Surfactants Monthly - April 2025

Surfactants Monthly – April 2025

I’ve been hearing about Hero Ingredients for a few years now, since I got heavily involved in the cosmetic ingredients scene. I never thought the term would apply to surfactants until this year. What happened? RhamnoClean did. From Unilever. Adorning, prominently, a number of their homecare product packages and marketing. It’s obviously referring to the Rhamnolipid surfactants, made by Evonik and used in Sunlight dishwash in markets including Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand so far. I think this is the coolest thing I’ve heard in a long time in our business and I love it. I talk about hero ingredients and this marketing master-stroke in the recent YouTube video.

Fantastic right!? (RhamnoClean, I mean – not the video, although I hope you enjoyed the whole thing.) We also talked in there about an Estee Lauder product with a hero surfactant ingredient – not a biosurfactant. So look; just go and watch the video.

Erm.. This could be your next surfactant

OK .. a more informative and appropriate image

Actually – you know I often say that our blog has the very best readers. And this is, of course, true. However, I must extend that superlative to the viewers of our YouTube videos. Within hours of the hero video going up, a viewer let me know about another “surfactant as hero” example. The company is Sebamed of Germany and the product is a shampoo – shown below

As you can see “Zuckertensid Formel” is featured prominently on the label and it means “Sugar Surfactant Formula”. Here’s the full IL, including, you will have guessed, APG.

A highlight of the month for me was attending the Unilever Partner to Win event in London. A two day invitation only meeting for several hundred key senior executives from the company’s top partners. This means suppliers of all goods and services, from raw materials (including surfactants) to packaging, logistics solutions, advertising, vehicles and anything else a leading consumer products company might use in the course of its business. It was an incredibly detailed and insightful look into Unilever’s business and their priorities for the future – and how suppliers can participate in the journey, to their benefit and that of the company. I learned a lot. I thought I knew Unilever fairly well, but there was a lot I didn't know and was pleased to learn. I’m going to give a few impressions here – in no particular order. This is by no means a summary of everything that was presented or discussed. That would be impractical.

Impressions from Unilever’s PTW 2025:

RhamnoClean: Yes, I’ll admit I was first tipped off to the RhamnoClean hero surfactant marketing (mentioned above) at the PTW. I was then a bit miffed to see that it was already in the public domain and I had somehow missed it. Hey – your blogger is fallible. What can I tell you.

Openness: The company was very open from the beginning. The presentations from the CEO and the heads of each of the four business units were extremely detailed and, I thought, shared a lot. This was not your grandfather’s Unilever. The brand new CEO, Fernando Fernandez, gave a great talk, totally unscripted (it seemed anyway) and rattling off loads of specific numbers, without notes. Quite non-big-company-CEO-like. And look I’m not sucking up. Most CEO set-piece talks are boring. You know that. This wasn't.

Focus: Lots of talk about focus. For a company selling in 190 countries, that’s good. Going forward, there’s a really heavy focus on i) 30 Power Brands that generate 75% of the revenue. ii) 24 country markets generating 85% of revenue.

US and India: These two country markets were called out specifically a number of times as super-important for future growth and so I’ll do so here. And I believe I heard right that these two countries will be where future M&A activity is focused. BTW – did you know there are 19,000 postcodes in India. Unilever markets in all of them.

Four Business Groups: As a reminder the four are Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care and Foods (the Ice Cream business will be spun off this year). And you’ll need no reminder that surfactants are key inputs for the first three of those businesses.

Premiumisation: This is linked to the first one – Rhamnoclean. There is an informed bet on markets that value premium products. Hence the three country markets where that particular version of Sunlight was launched in. The concept of course applies in the other businesses also and was featured heavily.

Many Supplier Mentions: As you can imagine, many suppliers were mentioned for many great things – and the evening of the first day was a (black tie!) supplier awards event. I won’t list every mention here. But I was struck by the complimentary mentions made of two companies I know well, Farabi and Galaxy. Kudos guys!

