The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has announced the official opening of its new BioTech Hub nearby its manufacturing and distribution campus in Oevel, Belgium.

The new hub, located in Olen, will focus exclusively on manufacturing cutting-edge bio-based raw materials. By identifying and creating proprietary, bio-based alternatives to traditional ingredients, the company aims to further advance sustainability across its product development and manufacturing processes.

“Our prestige beauty products depend on the highest quality raw materials. By producing our own biotechnology-based materials at one of our main manufacturing campuses, we are able to manufacture at-scale in a more responsible way,” said Roberto Canevari, executive vice president, global supply chain, ELC. “This is a great example of how our end-to-end Value Chain is partnering to advance innovation and sustainability across the enterprise.”

Biotechnology uses living organisms, such as plants, yeast or bacteria, to produce raw materials while preserving biodiversity and natural resources. At the BioTech Hub, ELC’s engineers and scientists will manufacture active biomolecules from plant, yeast and bacteria sources that will be used as raw materials for thousands of skin care products across ELC’s portfolio of brands. The local team will partner closely with Advanced Technologies Pioneering scientists based at the company’s Melville, New York Research & Development labs to complement existing efforts underway related to fermentation and bio-based materials and collaboratively innovate for the future. They will also work closely with ELC’s manufacturing teams in Belgium to pilot and manufacture the production of these raw materials at scale.

Scaling Biotechnology Efforts

The new, best-in-class space, which includes highly specialized technology and equipment, will build upon ELC’s leadership in fermentation and creating biomolecules for its products. Products from across ELC’s portfolio of brands, including Estée Lauder and La Mer, among others, already leverage a number of bio-based materials, officials said. This site will provide further business continuity—particularly to support the manufacturing of select hero products—and enable the company to further scale its biotechnology efforts.

“At ELC, our team of exceptional scientists leverage breakthrough innovation and cutting-edge technology, combined with a passion for sustainability, to drive the development of the efficacious and high-quality ingredients that go into the luxury products our consumers know and love,” said Carl Haney, executive vice president, research, product and innovation officer, ELC. “This new value chain site will serve as a critical space for our scientists to continue embedding sustainability at the start of the product development process and build upon our strengths in fermentation and proprietary ingredients.”

The space will significantly increase ELC’s capacity for the in-house production of bio-based raw materials and further optimize the company’s production processes across EMEA and other parts of the world, officials said. It has been undergoing production testing over the past several months and will move into commercial production beginning in 2025.

Belgium, a Biotech Leader in Europe

ELC has been manufacturing products at its facilities in Belgium since 1965, when it opened its first international manufacturing facility in Oevel. Over the years, the company has expanded its presence on this campus, including the recent opening of a new distribution center, strengthening our fill and assembly operations, and a new pre-ops warehouse. Belgium is recognized as a biotech leader in Europe, and the opening of ELC’s BioTech Hub underscores ELC’s commitment to innovation in the region.

“Our BioTech Hub will support our efforts to provide more responsible and cutting-edge beauty solutions to consumers,” said Jamal Chamariq, senior vice president, EMEA UK&I and travel retail, global supply chain, ELC. “The location of the new center in Belgium also will enable us to partner more closely with leaders in biotechnology, further enhancing our innovation ecosystem in Europe and beyond.”

The site will be led by Caroline Paulussen, PhD, who has extensive microbiology and engineering experience. Paulussen’s appointment reinforces ELC’s commitment to advancing women in STEM within its own operations and local communities. More than half of ELC’s scientists, engineer, and technical professionals are women, and all of the company’s R&D and innovation laboratories worldwide are women-led.