Groupe Berkem, a French provider of bio-based chemicals, is taking over Laboratoires Eriger and their patented encapsulation technology [1] for botanical active ingredients.
Founded in March 2019 in Tours, France, by Éric Buchy and Gérald Chomat, Laboratoires Eriger offers its customers an innovative solution for encapsulating plant-based active ingredients using chlorophyll.
Thanks to the physico-chemical properties of chlorophyll, the active molecules are encapsulated in small capsules, invisible to the naked eye, which protect them from the external environment and prevent premature degradation (loss of efficacy). These capsules, which are stable under different conditions, can be used, for example, to solubilize a fatty substance in an aqueous environment, offering formulators new outlook in the design of finished products. Named PhytoVec, this technology thus offers improved stability of botanical active ingredients, facilitates their use in formulations and enhances their efficacy. The technology also protects fragrance molecules, enhances sensorial features, and helps reducing the use of preservatives in cosmetic and personal care applications.
“Their patented PhytoVec technology, which micro-encapsulates plant active ingredients thanks to the chlorophyll they contain, is a major breakthrough that we intend to deploy to its full potential,” says Olivier Fahy, Chairman and CEO of Groupe Berkem.
Laboratoires Eriger’s production tools will be transferred to Berkem’s industrial site in Chartres, which is currently dedicated to freeze-drying, a sublimation low- temperature drying technique for plant materials and sensitive products.
“In markets constantly seeking naturalness, the integration of Laboratoires Eriger’s active ingredients represents a major step forward, enabling us to offer our customers and prospects ever more innovative solutions,” Fahy continues.
Thanks to the PhytoVec technology, Groupe Berkem is now able to produce micro-encapsulations in chlorophyll-based products such as hydroalcoholic solutions and serums. The group is also working on integrating certain products developed by Laboratoires Eriger into its own range of cosmetics.
“The acquisition of Laboratoires Eriger’s activities by Groupe Berkem represents a genuine industrial continuity for PhytoVec technology. I’m delighted by Groupe Berkem’s ambition, embodied by Olivier Fahy and his teams, to make PhytoVec technology an essential reference in the field of encapsulation of plant active ingredients. I am convinced that our shared know-how will be the driving force behind our future success. It is therefore with great enthusiasm that I join Groupe Berkem in this new journey, with the aim of making plants an essential pillar of tomorrow’s chemistry,” adds Eric Buchy, CEO of Laboratoires Eriger.
The transaction was close March 6, 2025, and the financial terms have not been disclosed.
