Celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Catching up with Croda Foundation
Festive times
Recent achievements
Employee shout-outs
Our people
Editor’s letter
Can you believe it, it’s our centenary year and it’s safe to say that it’s been a pretty busy, but exciting, couple of months. 2025 has already seen our evolved brand go live, the start of our centenary celebrations and our annual results. As always, I have been blown away by the amount of news I have received over the past few months so thank you. In this edition, we take a deep dive into Consumer Care’s strategy and how our people have been delivering it, showcase a few of our investments in the USA and Asia and have a round-up of centenary activities so far. This will be a regular feature in all editions over the course of the year, so please keep sending in your photos and memories. This edition is packed with amazing stories of our people, and it was such a joy to compile. I really hope it makes you feel proud to be a part of team Croda as you flick through and see all of the successes, initiatives and contributions – our can-do spirit is certainly shining bright!
Hattie
Annual Results 2024
2024 was another transitional year for Croda following two exceptionally strong years in 2021 and ’22. Let’s catch up with our Group Chief Executive, Steve Foots, to talk through this year’s results and his priorities for 2025!
How would you summarise the 2024 annual results?
Overall, Group sales were up 2%*. This was weaker than we hoped, but by taking action to drive efficiencies we were able to deliver a profit performance which was in line with our budget and the expectations of the market, reflecting the significant effort and dedication that I have seen from our people across Croda.
Can you talk about the bright spots in our results?
Consumer Care sales were up 7% at constant currency to £920 million. Sales to local and regional customers increased 11% as they continue to grow well. We’re well positioned to benefit from their continued success with our expanded local footprint and strong innovation and R&D capabilities.Flavours & Fragrances (F&F) was the standout performer, growing by 18% at constant currency.
In Life Sciences, we’ve seen increasingly stable crop commodity prices that supported improved demand in the second half of the year. While in Pharma, although consumer health and veterinary markets remain challenging, biopharma markets saw some improvement, reflected in the performance of our excipients and lipids.
What can our people expect to see in 2025?
We expect both Consumer Care and Life Sciences to grow sales in 2025, with continued volume recovery. While we have seen progress in 2024, we are a long way off from where we want to be. There is lot to do in the year ahead and we are laser focused on restoring profitability, improving returns, and leveraging the great portfolio that sits at the heart of our business.
How will this be achieved?
It is clear that our markets are continuing to fragment, with local and regional customers continuing to grow. We will take further advantage of that by leveraging our direct selling model, global footprint of innovation centres and ability to cater for customers of all shapes and sizes, ultimately driving higher sales volumes. We also want to get even more from the recent investments we’ve made. That includes converting our Pharma pipeline and maximising the potential of ceramides and phospholipids added to our portfolio by acquisition in 2023. Finally, and very importantly, we will implement £25m of savings in 2025 as part of our Positioning for the future work. We must demonstrate revenue growth while protecting our cost base.
To hear more about F&F’s fantastic year, Croda Way caught up with Jose Balibrea, Vice President – Flavours & Fragrances.
“The F&F division has achieved once again excellent results in 2024, meeting and exceeding many of our goals. This accomplishment is a testament to the collective effort of every team member and serves as proof of the efficiency of our business model and the strength of our value proposition. Without a doubt, the consolidation of our internal expertise, enhanced by the addition of new talent, continues to play a pivotal role in our performance.
Our customers’ continued trust and support has also been key to our success, and we are committed to nurturing these relationships as we move forward. We have once again achieved double-digit growth, capturing market share from our competitors, by not only continuing to serve our loyal existing customers but also by acquiring many new ones. This balanced approach is crucial to our stability and expansion in an ever evolving and competitive market.
Based on this past year’s performance, with the improvements in quality and number of projects in our pipeline, I’m confident in our ability to meet the 2025 budget, in line with our recently confirmed 2030 business plan. We will continue to pursue our strategic goals with the same passion and focus that has driven us this last year. We have crystal clear ambition to increase our profitability within the next five years, contributing to the wider Consumer Care business.”
* At constant currency and excluding the prior year contribution from Covid-19 lipid sales
Investing for our exciting future
With local and regional customers continuing to grow, so does our need to cater for customers of all shapes and sizes! In this feature, we’ll be talking about some of our exciting investments which are coming to fruition.
We start with Lamar, our new state-of-the-art facility in Pennsylvania, USA, which opened its doors in January. Playing a key role in supporting advancements that improve global health outcomes, this facility will enhance our capabilities in producing critical components for drug delivery systems, including lipids used for delivery of nucleic acid-based therapeutics, mRNA vaccines, gene editing therapies, and novel cancer treatments.
Here’s what David Cherry, Interim President Life Sciences, said about this significant step in Croda Pharma’s business strategy!
“Opening this facility demonstrates our commitment to advancing health through innovation and collaboration.
“By expanding our lipid manufacturing capabilities, we are not only meeting the growing demands of the pharmaceutical industry, but we are also ensuring we are prepared to support future public health emergencies, all while remaining true to our Purpose of improving lives through smart science.”
Over in Asia, exciting developments are taking shape. In China, Guangzhou, a pioneering low carbon facility is in progress to elevate our Fragrances and Beauty Actives businesses. Set to treble our manufacturing capacity for fragrances in China and establish a Beauty Actives production capability there for the first time, this will ultimately become Iberchem’s second-largest fragrance site globally.
The facility will feature a fully operational office to host customers and an R&T innovation centre of excellence, offering fragrance palettes tailored to Chinese and broader Asian markets.
Jeffrey Wu, Managing Director – Croda China, said: “The strategic decision to build in the city of Guangzhou will enhance agility to reduce turnaround times while improving on service, delivery and quality. The site is also designed with sustainability at its core where no waste will go to landfill. It will also operate on green electricity once available. This investment underpins Consumer Care’s growth ambition in China and Asia.”
Did you know…
Since its groundbreaking ceremony in October 2023, the new Guangzhou site has achieved 328,724 safety hours with zero recordable incidents. The local government recognised Croda for this achievement with a Safety Excellence Award. We made the top three out of 230 other projects within the community.
Investing for our exciting future
We also have an update from India, where the construction of our new manufacturing site, Croda Dahej, is progressing rapidly! On track for commissioning by Q2-2025, this snazzy alkoxylation facility will help Croda India to increase its market share and reinforce its position as a reliable supplier to our customers.
