Towards local production at L’Oréal thanks to French “BioPods”

To continue to offer natural and quality cosmetic products, brands will have to produce more locally. The French startup Interstellar Lab and its module “to recreate life” came to their aid and now L’Oréal has just made its merger official. Since June 2022 and its participation in the VivaTech show in Paris, the young company based between France and the United States has signed several large-scale contracts.

Already last month, the Grasse perfume group Robertet announced its order for a first “BioPod”, the name given to the first ultra-connected and intelligent greenhouse making it possible to reconstitute an entire ecosystem with an immensely lower quantity of water and a positive environmental impact. The latter is aimed at productions on Earth, but also in space. Interstellar Lab has already made NASA and ESA clients. It also has a presence at the Kennedy Space Center.

For everyone, the interest of being able to produce organic products nearby that require very specific environments. The BioPod developed by Interstellar Lab answers this, “by playing on temperature, humidity, CO2 level and brightness”, its founder, Barbara Belvisi, explained to us last year. To control everything, software based on artificial intelligence. And in terms of consumption, a 99% reduction in water and 20 times energy. All for a yield 300 times higher, says the startup.

L’Oréal’s objective with Interstellar Lab

L’Oréal, to maintain the use of organic products, has exposed itself to a significant environmental impact while the company is forced to source certain ingredients from the other side of the globe. A good example is vanilla, often imported from Madagascar. Its need for a tropical climate can be directly recreated in Ivry-sur-Seine, the French headquarters of Interstellar Lab. The “BioPods” will also be able to produce patchouli and vetiver, natural ingredients popular in these industries. An interest in the environment, the price of products, and therefore their quality.

The goal in the coming months is to expand the catalog of possible plants, to attract more and more customers to obtain supplies directly from Interstellar Lab or to equip themselves with its biodomes. L’Oréal has not yet announced any order, but has integrated the startup into its “Green Sciences Incubator” incubation program. Its objective with this program is to find its partners to achieve 95% of its organic products coming from abundant minerals or circular processes (by 2030).

“Interstellar Lab and L’Oréal will explore the potential of the BioPod to source various molecules and active ingredients”indicate the two companies in a press release.