rezemo GmbH & Kneipp

Waiblingen, 2022-04-28 The requirements on the cosmetics industry are high: In addition to natural and high-quality ingredients, consumers are increasingly demanding sustainable packaging for creams, soaps, etc. By developing wood fiber-based products, the company rezemo offers a unique alternative to well-known plastics with their brand forewood. With Kneipp, a manufacturer of bath, body care and health products based in Würzburg, a cooperation partner has now been found that is actively involved in the development of concrete product ideas and can bring these into the bathroom at home via its own product portfolio.

With its pilot product, the rezemo wooden coffee capsule, the young company from Waiblingen near Stuttgart shows how sustainable packaging of the future will look like. The main component of the forewood materials are wood fibers, which are a residual material from the wood-processing industry. All the wood comes from PEFC-certified forests in southern Germany - the region from which both cooperation partners also are based. Combined with binders made from plant starch, the result are materials that contain only renewable raw materials. "Conventional plastics consist primarily of fossil crude oil and various additives," explains rezemo founder and CEO Julian Reitze. To reduce emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases, the exploitation of fossil resources such as crude oil must be stopped. That's just one of the problems the company is solving with forewood. "Our products are free of critical ingredients and completely plant-based." The sustainable concept is complemented by transparent and regional supply chains with short distances in southern Germany.

For rezemo, winning Kneipp as a cooperation partner represents an important step on the way from coffee capsules to cosmetics packaging. "We are working to replace plastic in our packaging with sustainable alternatives. The story behind rezemo and the forewood material made me curious. I'm looking forward to working with them," says Philipp Keil, Head of Packaging Materials Management at Kneipp.

The potential applications of the material group are diverse: from closures for tubes and jars to functional parts, various products can be realized from forewood. Kneipp is considered a pioneer in the industry regarding sustainability and already uses cork and other bio-based materials for packaging many cosmetic products. "We are particularly pleased about this - with Kneipp we have a partner at our side who actively promotes sustainable innovations," emphasizes Reitze.

More information on forewood at www.forewood.de .

About rezemo

The team of rezemo has set itself the goal of bringing the most sustainable alternative to conventional plastic packaging to the market. The two founders Julian Reitze and Stefan Zender started in 2018 in Stuttgart with the rezemo wooden coffee capsule, which consists entirely of renewable raw materials. The feedback is positive, demand is increasing, and soon more product ideas are emerging: rezemo moves to its new location in Waiblingen at the end of 2019, sets up in-house production there, and the development team is working on further sustainable packaging solutions. With the launch of the forewood brand at the beginning of 2021, the company is intensifying product development and implementing forward-looking projects in the cosmetics, food and agriculture sectors on the basis of its materials and process technology.

About Kneipp

For 130 years, the traditional Kneipp® brand has stood for effective, innovative, and natural products for well-being and health based on the holistic teachings of Sebastian Kneipp. Naturopathic expertise and pharmaceutical

experience, state-of-the-art production processes and careful scientific controls vouch for the quality of Kneipp products, which has been tried and tested for generations. The Kneipp Group, headquartered in Würzburg, operates worldwide with nearly 700 employees, of which about 500 are in Germany, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of PAUL HARTMANN AG, Heidenheim.