It is also a testament to our commitment to innovation, sustainability and operational excellence. How? The plant will be powered entirely by 100% green electricity and green fuel, and it will implement a Zero Liquid Discharge system, ensuring no liquid waste is released into the environment. Croda Dahej is also aspiring to achieve a 30% women workforce, exceeding industry standards.
The scale of the Dahej project is impressive too. With 6,000 people working on the site at some point during the construction process, their recent achievement of four million safe man-hours is exemplary.
Murali Duvvuri, Managing Director, India – said: “The greenfield site at Dahej presents an exciting opportunity for Croda to meet customer needs in the fast-growing India market and beyond. The site is strategically located with strong sustainability, safety, and technology credentials, and we are very excited at the prospect of commissioning the site in mid-2025.”
What is alkoxylation technology?
We take ethylene oxide and/or propylene oxide and react it with an ester or alcohol (can be others as well) which then makes an ethoxylated/ alkoxylated product. These products make excellent emulsifiers and end up in a variety of personal care products, helping to control and adjust viscosity and lubricity. They are also used as excipients to enhance drug delivery systems by maintaining both the stability of the drug and the final formulation due to their reduced impurity profile. For Croda Agriculture, they are used as both adjuvants and emulsifiers to enhance performance and enable effective delivery of crop protection products.
Events kick-off in China
Centenary Celebrations
It’s our centenary year! To mark this once-in-a-lifetime celebration, each Croda Way edition throughout 2025 will include a special feature showcasing your team events and memories.
What better way to start than by sharing our new animated timeline that was launched in February to kick-off our centenary year. A lot has changed since our humble beginnings in 1925, but our innovative approach and can-do spirit has certainly remained, and this timeline is a prime example. Produced in-house by Chris Holman, Creative Designer, the animation brings our rich history, key milestones and significant achievements in smart science to life and utilises exclusive photography from our image archive.
Sandra Breene, President – Consumer Care, said: “I hope this animation makes you feel proud of the contribution you are all making today and grateful for the legacy our predecessors have provided us.
“As we move into our second century, we can look forward to continuing our success story and improving even more lives through smart science.”
With events planned throughout the year, it fell to our teams in China to kick start our centenary festivities. With Chinese Lunar New Year falling at the same time, our people had more than one reason to celebrate! The event in Shanghai recognised colleagues who have shown exceptional dedication and commitment to Croda over the years. At Iberchem’s celebration in Guangzhou, which coincided with their annual meeting, Iberchem’s Vice President Jose Balibrea and the General Manager of Guangzhou Iberchem, Tony Xu, delivered New Year speeches. As you can see from these photos, both events were filled with joy, unity, and a strong sense of community.
Sherman Chau, Asia Vice President said: “This celebration was not just about looking back at our achievements but also about looking forward to the future. In Asia, we have seen remarkable growth and progress over the past few decades. Our teams across the region have been instrumental in delivering solutions that meet the unique needs of our customers. We are excited to see what the next 100 years will bring and are confident that, with our collective efforts, Croda will continue to lead in innovation and achieve even greater success globally.”
It was also great to see our centenary being showcased to customers at China’s premier trade event for ingredient suppliers in the cosmetics, personal care, and homecare industries – PCHi. Croda Way particularly loved the centenary-branded coffee stencils!
How do you connect with Croda?
Over the past few months, the Corporate Communications team has been reaching out to colleagues who are second and third generation employees at Croda. In this edition, we’re delighted to hear from Eve Booth, Communications and Project LeadStrategy Execution Consumer Care, whose dad and late granny both worked for Croda.
Speaking to Croda Way Eve said: “I’ve never known a time in my life where Croda hasn’t been a large part of it. Growing up in West Cowick, the lawns of Cowick Hall were a great place to run and play as a child. Not only this but several members of my family have been employed by the company, so I’ve grown up with stories and conversations related to Croda and its community. The closest relation is my dad (Barry Booth) with a career spanning 37 years and my late granny (Barbara Howell/ Wordsworth) who started working with the company in the seventies, making me a third-generation employee.
“I’m approaching seven years with the company, starting at just 19 years old in the Customer Relationship Export team as a Coordinator. I’ve been presented with great opportunities and grown professionally allowing me to develop into different roles and experience several departments including Supply Allocation, Sales Development and now Strategy Execution. What I really love about Croda is the community and all the wonderful people I’ve met and built friendships with around the world, all working towards the same goal of delivering specialist, innovative and sustainable ingredients to improve lives.
“Our company mission is special to be a part of, but what’s even more special to me is knowing I’m following in my family’s footsteps and adding to their contributions.”
Memories
Thank you to former employee, Jane Evison, for sending in this photo, which is believed to have been taken some time after 1986. It was a global lanolin strategy event and employees from across the Croda world from Italy, South Africa, Singapore, France, Mexico, USA, Japan, Canada, Germany and India were in attendance.
Please continue to send in your memories to corporatecommunications@croda.com
SHE as a value
It’s been two years since work started on embedding SHE as a value across our organisation, but what does it mean for our people?
In 2024, as part of Group SHE’s supported site initiative, Atlas Point rolled out its C.A.R.E.S. initiative, or ‘Commitment to Achieving Results and Excellence in Safety’. It’s all about building a sustainable SHE culture by acting with integrity, driving excellence, caring for people, and leading with courage. Its people are the drivers of this change, so we wanted to hear their thoughts on how C.A.R.E.S. is leaving a positive impact.
“Holding SHE as a value means that the safety of our employees, of the environment, and of the communities that surround us is considered and prioritised in every step of what we do. We can show that SHE is a value by reporting safety hazards we come across rather than accepting them. As an organisation, we can show that SHE is a value by seeking out diverse perspectives on the hazards at our site, work to address them and communicate as we learn about them.”
Margaret Rescavage, SHE Engineer Advisor
“To me, Safety as a Value means taking personal accountability when it comes to safety along with personal commitment from everyone at Croda. Both union and salaried employees working together as a team to achieve our goals and empowering employees to do the right things.”
Ken Coale, Union Operator
“Instilling a sense of pride and ownership so that ‘doing the right thing even when noone is watching’ becomes the norm. We as managers also need to supply employees with the proper tools and engineer things the best we can to eliminate hazards and provide the best working conditions possible.”