Sassy Social Media: And “Young Spirited” “Social – first” marketing. Self-explanatory. Good.

Persil Wonder Wash*: Laundry detergent designed for short cycles (15 minutes!). This means that the surfactants have about 7 minutes to do the cleaning job. Some nice formula innovation around the polymer surfactant combination used to effect this.

Sustainability : Raw and packaging materials are responsible 64% of Scope 3 emissions – so a big lever here.

Fragrance and Surfactants: Super – important ingredients – for performance, cost, sustainability and consumer experience. I heard a lot about them, but maybe I’m biased (I don't think so).

Dove and Crumbl Collab: If you don't know what this means, you’re not in the demo. But it’s super-popular, sassy, social-first. For me, I dunno, a bit too much sugar. (But I’m not the demo either).

Scale: Finally, of course, scale. This is Unilever, a global CPG company, we’re talking about. Stuff has to scale. Desire at scale was mentioned a lot. New suppliers often don't appreciate this. To play in the big leagues with the likes of Unilever, you gotta either have scale or demonstrate the potential for scale. This is even more the case with Unilever’s increased focus.

*By the way here’s more detail on the Wonder Wash from Unilever’s UK website https://wiop.unilever.co.uk/brands/persil/persil-wonder-wash-speed-clean-non-bio-laundry-detergent-24933-64312342-300006467693/.

More News

Palm Oil (and of course Palm Kernel Oil), its pros cons and alternatives continue to be a topic of discussion, including at our conference coming up on May 7th where we will hear from Acies Bio (pronounced Axiuss Beeoh) and Future Origins about their very different approaches to non-palm based renewable detergent range alcohols. However, the role of palm in the economies and lifestyles of Malaysia and Indonesia should not be overlooked or minimized. How many school tuitions have been paid with earnings directly or indirectly from palm oil. How many houses bought? How did you send your kids to school – or buy your house? Anyway, I picked this up on Linkedin from a friend of mine who lectures at a Malaysian University.

In fields of green where palms do sway,
Blessings grow with each passing day.
From golden fruit, health does flow,
A gift of nature, to all we owe.

Through shared endeavors, hands entwine,
Building a future, bright and fine.
Palm oil thrives, a nation's pride,
With it, Malaysians stand side by side.

Racial hues and faiths diverse,
In unity, we proudly immerse.
This Hari Raya, let’s give cheer,
For harmony deep, year by year.

May the season bring all joy and blessings!

Nice right? Think about it.

I love the idea of refillable consumer products. Notice I said, I love the idea. Actually doing it, well I have never done it and not sure I actually would bother, personally to do it, honestly. However, that’s not to say there couldn't be a nice healthy market segment out there. I read in Cosmetics business that Unilever has snapped up the UK refillable beauty brand Wild for an undisclosed sum after months of speculation

Unilever has bought refillable personal care brand Wild after months of speculation - apparently. Entrepreneurs Charlie Bowes-Lyon and Freddy Ward founded Wild in 2020, which sells a range of refillable natural deodorants, lip balms, body washes and handwashes. Wild’s “distinctive premium offering” makes it a “strategic addition” to Unilever’s existing portfolio of personal care brands, read a statement from the company. Wild co-founder Bowes-Lyon said joining Unilever marks “an exciting new chapter” for Wild. “Our mission to remove single-use plastic from the bathroom with desirable, innovative personal care products will be hugely strengthened by leveraging Unilever’s expertise, scale and reach to further grow the brand and bring our vision to more consumers,” he added.

