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Raw materials
An important problem that may face a new cosmetics producer, is the amount and availability of some raw materials. A new company that starts with a small capital and small initial production, can’t buy large quantities of raw materials. Most large companies that produce the most important materials, only sell in bulk.. A new small company can not obtain 200 kg of each component, especially when they have a short duration for use - and the reason is not only economic. It is a pity for materials to discarded. For example, I can’t find so far from somewhere the surfactant iselux lq clr sb (Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate) from Innospec at quantities of 20-50 kg, but only 200 kg. Likewise, the ingredient Plantasil micro from Basf. If anyone knows a reseller in Europe or America that can allocate such amounts, i will be grateful.
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8 Replies
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A new, small-scale producer will always have these problems. Unfortunately, there are not good answers.
The hobbyist or scientific reagent distributors (Makingcosmetics, Lotioncrafters, etc.) charge huge mark-ups, but the MOQ from manufacturers and industrial distributors is usually too large.Unless you can partner with one or more other small manufacturers in a buying co-op, you can only choose the least expensive option from above for each ingredient. Sometimes, you can sell your excess material to a surplus chemical dealer. Frequently, though, purchasing raw materials like this will mean sacrificing some or all of your profit margin - one of the perils of running a start-up business, I’m afraid. -
Yellow pages! Look for chemical factors. There about 15 surfactant suppliers in my city … some of them sell “knock offs” of commercial domestic products. I was in one a few weeks ago, picked up a container of some pink stuff. “Hey this smells like Downy!” - “Oh yes, well it is actually. Our version.” And so on.
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Talk to your distributor and see if another local company is buying the product that you want in bulk and would be willing to repackage a small amount for you. You will often pay a bit more for this but it would be cheaper than a reseller. We have been on both sides of this before and it works well.
For one product we only wanted a small amount (~15kg) for a one off project and couldn’t get it in less than a 200kg drum. So we convinced the distributor to order us in 30 x 500gram samples and paid for the samples. It was a bit of hassle but meant that we weren’t left with 185kg of product that we didn’t want.
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Also, look at small to medium sized personal care/consumer product companies in your area. If you are not a direct competitor, many of them may sell small quantities to you. The company I work for, for example, will sell clear soap base and sometimes soap making chemicals to smaller companies and individuals.
Supplier and distributors may be able to help you contact companies who would be willing to do this. -
You can also contact Private Label Manufacturers in your local area and see if they use the particular ingredient you are looking for as a “stock” item, so to speak. Since they are often ordering large quantities, they sometimes are willing to sell you product … it’ll be marked up, but you can purchase smaller lot quantities.
As mentioned earlier, Distributors are sometimes amenable to repackaging for you. -
Remember, developing a relationship with a factor is important. For instance, I and one other customer in this whole city buy Glucamate VLT. The factor has to buy it in 200Kg minimum. I usually buy 5Kg or maybe 10Kg at most (it is fairly expensive). The factor is taking quite a risk stocking that quantity for just two clients.
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Thank you all for your comments and clever ideas. In my small European country it’s a little difficult to proceed some of these…
I know the products that i’m searching of are not so ordinary as for example CAPB or SLES etc. But i don’t want to use alternatives.
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