Sam Crossman, ECO Manufacturing
“SHE as a value to me means that my employer cares about me as a person, not just as a worker. Safety: to go home in the same condition as I arrived, and I am not afraid to be here. Health: giving opportunities to me, such as health clinics, and if I miss a day, it’s ok. Environment: We care about the overall condition that we leave our planet in, and we try to improve.”
Suzy Yoder, Purchasing Administrator
SHE as a value
Human Performance Awards
It’s now time to celebrate some of our sites in Asia after the region held its inaugural Human Performance Awards.
Designed specifically for our business, our Human Performance programme focuses on maximising learning opportunities regarding safety, whenever our people interact, and at all levels within the organisation. It creates opportunities for meaningful conversations about how work is carried out, the real risks people face and empowers all employees to get involved and provide solutions to drive improvement.
Launched in May 2022 across Asia Pacific (APAC), the programme now encompasses all manufacturing and construction sites, as well as some non-manufacturing locations, such as, warehouses, labs and offices.
Dariya Nurtazayeva, APAC Regional SHE Manager, said: “In 2024, APAC had a strong performance, excellent level of engagement and progress in its Human Performance programme. Moreover, APAC has been able to complete the highest number of improvements. Therefore, we are celebrating and recognising these achievements through these awards.”
A huge congratulations to...
Site of the year for the best performance in 2024 in all quarters: Shiga
Team of the year for the best Human Performance team efforts in 2024: Dahej
Site recognition award: Croda Sipo and Croda Indonesia
Human Performance champion recognition award: Allen Li, Phyllis Hou, Koji Agata and Samir Patil.
Strategic successes for Consumer Care
Hands up if you know all about Consumer Care’s strategy! Well, fear not, as Croda Way caught up with the team to learn all about its mission and its four strategic shifts that are guiding the work across Croda Beauty, Home Care and Flavours and Fragrances. At the heart of Consumer Care’s strategy is its mission which is to ‘Innovate for a beautiful world, one experience at a time, creating a sustainable, inclusive world of beauty through innovative solutions’.
To understand this in greater detail, Croda Way caught up with Sandra Breene, President – Consumer Care:
“The meaning behind this was to bring all parts of Consumer Care together. As a whole we contribute to a beautiful world in so many ways – for example through our beauty business, making people look and feel their best, lifting spirits and promoting wellbeing.
“The one experience at a time relates to our interactions with our customers and ultimately the consumer, ensuring that the performance benefits our products deliver create truly unique experiences each time. Being sustainable and inclusive are important to us in ensuring that our business protects the earth’s natural resources as much as it provides benefits in the present, and that we help to bring that beauty to people of all cultures and backgrounds throughout the world.
“We do this by differentiating ourselves with our science and wider innovation, creating not just products but benefits, providing solutions to help expand the value of our customers’ brands and meet the needs of their consumers.”
The next most important aspect of its strategy that is a ‘must know’, is its four strategic shifts: Positioning, Innovation, Collaboration and Geographic. So, without further ado, let’s see how our Consumer Care teams have been executing its mission and see these strategic shifts in action!
1. Positioning
Through its Positioning strategic shift, the team has been focusing on building its brand and reputation as a thought leader. In 2024, they proudly launched two new websites. Adam Halls, Digital Activation Lead, shared the following:
“The Croda Beauty and Home Care website relaunches were a joint effort between the global team, regional teams and external agencies, all of whom worked hard over a year to produce new websites with significantly improved user experiences.
In particular, the Beauty website has a new brand identity that better matches its mission statement. Initial feedback has been very positive with customers and employees alike praising the look and feel, ease of use and striking new imagery.”
2. Innovation
This strategic shift focuses on how Consumer Care is accelerating the innovation of sustainable, highperformance products and data. There are many great examples of this, but we’re going to home in on the exciting launch of Natrineo™ CR8. Cilver Coleman, Technical Marketing Coordinator, told Croda Way: “Natrineo™ CR8 is a polyethylene glycols-free (PEG), phosphate ester emulsifier that uniquely enables the formation of water-inoil-in-water emulsions with just one ingredient, providing formulators with the flexibility to craft more innovative
This multifunctional and sustainable emulsifier not only meets the rising consumer demand for eco-friendly beauty solutions but also demonstrates Croda Beauty’s dedication to utilising local expertise and resources. The development of Natrineo™ CR8 began five years ago with the global Beauty Formulation team and was later transitioned to the North American regional team for its official launch. Currently under evaluation by leading brands such as L’Oréal and P&G, this achievement exemplifies Croda’s unwavering commitment to innovation and teamwork across regions. Through collaboration, the teams overcame complex regulatory hurdles beyond their control, showcasing resilience and strategic coordination to successfully bring this product to market.”
Strategic successes for Consumer Care
3. Geographic
Next up is the Geographic strategic shift, which is all about leveraging local infrastructure, ensuring that we are easy to work with and targeting growth in focus countries. A milestone in Croda’s 2025 calendar will be the commissioning of our new Alkoxylation site in India and you can read all about this exciting development on page 4.
4. Collaboration
The final strategic shift is Collaboration. This is all about how the team is using artificial intelligence and digital to excel at customer service and build stronger customer collaboration.
Naturally, we are always searching for ways to better service our customers. At Iberchem, the team has been working hard to meet the growing need for data on environmentally friendly products. Michael J White, Research and Technology Director, shared the following:
“As part of our sustainability commitment, the fragrance technology department has invested in a state-of-the-art biodegradability testing laboratory, IB-BI (Iberchem’s Biodegradability Investigation). Used to effectively determine the biodegradability of fragrances, this laboratory has increased Iberchem’s ability to meet this global need for data by ensuring a faster response to customer demands for biodegradable olfactive solutions. Manuel Serna, Isa Martinez and Elena del Amour have worked hard to set up, manage and maintain the laboratory since its inception around two years ago.”
Product spotlight
Our ingredients and technologies feature in many of the world’s most successful brands, like Keravis™, which is a Hair Care bestseller! Known as the ‘ultimate ally’ in achieving stronger, healthier hair, it features in many products on the market such as L’Oreal’s Damage Repair Haircare by Kérastase and Redken’s All Soft Shampoo for Dry, Brittle Hair with Argan Oil and its Extreme Shampoo.
