Brands
Garnier goes green: Will ditch virgin plastic, lower carbon emissions
MUMBAI: The Covid2019 pandemic seems to have accelerated the agenda for a greener and cleaner Earth. Sustainable living and environment-friendly actions are top of the agenda for consumers across the globe in 2021. An international survey commissioned by global beauty brand Garnier found that 81 per cent of global consumers want to be more sustainable in 2021, and 44 per cent respondents expect brands to facilitate this, thus proving the importance of green beauty offerings.
With these findings in mind, Garnier has launched its #GreenerWithGarnier initiative which aims to stop using virgin plastic for all packaging by 2025. The company plans to use either reusable, recyclable or compostable materials in all packaging under its sustainability programme, thereby cutting down on 37,000 tonnes of plastic productions every year. Moreover, it has already reduced its CO2 emissions at its factories and manufacturing sites by 72 per cent, it said.
The cosmetic brand further aims to achieve an improved environmental profile for all its new products, transforming all its industrial sites into 100 per cent carbon neutral locations by adopting renewable energy.
Calling 2020 ‘the wakeup call to protect our planet’ Garnier global brand president Adrien Koskas pledged in a statement to lessen the company’s impact on the planet and innovate for a sustainable future. “It will take time, but Green Beauty will transform Garnier, and we hope the beauty industry as a whole," he added. Moreover, from 2022, all plant-based and renewable ingredients used by the company for its products will be sustainably sourced, it noted.
The cosmetics company hopes to usher a huge shift in the way that the beauty industry operates with the launch of the Garnier Green Beauty campaign. A complete end-to-end approach to sustainability, the campaign aims to transform every stage of Garnier’s value chain, thereby reducing its environmental impact in the following ways: greener and cleaner formulas, more recycled and recyclable packaging, more renewable energies; also more actions to fight plastic pollution, by having more empowered communities worldwide as part of its solidarity sourcing programme.
Garnier India general manager Zeenia Bastani said that under the initiative, the company is also working with its suppliers and marginalised community. It has partnered with Plastics For Change to help with the social impact of plastic pollution. "Through this association, Garnier will support the holistic development of waste picker communities in India," it said. Plastics for Change supports education for children, healthcare, nutrition, financial literacy and empowerment of girls and women. By 2025, Garnier will empower 800 communities worldwide as part of its solidarity sourcing programme, she added.
As Garnier India’s brand ambassador, Bollywood actor John Abraham also endorsed his commitment towards the cosmetic brand’s green initiatives.
“With the continuous depletion of our environmental resources over the years, we firmly believe that individual contributions leading to a larger united front will help achieve the set goals,” said Abraham. “Through the Garnier Green Beauty initiative, we are offering an opportunity to all young ambitious Indians to come forward and join us in making small changes in your life today, contributing to a sustainable tomorrow and a greener future.”
The Green Beauty initiative also presents an annual global Sustainability Progress Report, offering complete transparency on Garnier’s commitments. The report can be tracked publicly via the Garnier website and states where Garnier stands today, mapping out the process of how the brand will reach its ambitious 2025 targets.
Brands
India, Uzbekistan launch pharma and nutraceutical trade corridor
New partnership positions Uzbekistan as gateway to a USD 10 bn Eurasian health market
TASHKENT: India’s pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries are getting a new route into Eurasia, and it runs through Tashkent.
The ministry of health of the republic of Uzbekistan has partnered with nutrify today and pharma eurasia to launch a structured indo–cis pharmaceutical and nutraceutical trade corridor. The initiative aims to streamline market access for Indian and global companies into the commonwealth of independent states and the wider Eurasian region.
The corridor brings together government policy support, industry leadership and a commercial platform designed to translate high-level discussions into actual trade deals. Pharma Eurasia 2026, scheduled in Tashkent from 20 to 22 May, will serve as the main marketplace where these opportunities are expected to materialise.
The timing is significant. The dietary supplements market across the CIS is already worth more than $ 5.8 billion annually, while the wider Eurasian nutraceutical sector is estimated at $ 7 billion to $ 10 billion and expanding quickly. Demand is being driven by rising interest in preventive healthcare, the spread of organised pharmacy chains and growing consumer appetite for vitamins, botanicals and functional nutrition products.
For Indian exporters, the corridor offers a structured entry point into these markets. The initiative also comes as regulatory systems across several CIS economies are tightening, creating greater demand for quality-certified products.
Uzbekistan is positioning itself as the region’s health industry gateway. In recent years the country has invested heavily in pharmaceutical parks, industrial clusters and regulatory reforms designed to attract foreign investment and manufacturing partnerships. Tashkent’s pharma park is intended to provide overseas pharmaceutical and nutraceutical firms with a clear pathway to establish production or distribution bases with government support.
The new trade corridor operates on what organisers call a dual-city model. Strategic dialogue and industry leadership discussions will take place in Mumbai through the sumflex and c-suite summit platforms, bringing together global CEOs, regulators and investors. The commercial follow-through will happen in Tashkent at pharma eurasia, where partnerships, regulatory engagement and buyer connections are expected to move deals forward.
Pharma Eurasia 2026 is designed as a meeting ground for manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, contract development and manufacturing organisations, distributors and regulatory experts from across the region. Under the new partnership, the exhibition will also function as the annual marketplace for the Indo–CIS health trade corridor.
Beyond trade deals, the corridor’s agenda includes regulatory harmonisation, digitalisation of supply chains, investment facilitation and joint research opportunities. Nutrify today plans to deploy AI-driven regulatory intelligence tools to support compliance and cross-border nutraceutical trade.
The ministry of health of the Republic of Uzbekistan first deputy minister of health and chairman of pharmaceutical industry development agency Abdulla Azizov said Ubekistan is well positioned to act as a strategic bridge between India and the CIS region while building a transparent, technology-enabled trade ecosystem.
Nutrify today MTI executive director Khasim said the initiative connects global leadership dialogue in Mumbai with a structured commercial platform in Tashkent, helping translate strategic discussions into executable trade architecture.
Tricornio technologies vice president and pharma eurasia project director m. harikrishnan said the platform aims to create a long-term, policy-aligned ecosystem where innovation, compliance and cross-border healthcare trade can grow in a sustainable and scalable manner.
The ministry of health of the Republic of Uzbekistan chief international relations specialist Kamila Mirzaeva said the collaboration introduces digital tools and transparent frameworks into a more institutionalised trade architecture, while also encouraging joint ventures in manufacturing, technology transfer and regional expansion.
With demand for preventive health products rising globally, the new corridor could offer Indian manufacturers a fresh gateway into a fast-growing Eurasian market while reinforcing Uzbekistan’s ambition to become a regional pharmaceutical hub.
