From humble beginnings in the 1930s, the Switzerland-based Mibelle Group has grown, organically as well as by acquisition, into a strong international group covering several areas: personal care and beauty, homecare, nutrition and biochemistry.
The Mibelle Group todays employs around 1,600 people spread over nine locations in Switzerland, UK, France, US and in South Korea. It is part of the Migros Group, Switzerland’s largest retail company and one of one of the 40 largest retailers in the world.
“Our goal is to pioneer and improve well-being, health and beauty for people overall and everyday,” its CEO, Dr Peter Müller, describes the underlying theme and purpose of the company. “To this end, we have different business units and different ways of approaching the market. We develop products for private labels, we have our own proprietary brand products, and we also develop active ingredients for both cosmetics and food supplements within our biochemistry business.”
Beauty from within
Innovation is a key word for the company, and the Mibelle Group’s products strive to meet the needs of the consumer of tomorrow. “Markets evolve very quickly. For example, cosmetics 10 years ago was very different from what it is today, and it will be very different in 10 years’ time. Therefore, we strive to look ahead, understanding and anticipating the consumer’s needs. The ability to innovate and anticipate future developments and the desire to meet our customers’ needs make the Mibelle Group a sought-after partner,” says Dr Müller.
Speaking about current trends, he notes that as the concepts of inner and outer beauty are coming closer, there is a clear shift in the market towards a greater awareness of health and well-being. This creates new opportunities for the Mibelle Group’s biochemistry business, the one that is expected to grow strongly in the coming years.
The Mibelle Biochemistry has already launched several products targeting “Beauty from within”, the result of inhouse scientists transforming innovative, naturally derived plant compounds into truly functional bioactive ingredients.
One example is the recently launched cosmetic ingredient with neuroactive power – TiMOOD™. Based on timut pepper, a spice plant from the Himalayas, the product is supposed to improve neuronal function in the skin and positively influence one’s mood.
“I believe that consumers are becoming better informed and will prefer in the near future a more holistic approach to health and beauty. It will not be only about stopping wrinkles and looking young but about enjoying good health, both physical and, specifically, mental.”
Awareness of sustainability and preference for ‘green’ products will also increase, he further reflects. Customers will continue to expect efficacy and performance, but sustainability will come more and more into focus.
In this respect, the Mibelle Group is already ahead of many others, as it belongs to the most sustainable retailer in the world. The company has set ambitious targets to reach by 2025 but Dr Müller emphasises that it is not future goals that are important, but today’s activities to reach them.
Green partnerships
And again, the Mibelle Group is very active in this area. Its partnership with the American company LanzaTech, a designer of a new CO2 recycling technology, has enabled the company to use alcohol (ethanol) obtained directly from exhaust gases in its liquid detergents and cleaning products. This innovative technology can also be used for their packaging, mainly consisting of PET and PE.
More recently, the Mibelle Group announced a collaboration with AeroFlexx, planning to launch a new type of eco-friendly, all-in-one packaging in Europe that combines environmental friendliness with consumer convenience. The packaging, which uses up to 85% less plastic than traditional rigid packaging, can incorporate recycled content without compromising durability.
The company has received numerous awards for its sustainability efforts, the latest being winning the 2023 Swiss Packaging Award in the Marketing category as well as the Public Award for the Limited Edition of the “Handy” cult brand of dishwashing liquid made of ocean-bound plastic.
Sustained resilience
CEO Dr Müller clearly states that the company’s growth has been driven by its people, the core of the business. “In these challenging times, you need to have good resilience within the organisation, strong values and a clear purpose, an organisation that is well prepared for the changes in the future. And therefore, for us, it’s also important to have the right people on board.”
It was the Mibelle Group’s workforce that carried the company forward during challenging times, with the business remaining robust and unscathed. “Despite the supply chain disruptions and the unstable geopolitical situation, we have remained well prepared to support our customers. At the same time, we remained focused on innovation, developing new products that have won numerous awards.”
“For me, managing the crisis while continuing to focus on innovation and sustainability and keeping the entire company financially sound and stable, has been the greatest achievement of recent times – the result of a lot of hard work internally but also our long-term relationships, based on trust, with both customers and suppliers.”
High-performance clean beauty
Dr Müller affirms that the Mibelle Group’s commitment to the sustainability of its products will continue to be a prime theme for the future. In line with its philosophy ‘Inspired by nature, realised by science’ the company’s research team will continue to refine naturally sourced components into highly effective active ingredients.
“The focus is on products that combine effectiveness, efficacy and sustainability. This reflects one of our company values – responsibility. Personal responsibility, meaning taking ownership, but also responsibility for the planet.”
“Sustainability and innovation are truly part of our DNA, and as the lines between health and beauty are becoming increasingly blurred, the concept of ‘well-being’ will become a key topic. Closely linked to well-being is resilience. These two concepts will become the big topics for the next 10 to 20 years, and our business will evolve accordingly.”