It is also a key ingredient in the Maria Nila Structure Repair line. Based in Sweden, Maria Nila sell throughout the Nordics and are looking to expand their presence both in Europe and in the US, after recently opening an office in New York City.
Amy Ryan, Sales Development Specialist, said:
“To help with this expansion, Maria Nila needed help with claim substantiation, which was completed by the hair care team in the US. After treatment with the structure repair shampoo, conditioner and mask treatment regimen, hair breakage was reduced by 66% compared with non-conditioning shampoo after 10,000 total combing cycles, with a significant 95% confidence level.
“To the right is the Maria Nila pop up at Liberty of London as they grow their UK presence. Maria Nila is now available in the UK at Selfridges and Liberty. In the US they are now available at Nordstrom. You can also shop on their website in many different countries.”
You can read more about the technology here!
Restoring the Tordera River
Sustainability Snapshots
Sustainability Academy coming soon...
We’re going to start this round-up with the exciting news about our new Sustainability Academy, due to launch later this year!
Designed to build everyone’s confidence and understanding in sustainability topics, the academy will also enable more colleagues to connect sustainability with their day-to-day work as Phil Ruxton, Chief Sustainability Officer, said: “We want to give everyone the opportunity to update their knowledge of the big sustainability issues the world faces and why they are important to Croda and our customers. Our leadership in delivering on sustainability is a key reason people choose to join Croda, so this will be an important part of the future induction of new starters as well.”
The Sustainability Academy will provide online learning modules, on-the-job training support and potentially future workshops to build specific skills. These fantastic opportunities will be available to all, focussing initially on our people in procurement, as well as select roles in research and technology and sales teams whose efforts can make an impact on the carbon footprint of our raw materials and help our customers select low carbon solutions.
Michelle Lydon, President – Human Resources, added: “The Sustainability Academy will enable all of us to develop and apply our skills and knowledge with confidence to make a difference in sustainability and meet our business objectives.”
In February, volunteers from Mevisa’s Fogars de la Selva plant in Spain took action to clean up the Tordera River, a vital water source for our production processes. The team removed approximately 200kg of waste, including plastic packaging, cans, paper, cardboard, shoes, and even two discarded mattresses; transforming a heavily littered area into a cleaner, healthier space for the local ecosystem.
Jordi Junca, Site Director, said: “At Mevisa, our environmental efforts extend beyond compliance and we actively seek to protect and restore the natural resources we depend on. By improving water stewardship, we contribute to a more sustainable future for our operations and the communities around us.”
from
The volunteers
left to right: JM Herrera, T. Gifreu, X. Vidal, J. Soler, Y. González, J. Jiménez, A. Garrido, M. Cabrera, C. De la Hoz, J. Juncà, JC. Crespo.
Sustainability Snapshots
Purpose in Action Awards spotlight!
If you cast your mind back to our 2024 Purpose in Action Awards, there was one site in particular who impressed our Sustainability Committee –Holambra, Brazil.
The committee decided to present the site with a special, Transforming with Purpose Award, to reflect the broad inclusion of our Purpose, Commitment and Values in their approach to transformation and development.
One of the projects the team was highly praised for fell under our Commitment category and is about planting native trees from the Atlantic Forest in a reforestation area in Holambra.
For every one tonne of microplastic-free product (MPF) sold, two trees will be planted; one dedicated to the customer and the other to a Croda employee – a wonderful initiative that connects sales of our innovative and sustainability-leading micro-plastic free seed treatments with local reforestation.
After being presented with their award by Bruno Hoeltgebaum, Global Business Director, and Rafael Mendez, Regional Vice President, employees headed out to to help plant some of the trees that will bear their names before a celebratory lunch!
A sustainable Christmas
Finally, it was wonderful to see many of our teams thinking sustainably when it came to Christmas presents at the end of last year.
With an estimated £40 million worth of unwanted Christmas presents sent to landfill annually, the UK Sales Operations team put a sustainable twist on Secret Santa. The team were given a strict £10 budget and all gifts had to be purchased from local charity shops. Sustainable surprises included a bird house, a jigsaw, clothing items, a board game and much more!
Country Sales Manager Rick Barcock, who came up with the idea, said: “At a time where the environment and charitable organisations are at the forefront of our minds, it was great to encourage more conscious shopping in the team. With 20 of us taking part, £200 was donated to various charities rather than high street tills, and it added a new level of anticipation when opening our gifts!”
Croda Italiana also had the ingenious idea of holding a ‘swap party’ when they returned from the festive break in January. Colleagues brought in Christmas presents they knew they weren’t going to use to exchange with one another in a bid to be as sustainable as possible!
Celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science
This poignant day on 11 February, provided us with a wonderful opportunity to reflect and recognise our women and their significant achievements in science. Although Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields are widely regarded as critical to national economies, so far most countries, no matter their level of development, have not achieved gender equality in STEM.
We interviewed a few of our amazing women about why they love science, where their passion came from and what they would say to inspire the next generation. Here’s what they had to say…
Uyai Ikpatt, Research and Technology Manager
Who was your inspiration?
Growing up in Nigeria, I can’t say I saw any scientist that looked like me or who was portrayed in the media that I wanted to be like.
However, my mum was my inspiration just because she was not able to complete her education. Through her I understood the importance of educating young girls, so I worked really hard to get a degree (the first in my family) and I hope that I have inspired my two girls who are both doing STEM subjects (at university & A level).
Mariana Martins, Graduate Consumer Care
Can you remember where your passion for science came from?
I was always the kid who asked ‘why’ all the time. I loved exploring, creating things with my hands, and experimenting. Science became the perfect way to combine my curiosity and creativity into something meaningful.
Hollie Dodds, Graduate Trainee
What do you find most exciting about working in science?
I love science because I really enjoy problem solving and find science can be the most interesting when you see unexpected and unexplainable results. I love being a scientist in the current climate where there is huge emphasis on developing new or existing products that can help us move towards a greener future.
Marta Dobrowolska-Haywood, Head of Data Science and Knowledge Management
What would you say to inspire girls to carve a career in STEM?
I would tell them that curiosity, determination, and boldness are the most powerful tools in STEM.
