January 29, 2020

American Cleaning Institute Annual Conference
Henkel rewards suppliers for outstanding contributions

Orlando, Florida – For the 13th time running, Henkel recognized its top suppliers for their best-in-class performance in 2019 at the 2020 American Cleaning Institute (ACI) Annual Meeting and Industry Convention, held from January 27th to February 2nd in Orlando, Florida. The partners were awarded prizes in five different categories. 

The winner of the “Sustainability Award” from Henkel Beauty Care was Evonik. Solvay received both the “Sustainability Award” from Laundry & Home Care and the Beauty Care award as “Best Innovation Contributor”. In Laundry & Home Care, the top prize for “Best Innovation Contributor” was given to Nippon Gohsei. The winner of the “Best Supply Performance” in Finance/Purchasing was IFF.

Opening the award ceremony with a review of the year 2019 and an update of Henkel’s strategy, Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller-Kirschbaum, Corporate Senior Vice President R&D Laundry & Home Care, welcomed 200 representatives of more than 30 major suppliers.

Evonik and Solvay honored as winner of the “Sustainability Award 2019”
Evonik won the award for sustainability of Henkel’s business unit Beauty Care. They received the prize in recognition of a novel conditioner with excellent sustainability profile including ready biodegradability, lower ecotoxicity, cold-processability, and a renewable, none palm-based feedstock. “Henkel Beauty Care is focusing innovation initiatives on more eco-friendly products,” said Dr. Thomas Förster, Corporate Vice President R&D Beauty Care. “We bring more and more certified, vegan and bio-based products to the market.”
Müller-Kirschbaum awarded Solvay for a new preservative-free additive that helps to improve rinsing and shine in toilet care applications: “This material is providing a perceived consumer benefit and keeps the toilet bowl cleaner for longer”, he said. “This helps saving water and reduces the carbon footprint in use for the consumer.” 

The second prize in Beauty Care’s sustainability category went to Agrana for a sustainable styling polymer. Inolex received an award for its silicone alternative which is used in its range of Schwarzkopf dry shampoo foams. 
Two suppliers won the second prize in Laundry & Home Care for raw materials free from the preservative MIT: BASF for a new dye transfer inhibitor for laundry care, and Milliken for two new dyes used in toilet care products.

Special “Sustainability Future Award” to Prof. Regina Palkovits of RWTH Aachen

Prof. Regina Palkovits, Chair of Heterogeneous Catalysis and Chemical Technology at RWTH Aachen University, was enthusiastic about the sustainable future surfactant technology that was developed within the HICAST collaboration with Laundry & Home Care: “Our partnership with Henkel is a great example of what can be achieved by joining forces, and we are eager to see this technology entering into real market products soon,” she commented.

Solvay is the “Best Innovation Contributor Beauty Care 2019”
During the award ceremony, Dr. Thomas Förster explained the advantages of the the Polycare Split Therapy developed by Solvay. Henkel Beauty Care uses this innovative technology category overarching for never-seen-before color and hair care products. The winners of the second prize were Dow for a styling additive used in Schwarzkopf Osis volumising styling powder, and Seppic, for Aquaxyl that provides moisturizing properties from hair coloration.

Nippon Gohsei is the “Best Innovation Contributor Laundry & Home Care 2019”
“Our biggest global innovation in 2019 was the launch of Persil Discs 4-in-1 which keeps us ahead in the field of mono-dose technology. With Nippon Gohsei we achieved a major step in further developing the best soluble film technology,” said Mattia De Dominicis, Corporate Vice President Formulation in R&D Laundry & Home Care. Dow Chemical was honored as runner-up for the development of a new high-performance rinse surfactant enabling significantly better shine in automatic dishwashing liquids. Ashland also received a second prize for its captivates technology that provides visible benefits in Henkel’s Power & Pearls hand dishwashing detergents.

IFF wins the “Best Supply Performance 2019” award
Key elements for outstanding supply performance include excellent operational management and best-in-class service combined with continued progress in risk management and sustainability. “IFF excelled in 2019 with top performance in operational supply as well great support in risk management of aroma chemicals,” said Robert Bossuyt, Corporate Vice President Global Purchasing Laundry & Home Care. The runners-up were Novozymes, for its help with regional supply bottlenecks, and Takasago, in recognition of its efforts in securing supply of critical aroma chemicals. All three award winners committed already to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) which Henkel is driving with its supplier base.

Bertrand Conquéret, President Global Supply Chain and Corporate Vice President Purchasing at Henkel, thanked all suppliers for their continued strong support. He encouraged the partners to continue to mitigate risk and volatility, to further drive sustainability and digitalization, and to innovate together in the interest of creating superior products for Henkel’s consumers.

About Henkel
Henkel operates globally with a well-balanced and diversified portfolio. The company holds leading positions with its three business units in both industrial and consumer businesses thanks to strong brands, innovations and technologies. Henkel Adhesive Technologies is the global leader in the adhesives market – across all industry segments worldwide. In its Laundry & Home Care and Beauty Care businesses, Henkel holds leading positions in many markets and categories around the world. Founded in 1876, Henkel looks back on more than 140 years of success. In 2018, Henkel reported sales of around 20 billion euros and adjusted operating profit of around 3.5 billion euros. Henkel employs around 53,000 people globally – a passionate and highly diverse team, united by a strong company culture, a common purpose to create sustainable value, and shared values. As a recognized leader in sustainability, Henkel holds top positions in many international indices and rankings. Henkel’s preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX. For more information, please visit www.henkel.com 

Photo material is available at www.henkel.com/press 

Contact	Jennifer Ott	Hanna Philipps
Phone	+49 221 797-2756	+49 221 797-3626
Email	       jennifer.ott@henkel.com 	                 hanna.philipps@henkel.com                                 

	
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA