Croda opens innovation center in North America: Croda's new headquarters in Edison, NJ brings together all corporate functions to provide solutions to the customer's needs.

IT'S ALL COMING TOGETHER for Croda. The company recently moved its North American headquarters and innovation center to a new 36,000 square-foot facility at Raritan Center in Edison, NJ. Customers and members of the press attended an open house on June 18 to get a closer look at the new innovation center.

"With this facility we have been able to combine in one facility many of the functions vital to innovation," explained Kevin Gallagher, president of Croda, Inc. "For the first time, we've been able to combine management, sales, marketing, finance and R&D all under one roof. This allows us to take an integrated, cross-functional team approach to understand our customer's needs and supply the innovation to meet these needs."

The innovation center includes a fully functional hair salon, individual skin biology and claims support testing labs, as well as separate synthesis, application testing and claims support testing laboratories.

With all of these operations under one roof, Croda can provide solutions to a customer's problems faster than ever before. Of course, the company's been finding answers through chemistry for decades.

The Right Products & Solutions

The parent company, Croda International Plc, formed a U.S. subsidiary in 1950 and over the years, the U.S. operations has developed a wide range of ingredients and technology for the personal care market.

According to Mr. Gallagher, Croda was the first to explore the application of phosphate esters to hair care, both as powerful emulsifying agents and conditioning agents able to withstand pH extremes. Croda also pioneered the development of self-emulsifying systems, introducing nonionic self-emulsifiers such as Polawax and launching extra mild cationic conditioners and emulsifiers such as Incroquat Behenyl TMS and, most recently, phosphate-based systems such as Crodafos CES.

In the past few years, Croda has rolled out patented technologies for thickening surfactant systems (Crothix), irritation-reducing emollients with novel properties (Cromollients), quaternary conditioning agents employing the lipid found on the surface of healthy hair (Incroquat Behenyl 18-MEA) and others.

Despite these and may other advances, Mr. Gallagher insisted the best is yet to come from Croda.

"We're committed to helping the industries we serve grow and to provide a bridge between innovation and the developers of truly novel and functions products that can excite their customers."