Clariant has opened its first global R&D center for hair care ingredients. Located in Sao Paolo, Brazil, the new global Competence Center Haircare (gCCH) will act as a hub for global innovation projects, working in close partnership with the company’s global innovation network, especially the Clariant Innovation Center, based in Frankfurt, Germany.

The new center spans 240 sqm and will house a team of Clariant hair care professionals, application and formulation labs. Brazil was chosen not only for its position as the world’s largest hair care market but also because of the diversity of hair types to be found in the country, enabling the team to research products for each and every market from a single location.

“Latin America is an important region for Clariant as a whole and especially when it comes to the personal care industry. We are very proud to further extend our global R&D network to this region. The direct exposure to the market and customer needs will generate new insights and fuel our innovation strength,” said Britta Fuenfstueck, member of the Clariant Executive Committee.

Added Christian Vang, Global Head of Business Unit Industrial and Consumer Specialties, “This center positions us closer to leading users, producers and experts of hair care products and allows us to understand how needs vary across hair of different properties. The state-of-the-art laboratory then enables us to translate these learnings into innovative functional solutions for hair care products for consumers locally and globally.”