Evonik is establishing a new business segment named Botanicals & Natural Actives within the Nutrition & Care division. This brings together various legacy products and recent acquisitions to meet demand for botanical extracts and natural actives. These include:

* Argentine firm Novachem, which offers natural and sustainable active ingredients for skin and hair care applications

* Swiss sustainable botanicals pioneer Botanica

* Alkion Biopharma, a specialist in biotechnologically developed cosmetic active ingredients

Croda International has broken ground for a low-carbon, multi-purpose production facility on a greenfield site in Guangzhou. This triples its manufacturing capacity for fragrances and establishes its fist production capability for beauty actives, mainly botanicals, in China. It is also part of the company’s plan to deliver fast growth in Asia.