BASF reformulates Laricyl cosmetic ingredient with sustainable fermentation

BASF Personal Care launched an upgraded Laricyl ingredient produced via solid-state fermentation, achieving 99.7% natural origin and ISO 16128 compliance. The shift toward traceable, sustainably sourced botanical inputs illustrates supply-chain expectations Indian cosmetics and ingredient suppliers may increasingly need to meet.

BASF Personal Care launched an upgraded version of its pore-tightening ingredient Laricyl, combining improved efficacy with sustainable cultivation. The Fomes officinalis mushroom from which Laricyl is derived is now produced through organic-certified solid-state fermentation in controlled conditions in Europe, replacing wild harvesting. The new version achieves 99.7% natural origin and complies with ISO 16128 standards. Laricyl has been part of BASF's cosmetic active ingredient portfolio for more than 20 years, and the reformulation enhances its pore-tightening, skin-mattifying and moisturising effects while reducing reliance on wild-sourced raw material.

The development affects BASF's botanical supply chains under its Responsibly Active program, which targets full traceability and sustainable sourcing for 100% of botanical supply chains by 2030, with 50% organic certification. Cosmetics manufacturers, ingredient buyers and the broader personal-care value chain are drawn into expectations for traceable, sustainably cultivated inputs. BASF's Care Chemicals Division, serving personal care, home care and industrial cleaning, frames sustainability, digitalisation and innovation as drivers of its Care 360 initiative, signalling supplier-wide movement toward verified sustainable sourcing.

Cosmetics and ingredient suppliers should monitor BASF's 2030 targets for full botanical traceability and 50% organic certification, and prepare to demonstrate sustainable cultivation, natural-origin content and standards compliance such as ISO 16128. Indian cosmetics manufacturers and botanical-ingredient suppliers should watch how fermentation-based, traceable production replaces wild harvesting, anticipating customer and regulatory demand for verified sustainable sourcing, and assess opportunities to supply organic-certified, traceable inputs as global personal-care brands tighten supply-chain sustainability requirements.

Key figure — Natural origin content: 99.7% under ISO 16128