Currently, Azelis runs fifteen personal care application laboratories around the world, including seven in Asia Pacific: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam.
“The lab can service a range of applications within both life science and industrial markets and it enables us to share trends and innovations with our customers in order to better serve them, with an aim to be at the forefront of new technologies and applications,” said Hirotaka Hawano, Managing Director of Azelis Japan.
However, as the lab is still new, it is only running on a small scale compared to its other facilities. Currently, it is equipped with a stirrer for forming, a heater and several experimental tools. Hawano told CosmeticsDesign Asia that the company will be adding more equipment in due course.
The new lab aims to quickly and timely provide several technical services to customers, such as formulation, analysis of textures, functionality and sampling in order to develop new businesses.
“The opening of the lab is in response to the trend we saw on the Japanese market and that is that the customers have a need for such type of support. As customer satisfaction and intimacy are important to us, this investment was an easy decision to make,” said Hawano.
Eye on APAC
The APAC region is an area of strong focus for Azelis and also a priority in terms of development, said Laurent Nataf, CEO and President of Azelis.“60% of the world population lives in Asia, 40% of the market for speciality distribution is already in the region with the highest growth rate,” he added.
“With 55 laboratories worldwide, dedicated to nine different industries, we have a track record in successfully providing such support to customers on all continents. We plan to do no less for our customers in Asia, with 24 laboratories currently located in this region.”
He added that the market is highly-fragmented. “There is a clear need for professional distributors bringing technical expertise and regulatory support to the end customers. This is what Azelis can offer, bringing innovation through formulation support.”
Among all the markets in Asia, Azelis will be focusing its efforts on South Korea, which it sees as the “regional and global trend-setter” in the personal care industry.
However, the company does not intend to stop at South Korea. “China, Japan and Indonesia are all showing solid growth rates and a continuous focus on innovation so our focus on these countries will remain in the coming period.”
“It has been our strategy to create value and grow with our partners through innovative formulation solutions we offer, approach that has been recognised and awarded a number of times by industry bodies and partners, and we will continue to do so in these highly innovative Asian geographies.”