In related news, indē wild (which is no relation to the abovementioned Wild) has landed US$5m investment from Unilever Ventures after achieving 400% growth in India and landing an exclusive partnership deal with Sephora, reports Cosmetics Business. The Indian skin care and hair care brand’s funding round was led by FMCG giant Unilever’s investment arm, along with existing investors SoGal Ventures and True Reinvesting. indē wild was founded in 2021 by influencer Diipa Büller-Khosla, who has 2.3 million Instagram followers, and her husband Oleg. It promotes its own-brand concept of ‘Ayurvedistry’ – a blend of Ayurveda and modern chemistry. The capital will be used to accelerate indē wild's international reach, fuelling its existing partnership with Sephora UK, which it launched into in late 2024, and its upcoming debut into Sephora US in 2026. Pretty cool, right?

I’ve been thinking a lot about water and its reduction and elimination in consumer products recently. Why? because I’ll be presenting on the topic of dry products at the great Midwest SCC mid May (It’s a dinner meeting. Very reasonable. Register here. ). It's a continuing trend, as HAPPI reported; Henkel has introduced concentrated formulas and packaging across All, Persil and Snuggle liquid laundry products. The new formulas and packaging began shipping to store shelves early March 2025 and will continue to roll out in subsequent months. According to Henkel, the new detergent formulas reduce water usage in their manufacturing facilities, conserving approximately 9 million gallons annually, equivalent to the water used in 450,000 standard laundry wash loads. Also, with concentrated formulas comes smaller bottles. The initiative achieves a nearly 5% net reduction in plastic, which is equivalent to the plastic found in over 20 million one-gallon milk jugs. Moreover, the majority of the brands’ laundry product bottles will be made with 50% recycled materials. And, with more efficient packaging, Henkel can effectively reduce the number of trucks needed for transportation, resulting in a significant decrease in CO2 emissions. This change will contribute to a projected annual CO2 emissions savings of over 4,000 metric tons, which is equivalent to the absorption capabilities of approximately 169,100 trees annually. Seems like a big deal.

More dry things: HAPPI reported this month that Amika launched its new Perk Up Miami Nectar Dry Shampoo that it has formulated with fragrance brand Ellis Brooklyn. The product is a tropical twist on Perk Up, designed to clean and refresh roots with no residue and invisible finish. With key ingredients [that would be hero ingredients, I guess] superfruit sea buckthorn, rice starch and Miami Nectar fragrance – the scent is billed as a tropical gourmand with a bold, playful spirit of Miami plus notes of pink pineapple, coconut water, plumeria and vanilla. OK then. But what about the surfactants [which, on this occasion, are not apparently heros]? Well, from the website, the full ingredient list is as follows: Hydrofluorocarbon 152a, Butane, Alcohol Denat. (SD Alcohol 40-B), Oryza Sativa (Rice/Riz) Starch, Isobutane, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Diisopropyl Adipate, Hippophae Rhamnoides (Sea Buckthorn/Argousier) Fruit/Seed Oil, Fragrance/Parfum. Hmm so… erm.. maybe I’m a little naïve but there’s no actual cleaning done, but it does purport to make the hair look better. Fine. Looking good, is good. I guess.

Not just some random photo. This is #1 in Kim Kardashian's 47 Greatest Hair Moments of All Time as published by Byrdie magazine. It is known as the “Very Messy Fishtail”. Byrdie goes on to say - Love it or hate it, Kim K's platinum blonde look was all the rave at the 2024 Met Gala. The reality TV star and her hair stylist, Chris Appleton, went for a last-minute switch-up for the occasion, opting for icy white waves with *very* visible brown roots and—for an element of surprise—a loose fishtail braid at the end. OK - so now you know the reason for including this particular photograph. Although I have no reason to suspect that dry shampoo was used in this KK hair production.

