Cardiff-based company helps create allergen aware cleaning product range
CONSUMERS have become more savvy than ever in questioning the origins and makeup of the products they are going to buy.
And it is allergen awareness and environmental impact that have contributed to the expansion strategy of Cardiff-based Genesis Biosciences, a global biosciences company specialising in safe and natural microbial products which are widely used across professional cleaning industries.
Genesis ranges are widely used everywhere from toilet facilities at large-scale event venues to multisurface use in schools.
The company recently launched its products with online giant Amazon, to accommodate a mass market of fickle yet discerning consumers, who are much more likely than ever before to flit between brands.
Since its foundation in 1998, the award-winning company has garnered a strong reputation across many industries, supplying products to more than 50 countries.
The Amazon launch now opens up the innovative cleaning range – previously popular with industry professionals – to the consumer market.
The market-leading Welsh biotech firm believes in delivering the most innovative, natural and performance-driven products and solutions with positive environmental impact in order to provide the highest value to their customers void of common respiratory risks, and this is why Amazon was so receptive to the brand.
The firm specialises in bacteria fermentation and being the first company to develop, manufacture and offer both microbial and antimicrobial products for the facilities management, waste water treatment (WWT) and marine industries.
It was Genesis Biosciences’ Newcastle-born CEO and founder Conrad Mielcuszny’s passion for innovation and developing disruptive technologies which formed the foundation of the highly scientific and dynamic organisation it is today.
“Our core scientific activities centre around the research and fermentation of beneficial bacteria and natural anti-microbial compounds, and then formulating them into products for a wide range of waste degradation and cleaning challenges,” explains Genesis’ general manager Dr Emma Saunders.
“We use the latest molecular and microbiological techniques to characterise the metabolic activity of our bacteria and select the correct bacterial strains to degrade ‘specific’ waste types, and that’s what is special or unique about our technology.”
A market leader in beneficial bacteria fermentation, Genesis is the first company to develop, manufacture and offer beneficiary bacteria to revolutionise the cleaning industry by helping people harness the cleaning power of nature in their own homes.
Based on discoveries made at its research laboratory in Cardiff, Genesis creates microbial technologies for use in a wide range of waste remediation, bio-augmentation and cleaning applications as well as innovative solutions for the safe and natural eradication of harmful bacteria using plant oils, essential oils and green chemistry.
Genesis Biosciences is the only company with a natural active ingredient for use in vapour-phase disinfection being registered under the European Biocidal Regulations.
Speaking on the new consumer market focus, Dr Saunders said: “The Amazon launch was an exciting moment in the history of Genesis Biosciences.
“The decision to extend our Evogen range to a wider audience now means that we can increase the positive impact that our research and products are having on the world’s cleaning challenges, reaching even further into people’s homes.
“As a market-leading company, our goal is to help you create a safer home environment for loved ones and to arm your home with products that are safer, less toxic and combat the damage done by traditional cleaners.”
The Evogen range was developed with an emphasis on improved performance, as well as ecological safety.
It does not utilise the harsh substances found in chemical cleaning products, and where most biological formulas include a single standard bacteria type for every application, the Evogen range has been specifically designed with tailored microbial strains which help to prolong cleaning efficacy.
Products are researched and fermented in Genesis’ state-of-the-art labs in Cardiff, and Lawrenceville, USA.
There is no doubt in Dr Saunders’ mind that Wales – specifically Cardiff – is the ideal location for Genesis’ European headquarters, alongside the US headquarters and fermentation facility which was acquired in 2008, to transform raw materials into innovative products.
“This brought scientific validation of all our products and gave us access to a whole library of bacillus and vertical markets,” says Dr Saunders.
“Wales is an important hub for scientific innovation in the UK. The proximity and exposure to leading academic research institutions, industry and government helps facilitate agile business collaborations and drives rapid commercialisation of novel, disruptive technologies.
“At Genesis, we pride ourselves on the level of scientific verification that we carry out on our products in our Cardiff laboratories, but importantly we are able to forge links with industrial partners to fully validate the efficacy of our products in realworld applications.
“These partners go on to become our customers and are important ambassadors for our pioneering technology.
“Being in Wales means we can validate our products really quickly with the industry partners right on our doorstep.”
In market sectors which are dominated by harsh and sometimes dangerous chemical cleaners, Genesis’ use of nature’s own toolbox to develop products that put end-user safety, social responsibility and environmental considerations first is innovative and at the heart of the company’s culture.
For Essex-born Dr Saunders, being at the forefront of science and seeing Genesis products work as real-life solutions is the real reward of her job.
Her day-to-day role is to manage both technical and commercial arms of the UK business.
She says: “I love developing technology solutions for real-world problems and actually seeing them successfully put to use.
“I feel a huge sense of pride that Genesis’ agile team produce products that have such a positive impact on society and the environment.”
Dr Saunders, who relocated to Cardiff from London after completing a PhD in molecular biochemistry 15 years ago, has built on her portfolio of expertise of biotech business with stints developing and supplying medical devices for the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases; researching and developing biorational pest-control technology; and developing and supplying ecobenign alternatives to harsh chemicals for a wide range of industrial bioaugmentation applications,
“I’ve been extremely fortunate to be part of a diverse range of biotechnology businesses within the thriving Welsh life science economy,” she says.
“My passion has always been in working with innovative technology that plays a direct role in addressing social and environmental challenges and it was Genesis Biosciences’ closely aligned company values and vision that first attracted me to working for them.”
Dr Saunders also contributes to a number of regulatory projects, frequently providing technical and regulatory support to customers and stakeholders, which include facilities management companies and large industry players like Tata Steel, which were seeking effective eco-benign alternatives to the traditional harsh chemicals in use.
Genesis Biosciences has invested over 35,000 man hours and in excess of £2.5m in research, trials and efficacy testing of their latest