A ‘valuable’ naturals strategy: Clariant acquires remaining 70% of Beraca

Clariant, which has held a 30% stake in the company since 2015​, paid an undisclosed amount to the founding Sabará family as part of its strategy to strengthen individual core business areas.

The deal, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close by the end of this year.

‘Outstanding expertise in natural and organic’​

With around 90 employees, Beraca has invested steadily in research and development over the years, generating sales of $15 million in 2020.

Through this targeted acquisition, Clariant says that it will build on Beraca’s “outstanding expertise in natural and organic certified ingredients​”.

The company told CosmeticsDesign-USA the deal marks an “important step in strengthening the sustainable development of the company”​ that will enable it to answer future questions and solve problems.

Clariant said it will continue to contribute to Brazilian social and economic development of local communities.  Good practices are already supported by Beraca’s organic, fair trade and social responsibility certifications to meet Brazilian, American and European​ market standards.

‘Valuable access to natural materials’​

Since its founding over 30 years ago, Beraca has made a name for itself in the personal care sector as a manufacturer of natural actives including butters, oils and botanicals sourced from the Amazon and other regions in Brazil.

At the core of the business is the company’s Sociobiodiversity Enhancement Program, launched in 2000. Focused on sustainable extraction, full traceability and positive social and environmental impact, it has continued to deliver on its sustainability pledges​ – goals that resonate with Clariant.

“With its focus on sustainable products and processes, Beraca fits perfectly into Clariant's portfolio,” ​said Conrad Keijzer, CEO of Clariant.

“We gain valuable access to natural materials based on the biodiversity of the Brazilian rainforest. This opens up great opportunities for high-quality growth for our care chemicals business.”​

Christian Vang, head of the industrial & consumer specialties at Clariant, agreed: “The excellent and highly creative team has written an extraordinary success story over the past five years, which we now want to continue and further develop under the Clariant umbrella.”​

Meeting the demand of ethical consumerism​

In addition to valuing broader access to high-performance ingredients, Clariant said there is a growing swathe of consumers who value the ethical and sustainable sourcing of cosmetics ingredients. 

This was perhaps no more apparent in the region than in the wake of the 2019 Amazon fires that drew global attention to the need for good practices in extracting raw materials from the Brazilian biome.

Speaking to CosmeticDesign-USA, Fabio Caravieri, head of marketing for personal care at Clariant, said: “As a general trend, we see an increased demand for more transparency/traceability in the value chain, a search for mass balance/segregated options in order to increase renewable carbon index of ingredients and ethical sourcing commitments in the value chain.”​

Editor's note:  Correspondent Asia Sherman contributed to this report.​