If you’re passionate about discovering the unknown, creating new possibilities, or solving complex problems, the world needs your unique perspective! Don’t be afraid to take up space, ask the tough questions, and challenge the status quo. The future of STEM depends on diverse voices, and you have the power to shape that future. Embrace your potential - you belong here, and your ideas can change the world.
Celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Juliana Siqueira, Research and Technology Manager
Why do you think a significant gender gap in STEM exists, and how can we change this narrative?
Several factors contribute, including societal expectations and the historical lack of female role models in many STEM fields. While it will take time to close this gap at all stages of STEM careers globally, positive changes are underway. I believe that showcasing female role models in STEM, encouraging girls to pursue STEM careers, offering mentorship, and promoting equal opportunities are crucial steps toward changing this narrative.
Amy
Goddard,
Research and Technology Manager
Can you remember where your passion for science came from?
I think my passion for science came very much from my dad. He is a scientist, and always encouraged my curiosity and questioning.
“I think the privilege of being able to study science at school fed into my natural curiosity for the world around me”
- Jessica Otter, Graduate Trainee
Catching up with Croda Foundation
Croda Foundation has now funded an impressive 46 projects across 23 countries totalling £5.4m! Here at Croda Way, we thought it would be great to take a look at one of these projects in more detail, the Foundation of Light – a UK-based charity.
Approved in 2024, Foundation of Light is Sunderland AFC’s official charity. Its Improving Futures programme reduces barriers to employment for young people by delivering industry sector-based training. The councils of County Durham, South Tyneside and Sunderland have a high number of people living in deprivation. The Foundation’s two-year grant will improve the life-chances of 600 underserved young people from these areas with 300 going on to secure employment.
Meeting Foundation funding criteria for the project’s ability to improve livelihoods, the opportunity to enhance impact through our people providing their time, skills and know-how was also well-received by the Board of Trustees.
And our employees have certainly got themselves stuck in! Our Group Chief Executive, Steve Foots, and President – Human Resources, Michelle Lydon, held a career Q&A session with the students before handing over the reins to Daniel Bowes, Head of Talent, Hannah Gorman, Early Careers & Employee Engagement Manager and Chris Parker, HR Service Delivery Manager. The trio from HR held 1-2-1 mock interviews with 20 students on the Foundation-funded programme.
This was the first time the students had participated in any form of interview and the experience was invaluable as Clare Wilson, Development Director, Foundation of Light, said: “The Croda interview day was a huge support in helping give our young people the confidence and skills they need to thrive. The interview workshops provided an incredible opportunity for our learners to gain valuable, hands-on experience of the job application process as they complete their training ahead of their future chosen careers.”
Claire added: “Thank you to Chris, Daniel and Hannah and the team at Croda Foundation, the sessions wouldn’t have been possible without your support.”
Talking about the experience, Chris Parker said: “It was great to meet the learners at the Foundation of Light. The support provided by the foundation is fantastic, and it was a pleasure to be able to play a small part in it.”
Catching up with Croda Foundation
Employee Spotlight
Croda Foundation’s work would not be possible without our people. Like Chris, Hannah and Daniel, there are many employees across the Group who volunteer time to supercharge the Foundation’s impact on the ground. One of these is Eduardo Bocatto, Learning and Development Specialist, who recently received a certificate of appreciation for going above and beyond to help the Foundation since its conception. Eduardo has provided support to Instituto Amazonas – a Foundation-funded project in the Brazilian Amazon, has accompanied the team on monitoring visits in Latin America, and is always on hand to help with translations.
Roberta Grassi (L), Rafael Mendez (R)
Festive times
Christmas might feel like a distant memory, but Croda Way loved receiving these photos of your team events over the festive period and wanted to spread the joy!
Over in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, the teams got active with a spot of GoKarting and bowling. Followed by delicious food, they said it was lovely to see colleagues laughing and enjoying engaging conversations.
In Southern California, the team got together in Chino Hills for a holiday lunch to show off everyone’s holiday sweaters and participate in a white elephant gift exchange, where participants gift-wrap amusing, impractical, or funny gifts! The gifts are placed into a single, anonymous pile, and attendees take turns unwrapping a gift they choose from the pile.
As the game progresses, they can steal unwrapped gifts from other players. Employees said there was a lot of gift stealing and holiday cheer as they got to know their new Commercial team members that joined in 2024!
Our Middle East team also came together for a wonderful year-end gathering, reflecting on their achievements and looking forward to an exciting 2025.
Festive times
At Incotec Holambra, employees shared their year successes with their family members. A ‘My Family at Incotec’ event was held to give colleagues the chance to bring their relatives to work to get to know their professional family!
In total, about 100 people joined. After a welcome by Francisco Serra – General Manager, and a safety briefing, they were invited to visit the facility where employees gave a summary about our business and daily activities.
Organised by the CIPA team (Internal Accident Prevention Commitee), it was a huge success, as Debora Esperanca, Operations Manager, said: “It was really nice to see our loved ones in the place we not just work, but where we live so intensively, learn, have fun and face challenges together as a team. To join both families was special! It also gave employees a motivation boost as we are passionate and proud of the work we do!”
In true Croda spirit, many teams decided to help those less fortunate at Christmas too through fundraisers like Cowick Hall’s Wellbeing Committee.
This time, the Committee chose to support the UK’s largest toy appeal, Cash for Kids – Mission Christmas; a charity dedicated to ensuring that no child wakes up without a present under the tree on Christmas Day.
As well as donations of toys, an incredible £168 was raised by employees to help the charity purchase any gifts they were short of. Of course, in true Cowick tradition, a bake sale was also held, bringing together our community of talented bakers when it mattered most! These delicious goodies raised an additional £137, which the Committee used to go shopping for more toys and essentials for children and young people in need.
The Committee has since heard from the charity and have learned how their efforts helped. This included a mum who had recently fled domestic abuse with her three children. While social care was able to provide food and clothing, the charity was able to step in and provide Christmas gifts, making a tough time a little bit brighter.
Recent achievements
Before we talk business, Croda Way wanted to start this round-up of feel-good news with Incotec’s win at the annual Seed Valley indoor football tournament. For those who don’t know, Seed Valley lies in the northwest of the Netherlands and is the world’s leading centre of plant breeding and seed technology.
