In Germany, BASF’s Care Creations launched three new active ingredients derived from its Rambutan Program, a socially and environmentally responsible supply chain for sustainable bioactives production. Working in close cooperation with partners in Vietnam, BASF sources the ingredients, which are extracted from the rambutan tree (Nephelium lappaceum), from the first organically certified rambutan gardens in Vietnam.
With its program, BASF creates a positive impact on Vietnamese rural society by upcycling different parts of the tree, other than the fruit, and at the same time offering incomes above the average, ensuring gender equity while guaranteeing safer working conditions and providing health insurance. It also helps manufacturers of hair and skin care products to respond to the growing trend of responsible beauty.
An interdisciplinary innovation platform at BASF focuses exclusively on the extraction of valuable substances from plant material. “Plants are at the heart of our value proposition, and our commitment to further improve our sourcing network is driving our innovation to develop new products from sustainably sourced plants,” explained Lucilene Veira Nunes, Head of Business Management Beauty Care Solutions Europe. “For the Rambutan Program, we were able to capitalize on the experience we gained in our Argan Program in Southern Morocco, which was started in 2005.”