About
Both chairs at the CMO table
I turn formulation science into products people buy — across beauty, personal and home care. Air Wick, Clearasil, Veet: brands I've taken from raw concept to full-scale commercialization, in labs on both sides of the Atlantic and factories on three continents. The part I own is the hardest one: the stretch between the lab bench and the shelf. Formulation chemistry, fragrance delivery, and the pilot-to-plant path that decides whether a great formula ever becomes a great product.
Brand side
At Reckitt, I protected $100M+ in annual revenue: launches planned across NA, EMEA and LATAM so products entered fast and stayed compliant. Growth and compliance in the same plan, not traded off.
Manufacturer side
I've spent the most recent stretch of my career on the manufacturer's side of the table (KDC One), scaling complex formulations into mass production for tier-1 CPG partners: $20M+ in new pipeline value, 6 months cut from time-to-market, and generative-AI workflows that cut concept-to-pitch time by 70%. I know what labs can deliver — and I know exactly where strong formulas die between the brief and scale-up.
What I bring
I build R&D organizations with porous boundaries: scouting external technologies, structuring startup and open innovation partnerships, and designing scale-up into the innovation process from day one. The breakthrough ingredients of the next decade are being built outside the majors' walls — my job is making sure they survive inside them.
End-to-end product development (concept to commercialization), tech transfer and process scale-up, compliance-driven formulation strategy (FDA, IFRA, REACH, CLP, CARB — 50+ launches I led, zero compliance flags), and scientific teams that ship. Builder and mentor of diverse, multilingual R&D teams across NA, EMEA and LATAM; holder of 3 patents in hair science and delivery systems.
Why I started the studio
Because the failures I kept seeing were rarely chemistry failures — they were handoff failures, and nobody owned the handoff. Atelier Première exists to own it, with both sides of the table's lessons applied to every project.
Confidentiality
Every engagement starts under NDA. I never use former employers' proprietary information — not Reckitt's, not KDC One's, not any client's — and your formulas, volumes and suppliers stay yours.
MBA, Technology Management — Stevens Institute of Technology · MSc, Chemistry — Université Lille 1 · 3 patents in hair science and delivery systems
Farid Moussouni
Founder, Atelier Première
What the work includes
On every engagement, that means:
- A formula and a plan a real plant can run, from first sketch to first production run
- Claims built to be proven, with the regulatory position read before the money moves
- The plant shortlist, the transfer, and a first run held on the floor, not from a desk
- Every risk named at every gate, with a go, fix, or stop call in writing
Have a product that needs to survive the plant?
Start with the 30-minute call. Bring the product idea, the category and format, and your launch date. I'll bring the questions nobody has asked you yet.