Unifarco relies on eco-design to assess impact
The company's green strategy between nutraceuticals and cosmetics
It is worth USD 143.7 billion in Europe and, according to the market research company Market data forecast, could reach USD 286.6 billion in 2034. Nutraceutics is no longer a niche dedicated to supplements, but a field where pharma intercepts health, prevention and functional ingredients. And this is where sustainability becomes a test bed: it is not just about packaging or processes, but about the origin of raw materials, traceability, use of water and soil, waste utilisation and scientific soundness.
Unifarco, a benefit company since 2021 and among the companies on the Sole 24 Ore-Statista Sustainability Leaders list, fits into this scenario with a model that reads nutraceutics within a broader ecosystem: supplements, dermocosmetics, research, pharmacy and territory. "Talking about sustainability today means combining effectiveness, safety and attention to the territory," explains Gianni Baratto, science & research vice president of Unifarco.
The key step is to overcome the separation between functional products and personal care. 'Nutraceuticals can become a bridge between pharma and beauty because it allows us to overcome a topical-only or functional-only vision of wellness, integrating support from the inside with cosmetic treatment from the outside,' Baratto emphasises. This is the 'in & out' model: solutions that flank supplements and external treatment, for example in the skin area, where efficacy comes from nutraceutical research, cosmetic formulas and natural ingredients.
Sustainability enters above all into the raw material. Unifarco has developed ingredients obtained by upcycling, valorising waste from already existing supply chains: conifer bark, vine residues, biomass from wood processing, flowers and agro-food by-products, from which extracts and active ingredients with a high functional value are created. The aim is to reduce waste and impact, protecting water, soil and energy and strengthening local supply chains. The method also counts. "Environmental sustainability is an integral part of the way Unifarco designs, develops and manufactures its products," says Baratto. In cosmetic formulation, the company has developed an eco-design process that assesses the impacts of raw materials, from emissions to resource consumption to effects on ecosystems. "The information collected is processed using proprietary software that supports researchers in their formulation choices, allowing them to identify the solutions with the lowest impact for the same effectiveness. More than 600 raw materials are analysed, the company explains, more than 90% of those used. And with this in mind, from the collaboration between Unifarco and the University of Padua, Unired was born in 2012, the spin-off that guarantees constant innovation for basic research on products intended for the well-being of the skin and the body.
In this process of circular sustainability, the pharmacy closes the circle: not as a simple sales channel, but as a point of contact with the user, where the study of microbiota, body composition and predispositions to ageing help to construct targeted advice and offer suitable solutions. "The pharmacy is where scientific innovation, prevention and the daily relationship with the citizen really come together," Baratto concludes.