Incotec’s passion, commitment and teamwork saw them through to victory and they were the proud recipients of the coveted Challenge Cup.
The start of the year also saw not one but three awards for team Croda. After scooping the coveted title of Britain’s Most Admired Chemicals Company for the eighth consecutive year, the awards just kept on coming!
Our team in China was crowned a ‘2025 China Top Employer’ by the Top Employers Institute. This year’s selection process saw 156 companies in the country from various industries and fields undergoing rigorous research, certification, and review to earn this prestigious recognition. Croda China has been committed to continuously enhancing employee experience and upskilling its people over the past year as Irene Shen, Head of HR, China, said: “This was the first year for Croda China to be part of the Top Employer certification and we are proud of being certified. It confirms we have a strong and solid HR foundation in China, and we are confident that we are on the way to be recognised as a leading top employer as we approach 2030.”
Dean Nie, Business Development Manager, shared his thoughts too: “As an employee, I feel an immense sense of pride and gratitude. Everyone, including myself, enjoys the excellent training programmes provided here, and there are various opportunities for career/ personal development. The positive work culture, with the emphasis on collaboration and innovation, makes working at Croda a pleasure.” 2025 started great for Croda Beauty too after they were ranked number two in the top 100 cosmetic ingredient suppliers by SpecialChem, the leading material selection platform that helps formulators find the right ingredients. Each year, they analyse the most-searched products to highlight the top suppliers among 1,100+ companiesmaking this recognition a true reflection of market interest and demand.
Employee shout-outs
There here have also been some wonderful employee achievements over the last few months.
Firstly, congratulations to GmbH’s Dominik Neuser, Supply Chain and Customer Service Coordinator, and Nick Huth, Warehouse operator, who passed theory and practical examinations to qualify to train apprentices. Both are looking forward to their additional voluntary roles!
Across the globe, 22 employees have also become recently accredited Customer Experience (CX) professionals through The CX Academy, which sets the global standard for CX qualifications. The course provides a comprehensive understanding of key CX principles and best practices.
Sarah Dennett, Customer Experience Lead, said: “These employees have demonstrated a strong commitment to learning and development. Their accreditation ensures they possess the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to advance local CX practices. This achievement not only enhances our competency in this critical business discipline but progresses the overall CX capability of Croda. Congratulations to all our newly qualified CX Professionals!”
Irwin Vargas, Vitoria Lanna, Rhthym Sharma, Leslie Rudd, Jennifer Mayo, Jennifer Reynen, Eden Mok, Ryoko Ariizumi, Maria Stanley, Ann Wee, Thanaporn Jiamjunyong, Mathilde Couvelaere, Josephine Nagbo, Francesca Fasano, Laura Herrera, Sophie O’Grady, Amelia Parrish, Samira Reyhani, Daniela Kemps, Isobell England, Damla Bayru and Pawel Wolanski
A shout-out is also needed for Vijay Dhaygude, Shift Manager at Thane who participated in the Tata Mumbai Marathon for the third consecutive year. The marathon is amongst the top 10 marathons in the world and Vijay completed it in 04:04:42 hours – his personal best!
Over in Customer Care, there have been more Employee of the Month winners to shout about! Well done to Naomi Ebrahimi, Customer Coordinator and Senior Customer Service Representatives Jennifer Mayo and Robbin Kimmel who were crowned winners from November to January.
EMEA/UK Ditton
Appointments and promotions
Congratulations to the following. We wish them all well in their new roles.
Mark Robinson has been appointed Global Head of Business Excellence. Mark will be leading our significant investment programme covering the transformation to a new SAP S4/ HANA system, as well as other large business process change projects. The programme will aim to simplify our ways of working, improve customer service, making it easier to efficiently access and process information. Mark will leave the Executive Committee on 1 July to focus on this new role.
Thiru Selvan will be appointed to the role of Vice President – Supply Chain Operations, reporting to Mark Robinson as part of a six-month phased transition to succeed Mark on the Executive Committee on 1 July. Thiru’s priority will be driving a supply chain transformation, focused on customer service, alongside assuming functional responsibility for driving standards, competence and assurance in SHE, Quality Assurance (QA), Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs (PSRA), Procurement, Process Technology Innovation and Decarbonisation.
Helen Jeremiah has been appointed Vice President – Marketing, Consumer Care. Degree qualified in Applied Chemistry with 31 years’ experience in Boots, Helen worked initially in Innovation and Insights, with the last 16 years spent in senior marketing roles.
Mariana Wood has been appointed External Communications Manager, as part of the Corporate Communications Team.
Kim Carmichael has been appointed Site Director, Ditton. Joining Croda in 2005, Kim has held roles in R&D and Operations. Kim’s last position as Decarbonisation and Process Technology Director involved working with all Croda sites to develop our company wide approach to decarbonisation and introduce new innovative manufacturing technologies with the Process Innovation Team.
Jessica Yorke has been appointed EMEA Indirect Procurement Manager.
Claire Davenport has been appointed EMEA Procurement Compliance Manager.
Hannah Monkhouse has been appointed EMEA Capex Buyer.
Viola Whittaker has been appointed Strategic PSRA Manager Consumer Care.
Croda International
Cowick Hall
Nicklas Nilsson has been appointed Customer Service Coordinator.
Laura Buccoli has been appointed Lead Applications Scientist in Home Care.
EMEA/Sweden
Selestine Yap has been promoted to Regional Talent Manager.
In her expanded role, Selestine will work closely with stakeholders to develop talent strategies to address current and future talent needs across the organisation. Her scope spreads across talent management to attract, develop and retain talents. Asia’s Graduate Development programme will come under her ownership, ensuring effective management of the programme in the region.
Asia/Japan
Yong Chuan Lew has been appointed Country MD of Croda Japan in addition to his current role, Business Director of Fragrance & Flavours Asia.
Tokyo
Miyu Fujita has been appointed Accounting and Administration Assistant.
David Chan has been appointed Regional L&D specialist. David will provide learning and development programmes and will report to Selestine to develop talent in Asia.
Jasmine Leong has been promoted to Technology Development Manager. In her expanded role, Jasmine will work closely with teams in the region to
expand our sensory and neuroscience capabilities.
Kaori Ito has been appointed PSRA Manager at Tokyo office.