Another new company. After completing my set meetings at IN-Cosmetics, I wandered around aimlessly, as is the tradition, to see what fate would bring my way. It brought Biopolax, who were too busy at their booth to talk immediately to me and I was too impatient to wait. A mutual loss, I’m sure. I picked up some information and I’m interested. They are a UK based company, new to me and purporting, on their website, to be UK-based developer, patent-holder and manufacturer of innovative ingredients for home and personal care markets. It’s the patent holder bit that interested me as it says that they are not yet another sophoro / rhamno lipid company. The site goes on to note that the company has two patent families – one to cover the application of BPX-S6 and the other to do with BPX Gemini. Interesting. So, BPX-S6, according to their website is a range of multifunctional biopolymers based on modifications of a polysaccharide microgels. They go on to say that the capability of polysaccharide microgels to encapsulate oil-, fat- or grease-containing contamination and isolate it from water has emulsifying and anti-resorption properties and helps achieve the same level of detergent performance with milder surfactant system or with less surfactant content. [ cool right?]. But what are they? They note that polysaccharide microgels produced from starches, pectins or cellulose have a unique property: reacting to a change in physical chemical conditions (pH, ionic strength, temperature) the dissolved nano-scale particles form longer biopolymer chains and take on the gel form. Elsewhere on the site, one of the Glucover products [ which I think is part of this BPX-S6 family] has the INCI name of Hydrolyzed Corn Starch (and) Sodium Gluconate (and) Pectin. Actually all the Glucovers have that INCI.

OK so what about the Gemini products? Well, one Dimereco ZL10 is given the INCI of Bis-(Methylene Lauramidopropyl Betaine) Hexamethylenediamide. [Wow right?]. Given the CAS Number 3074785-77-3, I looked this up – but nothing that I could see. Similarly nothing for the name. Hmm.. I asked Perplexity. It gave me a lot of handwaving but nothing concrete. I asked Grok in Deeper Search mode and, after a couple of minutes it (he / she? ) wrote a nice report but fessed up that in fact there were no direct references that it could find. Nonetheless it went ahead and took a stab at what a comparison of this novel product with good ol’ lauramidopropyl betaine might looks like here:

Pure speculation from an overenthused LLM

From here, I went down the patent rabbit hole and found a patent assigned to what looks like an affiliate company, Biomicrogels UK Ltd. It’s here. The patent talks about microgels based on polysaccharides including pectin, so – could be. Anyway, this is all hugely fascinating and I am super keen to learn more, as I’m sure you are. Stay tuned.

My well-thumbed copy of the latest MIT Technology Review [I love saying that. I don't actually have a physical copy. And honestly I don't even read it online – except when my surfactant feed … erm .. feeds it to me] has a piece on Dow, which says in part : “Nuclear reactors could someday power a chemical plant in Texas, making it the first with such a facility onsite. The factory, which makes plastics and other materials, could become a model for power-hungry data centers and other industrial operations going forward. The plans are the work of Dow Chemical and X-energy, which last week applied for a construction permit with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. I think this is great. I love nuclear power. There’s more: “X-energy’s reactor is not only smaller than most nuclear plants coming online today but also employs different fuel and different cooling methods. The design is a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, which flows helium over self-contained pebbles of nuclear fuel. The fuel can reach temperatures of around 1,000 °C (1,800 °F). As it flows through the reactor and around the pebbles, the helium reaches up to 750 °C (about 1,400 °F). Then that hot helium flows through a generator, making steam at a high temperature and pressure that can be piped directly to industrial equipment or converted into electricity.” Mega Kudos to Dow for jumping into this area.

Pretty sure this image is AI generated but it’s cool nonetheless.

Notwithstanding this gutsy investment by Dow, the company announced a couple of days ago in an earnings release, that it will delay its massive Path2Zero ethylene project in Canada to save $1 billion until market conditions improve. CEO Jim Fitterling cited uncertainty related to tariffs as a key reason for the cost-cutting move. The company reported a $290 million net loss in the first quarter, compared with a $538 million profit in the year-ago period. First-quarter sales declined 3% to $10.4 billion. Lower prices in industrial intermediates and infrastructure segment offset gains in performance materials and coatings, the company said.

The project was slated to become the world’s first net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives facility. The facility would decarbonize 20% of Dow's global ethylene capacity. The company was scheduled to begin construction on the CAD $8.9 billion ($6.4 billion) plant in 2024.

