Chief Executive Officer, Ingredients & Specialties, Univar Solutions LLC
Global Day of Innovation: Welcome from Univar Solutions President Nick Powell
As a destination for innovation, this event showcases the Univar Solutions global Solution Centers, our state-of-the-art laboratories and test kitchens making the difference in the specialty chemical and ingredient space.
This global ecosystem of innovation creates cutting-edge, real-world solutions with a simple goal in mind—to help customers and suppliers find practical answers to their technical challenges.
See first-hand how our experienced team of chemists, food scientists, and technical innovators collaborate and accelerate product solutions around the world: https://www.univarsolution...
Transcript (2 segments)
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Nicholas Powell0:11
Hello, I'm Nick Powell, president of Univar Solutions, a $3.3 billion global ingredients and specialties business, and I'm proud to welcome you to our global day of innovation. At Univar Solutions, we have built a global ecosystem of innovation with a simple goal: to help our customers and suppliers find practical answers to their technical challenges, enhancing and speeding up their product commercialization. We accomplish this in several ways. First, we have built the premier portfolio of specialty ingredients and chemicals in the world. Our global supply base entrusts us to bring their products to market through our sales, marketing, and technical capabilities. Delivering cutting-edge solutions is easier with such an innovative and diverse portfolio. Second, our sales, marketing, and product management teams are aligned to specific industries, leveraging global scale and local touch to work intimately with customers on their next commercial success. Finally, innovation—our secret sauce—our global team of PhDs, chemists, food scientists, regulatory experts, and technical leaders develops solutions for customers and suppliers in our global solution centers and alongside their R&D facilities. This ecosystem relies on localized expertise through our global network, bringing the right solutions to the right customers at the right time. Today, we'll show how our team collaborates to accelerate product solutions worldwide. Welcome to Destination Innovation, our network of state-of-the-art laboratories and test kitchens. You'll join technical forums with first-hand demonstrations from our scientists, showing technology for on-trend products. Sessions will cover big-picture trends in various markets and geographies. Peek into our newest centers: Essen on vegan trends, Chicago's Hatchery on plant-based proteins, Houston on sustainability in adhesives, São Paulo on polyurethanes. Trend experts will discuss active nutrition and sustainable cleaners. Whether solving challenges or testing prototypes, our world-class team is here to help. Explore relevant topics and reach out with questions. Welcome to Destination Innovation—may this be the first of many global innovation days. I'm excited to leave you in the hands of our innovators. Dr. Mint, take it away.
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Andrew Mint5:05
Thank you, Nick, and thanks for joining our global day of innovation. I'm Dr. Andrew Mint, director of global solution centers for Univar Solutions. No one is happier than I am to have you here to hear from our global team of scientists, food scientists, and application development specialists. This team combines ingredients, human ingenuity, and innovation to accelerate time to market, solve complex challenges, and deliver solutions. Our flagship centers in Houston, Chicago, Essen, Paris, Shanghai, São Paulo, and Mexico City serve every industry and geography, working closely with customers, suppliers, and global teammates. With experts worldwide, you're never far from help with formulation challenges. Through a hub-and-spoke model, we deploy teams cross-functionally to share insights and collaborate. We have nearly 30 centers offering regional technical insight supported by a global network—a winning combination. Whether entering new geographies, expanding products, or responding to trends, regulations, or supply issues, we bring depth and breadth of expertise and ingredients. Today's sessions showcase this in lab demonstrations, recipe testing, trend research, and more, separated by industry for easy navigation. Join live Q&A and interact with our technical teams. As a premier specialty ingredient company with deep technical services, Univar Solutions is a trusted partner connecting you to molecules, chemistry, and innovations for success. Contact us at [email protected] or via chat comments. Now, to the program. Innovating at the intersection of science, technology, and market trends, creating sustainable solutions, resolving technical challenges, and redefining distribution. We work with leaders to tackle a changing world, powered by our global network of solution centers, labs, and kitchens. Pioneering formulations while focusing on real-world solutions. A solution center is a hub where scientists solve problems and make customers' lives easier. Our main centers are innovation hubs, coordinating across global labs. We solve local challenges with global solutions at scale, adapting to market demands. Understanding local markets while tapping into global brainpower is key. For example, beauty care experts in Houston, Paris, and São Paulo collaborate quickly, learning from each other to meet market needs. Cross-fertilization occurs across industries, like using chemistry from cleaning products in new applications. Our centers are backed by chemistry, market intelligence, and ingenuity for next-generation solutions. We start with market intelligence, regulatory knowledge, sustainability practices, and consumer demands. Sustainability is forefront, finding practical ways to make environmental and social differences, promoting energy efficiency, and acting as planetary stewards. But great lab ideas aren't enough; we share trends, best practices, and solutions digitally. Digital connectivity is key—we're investing in technology to digitize everything. Innovation drives collaboration, growth, and solutions that transform our world, keeping communities healthy, fed, clean, and safe—that's the Univar Solutions difference.