Solvay are one of the largest producers of guar derivatives on the planet. We take a look at their Sustainable Guar Initiative and the positive impact it’s having on guar farmers as well as the longer term supply chain.
What Is Guar?
Guar is a plant that mainly grows in dry and arid environments in India, Pakistan and the Southwestern United States.
The inner part of the plant is extracted to provide galactomannan, a large polymeric molecule that forms the basis for Solvay’s Jaguar® range of cationic, hydroxypropyl-modified guars. These natural guar polymers provide hair and body care formulators with a huge range of conditioning and texturizing features.
The rest of the seed is then used as a high protein cattle feed, so there’s minimum waste throughout the process.
What Is The Sustainable Guar Initiative?
Launched in 2015, Solvay’s Sustainable Guar Initiative is a pioneering programme within the Bikaner district of Rajasthan, India that aims to improve the livelihood of guar farmers, protect local resources, and create a more sustainable supply chain in the long term.
The programme has been deployed in over 20 villages so far, enrolling more than 4,000 farmers. These farmers are given the tools and knowledge they need to cultivate the guar crop more effectively.
Solvay’s efforts also focus on societal inputs, helping women establish kitchen gardens that provide various vegetables for their families and create a potential secondary income source. This in turn gives time for women and children to receive an education.
“The end game of this project is a sustainable sourcing, a traceable supply chain, which at the end brings very strong benefit to the communities and the society.”
Emmanuel Butstraen – President of Solvay Novecare
How Can Formulators Use Guar?
Solvay’s ethical guar sourcing goes towards the Jaguar® series of natural guar polymers.
The cationic guars by nature are strongly attracted to anionic charged surfaces. These include damaged keratinic surfaces such as human hair or both the scalp and skin when it has been stripped bare of its natural lipid layer.
Other cationic guars work by offering formulators superior active deposition to both the hair and skin. This is a massively beneficial effect for formulations such as anti-dandruff shampoos where the active needs to be depositied for the maximum effect. One particular Jaguar® derivative offers formulators the option to create hair repair shampoo by decreasing the appearances in split ends.
Take a look at the Jaguar® wheel below to see a full range of applications to suit different hair and skin types.
Note that the Jaguar® series can create both transparent and opaque formulations, either silicone-free or silicone-based – ideal for formulators who are looking for highly customisable, conditioning and texturising ingredients for hair and body care.
So when you’re formulating with sustainability in mind, ask us about the Jaguar® range.
