Bio-sourced solutions to further enhance our growth
Headquartered in Belgium and with offices in the United Kingdom, Portugal and the United States, Devan Chemicals is a worldwide developer of speciality chemicals for textiles. In an interview with Paulami Chatterjee, chief executive officer (CEO) Sven Ghyselinck discusses how the sourcing of textile chemicals has been affected amidst the pandemic and Devan’s new product launches in 2020 despite of that.
Which are some of the major companies in bedding, clothing, travel accessories, transport, etc. which have adopted your BI-OME fabric coating technology?
You will find our logo on several of the shelves of various UK and French retailers, both in home textiles and in the clothing range. Of course there are many more, but I prefer not to disclose some and not mention others as this would be disrespectful to the ones we are not mentioning.
You had plans to launch many new products in the first half of 2020. Did they happen as planned or were there delays and cancellations due to the pandemic?
We did launch in 2020 first half several products in three business units. In performance, we launched BI-OME NTL (NTL stands for natural), which is a bio-sourced anti-microbial based on linseed. Market traction is gaining quickly for this novelty in various textile segments and geographies.
In health and wellness, we launched several new products: R-Vital Avocado, R-Vital Super Moisture Boost and R-Vital Multivitamin. Coincidentally, they all fitted quite well into the pandemic environment as consumers are seeking additional ways to grow their immunity and seek extra hydration given that we are spending much more time indoors.
In thermoregulation, we added a bio-sourced version of our Thermic and Tones of Cool range. The solution is certified by the Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
What are the effects of the pandemic in general on the textile chemicals industry? Has sourcing been affected?
The effects have been manifold for everybody in the supply chain. Supply of raw materials was sometimes disturbed because of location restrictions, but mainly due to transport issues that all importers and exporters are experiencing lately. Our clients were sometimes affected due to local retail restrictions and sudden spikes in online shopping behaviour. So far, the pandemic has not ensured a dull moment!
A lot of companies, including yours, have developed bio-based odour control technologies, DWRs, etc. How resilient are the textiles infused with such ingredients? How many washes do these coatings/treatments last?
I cannot comment on other products. It depends on the purpose of the various bio-based solutions. Our bio-based flame retardant for bedding will have low wash durability, because there is no real market requirement for wash durability.
Our BI-OME NTL, on the other hand, does meet the regular clothing wash durability standards without compromising on performance.
How has the demand been since the pandemic struck for anti-bacterial technologies?
Obviously, the demand has been significantly higher during the pandemic. I think all suppliers have benefitted from the strong demand. The fact that we were very soon in the process to demonstrate excellent virus reduction performance (even after multiple washes) helped as well. As we are registered in the European Union, Turkey and the United States, we could offer regulatory-approved products in the various geographies, not only for textile but also for non-textile applications.
You have been using active ingredients like Q10, Thyme oil, aloe vera, etc. in fabric treatment since 2018 and now added the multivitamin blend. How much do you think this is going to benefit people with the current COVID crisis? Do you have any data that suggests that people are getting benefitted with specially treated fabrics?
When we launch products in our health and wellness range, we prepare a set of testing reports, most via third-party labs. These reports allow brands and retailers to build their marketing and packaging claims. So, as a general comment, our reputation is like when we launch products in our health and wellness range, we do our homework.
An example is R-Vital Q10, which is a collaboration with the Japanese pharmaceutical producer Kaneka. We could combine their testing data with our textile-oriented testing data, making it a much more complete package. Similar things have happened when we launched R-Vital Hemp CBD as well; our customers could get to know about an extensive research document with external test data. We notice that we are quite ‘peculiar’ in this respect as many other suppliers just provide the raw ingredient and let the customer do all the testing work.
Are all of your textile chemicals recyclable or sustainable?
Unfortunately, these are not yet due to technology or cost reasons. But since the 1990s, Devan has been at the forefront of sustainable textile chemicals. In several areas we have pioneered with green technologies from health and wellness over performance enhancing solutions via anti-microbials to our flame retardants.
How do you differentiate your products against competition?
We focus a lot on substantiated testing and offer an extensive local service support. Our long history shows the textile world appreciates this approach.
Which of your textile chemical products have the largest market share? In which segment do you see growth happening the most in future?
We have a good spread amongst our different businesses, of course with some annual changes. We believe bio-sourced solutions will further enhance our growth in the years to come.
Published on: 10/02/2021
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
