cosmetics
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Vantage expands jojoba oil biz
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I used to cover the very small jojoba oil market when I was writing for Chemical Market Reporter magazine. I got some flashbacks when I saw this news from Vantage Specialty Ingredients that it has recently acquired a majority share in Agrinsa, one of the largest jojoba farms located in Argentina. The Agrinsa farm is…
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Solazyme partners with BASF in algae-derived surfactant
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Solazyme has been churning a lot of news in the past month but let’s start with this intriguing partnership with BASF. The companies have launched a microalgae oil-based betaine surfactant for use in home and personal care applications. I am not that familiar with betaines (a kind of amphoteric surfactant) but I’m assuming these are…
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Solazyme still faces production challenges at Moema
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I wonder how long the petrochemical industry had perfected its processing technologies before it was able to reach an economical, efficient level? Unfortunately, investors today are not too forgiving when new, untested technologies from public companies are facing commercialization challenges. Solazyme is now going through this stage and their stocks had plunged from $11.79 a…