LOBIAL's Positioning
The development of Industrial Detergent products based on Renewable Resources is in full expansion, spurred on in part by the increase in the cost of crude oil per barrel (more than $50), and, on the other hand, supported by the R&D efforts effected by researchers from different countries. This expansion is also stimulated by social concern vis-à-vis the environment, motivated, at the same time, by the survival needs of the agricultural world and, by a wider margin of the population : consumers, wanting to use products which combat the effects of greenhouse gases.
For 4 or 5 years, now, international groups have been proposing plant based detergents, and research organizations are developing, for small- and medium-sized business, products with an agricultural base, and with surface active properties. These basic ingredients are being studied as much in regard to their effectiveness as in terms of Economics and the Environment (analysis of life cycles, biodegradability, profitability, societal impact).
Particular attention is being brought to bear on the possibility of developing localized Agro-Industrial production and distribution processes (environmental quality, maintenance of local agro-industrial networks) permitting, when possible, the severance of dependence on being an offshoot of exotic and far-flung agricultural production systems.
In this context, the LOBIAL company is developing a range of industrial and household products that belong to the agro-cleaner category, and are based on active detergents and ingredients of plant origin.
Although green household cleaners have been, up to now, more of a marketing device than anything, the sensitivity of the consumer to the need for protecting the environment is becoming an increasing factor spurring on the appearance of a market niche that is growing at full-steam.
Many experts agree on the fact that cleaners with a surface-active agro-base are going to develop their market through mass distribution channels, in the image of the market development of over-the-counter drugs, though this provided they are given more variable product features (scent, disinfection, etc), respecting all the while the criteria of health and benignity (AGRICE Study, March 22, 2004).
LOBIAL is already developing the approach of mass-retail and industrial distribution Corporate Accounts, as well as that of Cleaning Companies. Its range of agro-cleaners is well in line with the spirit of conservation of fossil fuel resources, of reduction of greenhouse gases, and of the search for maximum biodegradability with a view to preserving the environment. And also, better "management” of waste and refuse.
Moreover, among the choices of renewable resources substitutable for fossil fuels and, out of concern to support regional economic development, the majority of constitutive elements from within the product range are chosen first and foremost from out of Regional Agricultural Resources.
The objective of LOBIAL's development efforts involves the creation of a chain of economic and scientific agents that ensures a logical continuum between management of agricultural resources from conception to realization of products sought by individuals, service providers (Cleaning Companies) or distribution companies, agricultural associations, corporate clients, and communities.
Due to the specificity of their design and application, the LOBIAL ranges present therefore commercial potentials which, in order to develop themselves, are based on the acquisition of specific know-how, applying scientific, multi-disciplinary and technological resources, and taking into account the legislative and economic context.
As a consequence, the creation of a Scientific Committee charged with responsibility for the coherence of LOBIAL's R&D policy had proven necessary and was formalized on October 14, 2005.
The constitutive members of LOBIAL's Scientific Committee are :
President : Gérard VILAREM (Docteur en Agrochimie) CRITT-Agro Ressources
Vice-president : Zéphirin MOULOUNGUI (Docteur en Arts Chimiques et Technologiques) INRA
Secretarye : Pierre GOFFINET (Docteur en Chimie Physique) IRFAQ
Coordination LOBIAL : Jean-Loïc RAY (Ingénieur en Sciences des Aliments)