Shiga
Koji Yamaguchi has been appointed Process Operator.
Asia/Singapore
Lilian Tan has been appointed Sales Coordinator.
Jolaine Tay has been appointed Research Administrator.
Boon Hao Ngo has been appointed QA Laboratory Technician.
Yuri Kawaguchi has been appointed Sales Manager.
Yuriko Takemura has been appointed Customer Complaints and Returns Lead Coordinator.
Kesavan Elancoven has been appointed Senior Shift Process Technician.
Saravanakumar Kalimuthu has been appointed Maintenance Technician.
Guo Cong Chow has been appointed SHE Manager.
Yi Shan Yeh has been appointed Production Planner.
Zheng Le Lim has been appointed Lead QC Analyst.
Ming Jie Kong has been appointed Site IT Manager.
Asia/Australia Asia/India Dahej
Manoj Sharma has been appointed Sales Representative –Pharma.
Jigneshkumar Pate has been appointed Process Technician.
Lala Macchi has been appointed Process Technician.
Niraj Soni has been appointed Process Technician.
Viral Rathod has been appointed Shift Manager.
Sandip Modi has been appointed Process Technician.
Alpitaben Vasava has been appointed QC Analyst.
Dharmesh Nakum has been appointed Shift Manager.
Rana Yadav has been appointed Process Technician.
Siraj Malek has been appointed Process Technician.
Rohit Verma has been appointed Shift Manager.
Ankit Gaurasiya has been appointed Process Technician.
Vinay Kumar Tripathy has been appointed Process Technician.
Rushikesh Pawar has been appointed Marketing Associate, Life Sciences.
Harsh Shringi has been appointed Plant Manager.
QC Analyst.
Dhaygude has been appointed Shift Manager.
Thane
Vijay
Badal Patel has been appointed
Latin America/Brazil
Bruna Borges has been appointed Account Manager – Consumer Care.
Rafael Ferreira has been promoted to Market Applications Specialist, Croda Agriculture R&D.
Latin America/Colombia
Juliana Ariza has been appointed Account Manager – Consumer Care.
Matheus Hossri has been promoted to Croda Agriculture and Incotec LATAM Marketing Coordinator.
Maximiliano Diaz has been promoted to Croda Agriculture Account Manager.
Julian Moya has been appointed Sales Administrator.
Rodrigo Almeida has been promoted to Procurement Coordinator, Croda and Incotec Brazil.
North America
Maci Guercio, Operations Manager, Incotec – Salinas, has accepted the role of Senior Manufacturing Manager at Atlas Point. In this role, Maci will be responsible for leading union and non-union teams in safe operations, production and compliance to ensure accountability of commitments to customers and the organization. We thank Maci for her hard work during her time as Operations Manager for Salinas, she has been integral in improving safety and made positive changes to culture and engagement at Salinas and Urbandale.
Ryan Latham, R&D Manager – Incotec, has been promoted to the new role of Site Head Incotec - Salinas. Ryan has more than 20 years of experience at the Salinas site and most recently held the position of Research Manager. This new position will bring more efficiency to the Incotec organisation and will further increase the collaboration between
Paul DeCarli has accepted the role of Sales Development Team Leader at Incotec with responsibility for the vegetable business.
Jeffrey Hein has accepted the role of Sales Development Team Leader at Incotec with responsibility for the field crops business.
Long service
EMEA/UK
Congratulations to Steve Mellor, Head of Life Sciences R&T EMEA and Global Head of Croda Pharma R&T, who recently celebrated 30 years’ service.
Congratulatons to Susanne Hall, Customer Relationship Team Leader, who recently celebrated 15 years’ service.
Congratulations to Jenny Illingworth, Sales Development Coordinator, who recently celebrated 15 years’ service.
Goole
Congratulations to Abby Boughen, Planning and Logistics Team Leader, who recently celebrated 15 years’ service.
Congratulations to Amanda Smith, Finance Business Partner, who recently celebrated 15 years’ service.
EMEA/Spain
Iberica
Congratulations to Manel Herrera, Head of Regional IT, who recently celebrated 30 years’ service.
EMEA/France
Congratulations to Kevin Bozec, IS Portfolio Manager, who recently celebrated 15 years’ service.
EMEA/Germany
Congratulations to Ly-Kien Lieu, Supply Chain and Customer Service Team Leader, who recently celebrated 35 years’ service.
Congratulations to Pascale Sicre, Supply Chain and Customer Service Coordinator, who recently celebrated 35 years’ service.
Congratulations to Muriel Den Braber, Supply Chain and Customer Service Coordinator, who recently celebrated 15 years’ service.
Congratulations to Frédéric Jehan, IS Country Sales Manager, who recently celebrated 35 years’ service.
Congratulations to Verena Hüesken, Sales Coordinator, who recently celebrated 15 years’ service.
Congratulations to Birgit Schmidt, Credit Controller, who recently celebrated 15 years’ service.
Cowick Hall
Asia/Korea
Congratulations to Hojin Shin, Labor Union Leader, who recently celebrated 20 years’ service.
Asia/Dubai
Congratulations to Ghassan Garabed, Area Sales Manager, who recently celebrated 20 years’ service.
Congratulations to Sukhee Jung, Logistics Process Analyst, who recently celebrated 15 years’ service.
Congratulations to Ayesha Ranasinghe, Customer Service and Import-Export Specialist, who recently celebrated five years’ service.
Congratulations to Ather Aziz, Customer Service and ImportExport Specialist, who recently celebrated five years’ service.
Congratulations to Krishna Kaushik, Account Manager, who recently celebrated five years’ service.
Congratulations to Zaffar Ahsan, Area Sales Manager, who recently celebrated five years’ service.
Asia/India
Congratulations to Savita Kocharekar, Research Team Leader, Industrial Specialties, who recently celebrated 20 years’ service.
R&D.
Congratulations to Rakesh Kothare, Engineering Manager, who recently celebrated 10 years’ service.
Rakesh received his award from
Congratulations to Luis Correa, Technical Business Development Manager – Croda Beauty, who recently
celebrated 17 years’ service.
Congratulations to Sandra Estupiñan, Customer Service Team Leader, who recently celebrated 15 years’ service.
Savita received the award from Dr Anu Chaphekar, General Manager,
Naishadh Ajgaonkar, Operations Director.