Also noted during Dow’s earnings call: The company plans to start up, fully, its new alkoxylation unit in Seadrift, Texas, in mid-2025. Nice. Margins should be 1,000 basis points higher than that for monoethylene glycol (MEG), said Karen Carter, Dow chief operating officer. [I would hope so. ]

People News: MFG Chemical (sulfosuccinates among other things) a Chattanooga, TN company, has promoted Dr. Jeff Kramer to technical director, water additives. In his new role, Dr. Kramer will develop new products for water treatment and work directly with customers to address their water treatment issues and provide effective solutions.

“Jeff is a world-class expert on industrial water treatment for scale, corrosion and microbiological control,” said Mike Standish, MFG vice president, water additives and co-founder Radical Polymers. Radical is a new [I believe] subsidiary of MFG. Check it out. Very interesting.

Have you ever been stymied [great word BTW] by a customer’s requirement that an ingredient mush be “water white” ? Why? Because that’s what they buy currently and also it gives them ultimate flexibility to have water white end product or at least one most easily colored to their requirements. Of course you have – if you have ever sold or marketed into the cosmetics ingredients markets. So? So…I’ve been following Kaffe Bueno for a year or more. It’s a Danish company that upcycles used coffee grounds into cosmetics ingredients, including emollients and surfactants. Like many bio-derived ingredients companies, they are used to coming up against the water white wall. They’ve decided to hit back and see if they can change minds head on, with a campaign We Are Nature: Why the Future of Skincare Is Not White. On their website here and launched at In-Cosmetics in April. You should read the piece on the website. I’m sure it will hit a chord with some of you. They make the point that by insisting on water white ingredients, consumer product companies are losing out on many of the great properties of ingredients. They also list a number of companies that embracing natural colors. Check these out. :

• Typology: This French skincare brand offers products like tinted serums that showcase the inherent colours of their natural components, providing both aesthetic appeal and functional benefits.

• Dr. Hauschka: Known for its commitment to natural ingredients, Dr. Hauschka’s products often retain the original colour of their botanical components, reflecting the brand’s dedication to authenticity.

• Weleda: This brand utilises biodynamic farming methods to source its ingredients, resulting in products that naturally exhibit the vibrant colour of the plants used, such as the rich green of their chlorophyll-containing formulations.

• Forest Essentials: An Indian brand that specialises in Ayurvedic preparations, Forest Essentials incorporates natural ingredients without altering their inherent colours, aligning with traditional practices that value the therapeutic properties of these elements.

• Neera Naturals: Focusing on eco-friendly and sustainable products, Neera Naturals offers items like herbal shampoos and oil blends that maintain the natural hues of their plant-based ingredients, emphasising purity and effectiveness.

What do you think? I’m keen to see if this gains traction with some of the big guys

Channel to market news: I usually don't print distributor announcements because they’re boring, but this seemed like it might be a significant change so I should let you know that BASF’s Personal Care Business has consolidated with Azelis as its sole distributor in the United States for their personal care business, effective July 1, 2025. This includes DeWolf Chemical and Ross Organic, both Azelis companies. The BASF announcement is here. [Note this news is updated and corrrected as of May 7th, 8PM US Eastern. A previous version of the blog was worded incorrectly.] So now you know.

BASF sent me another press release that says: BASF expands sustainable chelating agent solutions with Trilon G. Why do I care and why am I printing this. Well, they go on to say.. BASF Care Chemicals has announced the launch of Trilon® G chelating agent, which utilizes GLDA (glutamic acid diacetate) chemistry. This latest addition to BASF's product portfolio complements the existing range of chelating agents, including MGDA (methylglycinediacetic acid) and EDTA (tetrasodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate). Now, I’m pretty sure I saw MGDA on the list of Tide Evo ingredients (in our blog a few months back) under the name trisodium dicarboxymethyl alaninate. I think they are the same right? Someone from BASF or P&G – the tipline is open.

