the world. So be careful about raw material choices, understand the geographical regions and politics where raw materials are coming from and that is a way to mitigate risk. Chemical companies don’t pop up overnight, they take years to build.

How have rising material costs affected formulation and pricing? How can formulators balance cost pressures from clients/brands with consumer expectations for quality and affordability?

If raw material costs go up, unfortunately pricing increases must be passed on to the personal care manufacturer. If the personal care manufacturers costs increase, the consumer will pay higher prices. There may be personal care manufacturers that might take a hit on their bottom line if they have contracts with companies like Walmart where they can’t raise prices due to contracts. Hopefully quality is not compromised.

I have seen in the past when our industry has experienced cost pressures, formulators need to beware of raw materials that don’t change in price, especially commodities when all is going up in cost. I can only say, not all raw materials are created equally, though the certificate of analysis may look the same.

What challenges do you face in sourcing sustainable raw materials for personal care formulations, and how do you ensure ethical and environmentally responsible sourcing? How does sustainability influence supply chain decisions for personal care formulations, and what innovations are emerging to address these challenges (e.g., packaging, ingredient sourcing, waste reduction)? How can brands and formulators ensure supply chain transparency to meet this growing consumer demand for ingredient traceability and ethical sourcing?

Our company developed our own sustainable sourcing program for beeswax by putting a facility in Togo West Africa. This insures we meet as many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We are looking to do this with other raw materials. If we don’t initiate this program ourselves, middlemen would been involved, less transparency and possibly greater costs then if we visit and audit our suppliers. In our case, sustainable raw material program adds some costs to the raw materials but not making them cost prohibitive. Having a brand buy into sustainability is sometimes the challenge. Larger companies are more willing to promote sustainable personal care products to promote the good that can be done in this world to help people and environment.

How can brands, formulators, suppliers, procurement teams, product developers, marketing, etc. collaborate to ensure a more predictable and efficient supply chain?

We have found by bringing all parties to the table before starting big projects ensures a greater success of that project. Getting R&D, quality, regulatory, purchasing, marketing and sales in a room together allows all the aspects of a projects to be considered.

How do supply chain disruptions influence the formulation process? Have there been any notable examples where ingredient shortages led to formulation/production concerns and/or product reformulation? Are there any examples where innovation such as alternative ingredients or novel formulation approaches emerged due to sourcing limitations?

Candelilla wax only comes from Mexico. Candelilla Wax has a global shortage from the inability of the Mexican government to sign CITES permits which allow for the export of candelilla out of the country. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has had candelilla wax on its list since the 1970’s but in 2014 they decided to enforce and require permits. There is no shortage of the shrub which grows naturally in the deserts of northern Mexico and has been sustainable harvested since the candelilla wax has been introduced as a raw material to industry in the 1920’s. For the past 8-9 months it’s been very difficult getting signed CITES permits from the Mexican government creating a severe shortage driving up prices and forcing companies to either put off production of personal care products requiring candelilla wax or find alternatives solutions. The synthetic candelilla wax and natural candelilla alternatives will work as a replacement with some reformulating and is less expensive. Now that synthetic and alternative raw materials are available, eventually there will be less of a demand for the candelilla wax, potentially solving some of the issue. For personal care companies reformulating takes time and money which many companies are not set up to do and they there are some companies will wait it out.

How can technology, such as AI, be utilized to improve transparency, traceability, and efficiency in the personal care development and supply chain? How can digital tools or predictive analytics help improve inventory management and forecasting? Are there any current examples?

Not much to comment on since we are only beginning our exploratory use of AI. Navigating AI is a lengthy process to yield information which is useful. As we use AI more and refine our searches the retrieved information will become more useful. AI will eventually speed up R&D development.

With consumer demand for personal care products constantly evolving, how do formulators help ensure that supply chains are agile enough to meet new trends? What do you see as the key supply chain challenges in regards to personal care formulation and development will face in the next 5 to 10 years and how should brands start preparing now?
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How do regulatory changes across different regions impact ingredient sourcing and formulation strategies? What steps can formulators take to stay ahead of evolving compliance requirements?

New raw material development is essential for innovative personal care development and creating unique trends from a formula that has efficacy. Many trends seen on social media are scams and buyer beware. Efficacy testing and documentation should be available from the company developing the trend through its uniqueness by R&D. Many companies patent as well as advertise, so stick with suppliers of raw materials that legitimately offer the trendy claims with proof and alien yourself with them. Which leads into regulatory, it’s not going to get any easier, only more and more restrictions or simply put, The List of NO’s may increase. With analytical detection limits of elemental and compound testing consistently in the ppb and starting to look at ppt, knowing your raw material supplier and their capabilities are essential to ensure the success of brand development. Natural does not necessarily mean the raw material has less NO’s. In fact, you can say that synthetically manufactured raw materials could have less potential of NO’s since you know what goes into the reaction and what is coming out. Now that the formulator has found good raw materials, made a trendy brand, what about global regulatory acceptance? Many countries have their inventory lists and if the raw materials are not on them, getting the new raw materials listed can be difficult to impossible. China for example has their list which was based on published PCPC 2014 ingredients. Now unless there is published toxicology and documented usage levels of safety raw materials can not be imported into China or used in a personal care preparation imported into China without proven safety testing. Essentially new raw materials that currently don’t have enough safety testing will require time and money to get them approval.

The future requirements to develop personal care formulations will require more resources, more time, global understanding to formulating, good relationships with suppliers and eventual connection to AL chatbots that helps navigate one through the changing and complicated landscape called cosmetic formulating.