Latin America/Colombia
Retirements
EMEA/UK
Leek
Ian Willshaw, Shift Process Technician, retired at the end of 2024. Ian started with Croda in August 2011 as a Shift Process Technician based at Croda Leek and has accumulated just over 13 years’ service. We wish Ian a long and healthy retirement.
Rawcliffe Bridge
Carol Readshaw, Canteen Assistant, retired in December 2024 after 47 years with the company. We wish Carol a long and healthy retirement.
Asia/Japan
After a 40-year illustrious career, Junko Kubokawa, Country Managing Director of Croda Japan, will retire at the end of March 2025. Since joining Croda in 2014, Junko has been leading the country organisation, strengthening the company’s position as well as shaping our success in Japan. She has also led the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative for Croda in Asia since 2021 and is a valued member of the Asia Leadership Team. We would like to thank Junko for all her contributions and wish her a happy and healthy retirement.
EMEA/France
Chocques
Weddings
Asia/Singapore
Jacky Clement, Production Shift Team leader, retired at the end of last year. Jacky started at Croda Chocques on 1 October 1989. We wish him a long and happy retirement.
Congratulations to Weng Hooi, Maintenance Planner, on his recent wedding.
EMEA/UK
Congratulations to Laura Day, Tax Manager, and Josh Middleton, Tolls & Merchants Buyer, who met in the Cowick Applications labs in 2016, and married in July 2024 in Salcombe, Devon.
Asia/Japan
Births
EMEA/UK
Cowick Hall
Congratulations to Izzie England, Executive Administrator, on the birth of Lily May Thackeray. Lily arrived six days early on 6 January at 02:40am, weighing 6lbs 12oz. She’s the second child for Izzie and her partner Scott Thackeray. They already have a son called Leo who is a very proud big brother.
Congratulations to Jenna Clayton, UK Business Development Specialist, and her husband Ben, who welcomed Austin Blake Clayton into the world on 16 December weighing 7lb 8oz. Big sister Ophelia has adapted to her duties and is enjoying showing her little brother off at school!
Congratulations to Ryan Chapman, Sales Development Lead, and his wife Megan on the birth of their first child, Alana, on 8 January.
Congratulations to Lee Myers, Warehouse Operator, on the birth of his daughter, Maeve Margaret Myers, who was born on 19 December 2024 at 16:31pm weighing 9lb 15.
Congratulations to Matheus Hossri, Marketing Coordinator Croda Agriculture and Incotec Brazil, and Carolina Andrade Hossri, on the birth of their second child, Stella Andrade Hossri, who was born on 14 September 2024.
Congratulations to Rodrigo Almeida, Procurement Coordinator at Croda and Incotec Brazil, and Tamires da Silva, on the birth of their second child, Lucca Almeida, who was born on 13 January 2025.
Goole
Obituaries
Asia/Singapore
A tribute written by Chan Chian Yeow, Marc Teo, Sherman Chau and Pui Lin Low
Mr Yeow Hwee had a long and successful career in Croda. He was affectionately known to people as Mr Hia. We will always have fond memories of Mr Hia in Croda. A few stories came to my mind when I recalled memories of him.
You could always count on Mr Hia for his help. He had accumulated a wealth of experience in his 30 years in Croda and was always willing to be a listening ear to those who needed his help. Anyone could approach Mr Hia for advice on technical issues.
In the early days of Croda’s greenfield project in Singapore, he ‘gambled’ on the loop reactor for esterification process. This brought about a new way in which Spans are being made. High quality products being made at half the batch times compared to conventional stir pots configurations! Talk about being INNOVATIVE.
Never once did I hear Mr Hia complain about working with people around him. He was like the elder statesman, guiding the young ones and the new joiners. He connected people to one another, bringing to life our value of working TOGETHER!
Mr Hia was also the gatekeeper of quality standards. He challenged the Seraya team to go for higher standards, hence how we were able to progress from ISO 9K to EXCiPACT! To him it was not just about achieving high throughput numbers but delivering high quality products to customers and being RESPONSIBLE to uphold Croda’s reputation.
As some people will put it, he symbolised what it meant to work in Croda. Living out the Croda Way! More importantly, he always brought hope to people he connected with. No matter what the business looked like, or transitions that the site was going through, he would always be there to bring you hope!
We will truly miss Mr Hia, may he rest in peace.
We are saddened to report the deaths of the following. We extend our deepest sympathies to their families.
Mr P Goddard, formerly of Croda Bitumen & Croda Hydrocarbons, on 16 October 2024
Mr M Raisbeck, formerly of Croda Mebon, on 16 October 2024
Mrs J Pritchard, formerly of Tara-Pak, on 26 October 2024
Mr T Gilligan, formerly of Croda Colloids, on 31 October 2024
Mr D Mitchell, formerly of Croda GmbH, on 31 October 2024
Mr D Coupland, formerly of Croda Chemicals Ltd, on 10 November 2024
Mr A Tierney, formerly of Croda Paints Ltd, on 14 November 2024
Mr B C Marsden, formerly of Croda Hydocarbons, on 30 November 2024
Mr J D Frances, formerly of Croda Uniquema, on 7 December 2024
Mr G H Coggin, formerly of Croda Universal, on 17 December 2024
Mr F C Horn, formerly of Richards & Appleby, on 18 December 2024
Mrs S Doney, formerly of Tara-Pak, on 22 December 2024
Mr T Johnston, formerly of Ameron Coatings UK, on 31 December 2024
Mr R Bell, formerly of Croda Universal, on 31 December 2024
Mr A Mcmillan, formerly of Croda Paints Ltd, on 1 January 2025
Mr G Baxter, formerly of Croda Chemicals/Rawcliffe Bridge on 5 January 2025
Mrs P Higgins, formerly of Croda Chemicals/Rawcliffe Bridge, on 8 January 2025
Mr T Bonnon, formerly of Croda Colloids & Croda Bowmans/Ditton, on 9 January 2025
Mr A Doris, formerly of Croda Colloids, on 13 January 2025
Mr R D Goosey, formerly of Croda Bowmans, on 17 January 2025
Mrs M Lodge, formerly of Croda Application Chemicals, on 17 January 2025
Mr M Stone, formerly of Croda Adhesives Ltd, on 18 January 2025