In yet more BASF news, cocamidopropyl betaine is now available in a bio mass balance option. Read about it here.

I’m going to write something about tariffs at the end of the blog because I feel I have to as everyone else is. I’ll only write what I think I can contribute, which is not speculation. Others have that covered. In the meantime, this article in WSJ notes that the customs broker exam is a lot harder to pass than the bar. So how about that? Brings to mind that time – oh more than 30 years ago now, when various HTS jiggery pokery surrounded the movement of certain LAB from Mexico into the US. They were more innocent times for sure.

One of the complaints I’ve heard about the use of PCF (Product Carbon Footprint) measures for ingredients, surfactants or otherwise, is that there is no standardization and therefore it’s hard to make comparisons between companies and products. P&G put this out on Linkedin here. Apparently P&G Chemicals has achieved successful certification by TÜV Rheinland of our Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) calculation methodology under the Together for Sustainability (TfS) framework, based on ISO 14067. Gotta be good. I’d like to see many of the companies preaching green (but perhaps not really measuring the practicing) to sign on to something like this.

Speaking of P&G, they announced their Q3 earnings (ended March 31, 2025) as follows: [It seemed like a tough period].

Organic Sales Growth: +1% (driven by +1% pricing, +0% volume, neutral mix).
Net Sales Growth: (2)% (impacted by 2% negative foreign exchange and 1% negative from acquisitions/divestitures).
Core Earnings Per Share (EPS): $1.54, up +1% vs. prior year.
Currency Neutral Core EPS Growth: +3%.
Core Gross Margin: Decreased 30 basis points.
Core Operating Margin: Increased 90 basis points.
Adjusted Free Cash Flow Productivity: 75%.
Market Share: Global aggregate value share modestly down; 27 of top 50 category/country combinations held or grew share.
Segment Organic Sales Growth: Ranged from +4% (Health Care) and +3% (Grooming) to 0% (Fabric & Home Care) and -1% (Baby, Feminine & Family Care).

Market News:

In detergent range alcohols : Global fatty alcohol markets are experiencing significant upward price pressure, particularly in Asian and European mid-cuts. In Asia, this rise is driven by limited supply due to plant outages and elevated feedstock palm kernel oil (PKO) costs, alongside strong demand from the US ahead of a tariff deadline.

In the US, tariff actions have increased market volatility and are putting upward pressure on prices, encouraging domestic petrochemical consumption over imported alcohols. Mid-cut spot prices are trending above contracts, influenced by vessel delays, though upcoming arrivals might temporarily ease tightness. Suppliers are attempting to pass on tariff costs. The exclusion of certain non-ionic surfactants from tariffs could shift import patterns. Broader macroeconomic concerns, amplified by tariffs, are dampening sentiment.

Europe mirrors the trend with spot prices rising sharply due to persistent supply shortages, planned maintenance, and rebounding PKO values. Supply is expected to remain tight in the near term. Contract price negotiations are concluding with increases anticipated, continuing a recent upward trend. European mass balance premiums held steady. Key regulatory news includes the formal postponement of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) implementation. Upstream, crude oil prices softened but found some support on trade de-escalation hopes, while ethylene prices rallied. A US import ban on a major Malaysian producer (FGV) remains in effect.

Asian fatty alcohol ethoxylates : The Asian alcohol ethoxylates (FAE) market experienced continued upward price pressure, driven by sharply rising feedstock C12-14 fatty alcohol costs stemming from tight supply (due to plant outages and high PKO prices) and strong US pre-tariff demand. This led to higher spot offers for FAE in both Southeast Asia and China. Despite these cost pressures, overall demand remained tepid amid cautious market sentiment influenced by US-China trade tensions, tariff impacts, and reduced economic growth forecasts, limiting trades largely to smaller parcels. Upstream ethylene oxide prices in China held flat, weighed down by falling ethylene feedstock costs and weak downstream demand.

