Combining surfactant science and formulation expertise to accelerate next-generation product performance and consumer experiences.
Today, Unilever and Galaxy Surfactants announced the signing of a Partnership Growth Charter. The Charter marks a milestone in a 45-year partnership and begins a new phase of co-invested and technology-led collaboration to deliver innovation, resilience, competitiveness and growth.
By combining Galaxy’s surfactant science and value-engineering capabilities with Unilever’s formulation and innovation expertise, as well as consumer understanding, the Charter is designed to accelerate the development of next-generation surfactant technologies and new chemistries, enabling scientific advances to be translated faster into superior products and consumer experiences.
The partnership between Unilever and Galaxy Surfactants is defined by mutual trust, technical expertise and shared success. Examples of co-created innovation and growth include:
- Galaxy’s surfactant science has been critical in the performance-enhancing reformulations of Dove’s body wash. Together, we have evolved skin cleansing technology to be able to offer consumers superior cleansing and exceptional mildness for sensitive skin.
- While reformulating Lifebuoy soap bars, Galaxy’s high-foaming surfactants helped balance sustainability goals with consumer expectations on cleansing and lather.
- Galaxy’s powder surfactant capabilities helped enable innovative powder-to-liquid handwash formats, reducing transportation and packaging footprint while offering a convenient at-home dilution experience for consumers.
- Most recently, in North America, Unilever and Galaxy are joining forces for the first time to create shared capacity closer to consumers.
The Charter outlines these priorities:
- Innovation and product superiority: accelerating new chemistries that can deliver differentiated product performance and superior consumer experience.
- Future supply resilience and growth capacity: exploring bio-based alternatives and lower-carbon technologies, investing in strategic capacity and long-term planning to strengthen resilience and support future growth.
- Competitiveness through value-chain innovation: sustaining market-competitive costs through closer collaboration and value-chain innovation.
Commenting on the partnership, Mr. K. Natarajan, Managing Director, Galaxy Surfactants Ltd., said: “Our relationship with Unilever has been built over more than 45 years on a foundation of trust, shared values and a common pursuit of excellence. As markets, technologies and consumer expectations continue to evolve, enduring partnerships become even more important in driving meaningful progress. At Galaxy, our philosophy of ‘Chemistry Creates Care’ has always guided our approach to innovation and collaboration. This Charter reinforces our commitment to combining scientific expertise to create long-term value for the home and personal care industries.”
Shailendra Sadera, Chief Procurement Officer, Unilever, said: “The signing of the Partnership Growth Charter with Galaxy marks a joint commitment to unlocking innovation to grow our Home Care, Personal Care and Beauty & Wellbeing Business Groups. It demonstrates how we partner to win by building strategic, long-term relationships that unlock collaborative innovation, transformation and value for both Unilever and our partners. Together with Galaxy, our ambition is to set the benchmark for how partnerships can accelerate innovation, strengthen resilience and create capacity for sustainable growth.”
Surfactants are important ingredients that enable detergents, household cleaning products, shampoos and body washes to clean, foam, spread and perform effectively. Together, Galaxy and Unilever will develop the next generation of technologies that improve product performance, support sustainability ambitions and deliver superior consumer experiences. This is in line with Unilever’s Desire at Scale growth model that combines cutting-edge science with premium sensorial experiences to create products that consumers choose, trust and recommend.