LAB : The Asian linear alkylbenzene (LAB) market held steady as suppliers resisted buyer attempts to secure lower values based on weakening upstream costs. Supply remained relatively snug, particularly from China due to limited feedstock normal paraffins availability, supporting seller resolve despite upcoming plant restarts post-maintenance. India's spot import market was quiet, hampered by a significant gap between buying and selling ideas. The downstream LAB sulfonate (LAS) market was largely stable, though buyers continued to seek lower prices reflecting upstream slippages. Margins for LAB are expected to improve as raw material costs decline, but buyers anticipate lower offers ahead due to weak upstream markets, even as Asian supply increases post-turnaround. Upstream benzene prices saw a rally but are generally expected to decline amid falling naphtha and pessimistic sentiment, despite some maintenance and arbitrage limitations. Key production news includes plant restarts in China and South Korea after turnarounds, a deferred maintenance in Iran, and ISU Chemical obtaining ISCC PLUS certification for bio-based production.

OK so Tariffs (one r and two f’s – so those claiming that they have no f’s left to give on this matter, may have overlooked that second f). My advice is to read the ICIS topics page. It is detailed and comprehensive and here https://subscriber.icis.com/intelligence/1e18c969-8ff1-4928-892e-72d2b8af9230 . Yes, you have to be a subscriber and no I really can’t just copy the key points here. I will say this though (as it’s not in the ICIS material) if you read the executive order here and the Annex of exceptions here, you’ll see that the following HTS code groups are excepted from the tariff measures. Conclude what you will. I see scope for future jiggery pokery with HTS codes.

34024210: Non-ionic organic surface-active agents, aromatic or modified aromatic

34024220: Fatty substances of animal, vegetable or microbial origin; non-ionic organic surface- active agents, other than aromatic or modified aromatic

34024290: Non-ionic organic surface-active agents, other than fatty substances of animal, vegetable or microbial origin, other than aromatic / modified aromatic

On a related regulatory front, we’ve talked here about the war on ethylene oxide. Well, from the EPA at least, there may be a chance of a two year ceasefire. Read this. Email them and argue your case.

Perusing my well-thumbed copy of India’s Business Standard I note that Godrej Industries acquires Savannah Surfactants' food additives business. Not a lot of detail in the article, except that Located in Goa, Savannah Surfactants has a manufacturing capacity of 5,200 MTPA of finished products. There we are. Good luck to both companies.

And finally, our world famous…

Music Section

This month, it’s Ska. The great Spotify algorithm took me back to a small portion of my youth listening to some great tunes by the likes of the Specials and Madness but not without first taking me back further to the music’s roots in Jamaica. Here we go.

The Skatalites with Dynamite. Challenge you not to move with this one

And Simmer Down (with Bob Marley)

And of course the Guns of Navarone

Which was later covered by the Specials

And here’s the original from the 1961 movie FYI. But why is this a ska favorite? C’mon best blog readers ever. Someone out there knows…

Madness probably did more than anyone to bring Ska to the masses. Here’s the saddest song ever of any genre. Guys (just the gentlemen first) – Have you ever been here? OK ladies - what about you? Anonymity guaranteed for all respondents.

This one starts like it could be sad, but I think it ends up happy – right?

And this – was your school like this? Mine kinda was… And it was great !

Oh what fun we had

But, did it really turn out bad

All I learnt at school

Was how to bend not break the rules

[Yep. Been my MO ever since..]

OK – let’s have something from Bad Manners and their wonderfully named singer, Buster Bloodvessel

You know The Specials had some great songs with very meaningful lyrics. This one is haunting and somewhat dystopian. Ghost Town.

There’s a lot. How about Gangsters by the Specials (Don’t call me Scarface!)

That’s it. See you very soon for Surfactants XV !! https://events.icis.com/website/8544/

Surfactants Monthly - April 2025

Surfactants Monthly - March 2025