Omia Laboratories

Omia Laboratories is an Italian natural-cosmetics brand based in Cisterna di Latina, near Rome, that makes skincare, haircare and body products built around plant-derived ingredients and biotechnology. The company traces its origins to 1997, when the Angioletti family founded the holding company MGA [8][6]. Since July 2019 the brand has been owned by the Bolton Group, which bought it through its Manetti & Roberts subsidiary [8]. It has traded under several names over its history and now presents itself as Omia Laboratori Biotech.

The brand grew up in the Italian "ecobio" segment — natural and certified-organic cosmetics sold at everyday prices through mass-market channels — before shifting its public identity toward biotechnology.

Omia began as a family venture. According to a 2019 acquisition press release, the brand grew out of the pairing of Loretta Ricci, a homeopath and cosmetologist, and Mariano Angioletti, a sales manager with a background in multinational companies [8]. After marrying, the couple set up MGA in Cisterna di Latina in 1997, joined by their two sons, Gianluca, a pharmaceutical chemist, and Marco, a pharmacist and cosmetologist [8]. By the time of the 2019 sale, the company describes itself as having passed to this second generation.

The founding date is recorded inconsistently across sources. The Translink acquisition release and the English Wikipedia article on the Bolton Group both place the company's founding in 1997 [8][6]. The business database Tracxn instead lists 2009 [9] — the year Omia launched its first line of certified ecobio cosmetics for the mass market, which the brand counts as a separate milestone rather than its origin.

Omia's public timeline centres on a handful of dates. In 2009 it introduced what it describes as the first line of certified ecobio cosmetics in the Italian mass market. In 2017 the range obtained certification from The Vegan Society. The most significant event came in 2019, when the Bolton Group acquired the company.

Over the same period the brand cycled through several names, appearing as "Omia Laboratori Ecobio" during its ecobio era and as "Omia Laboratoires" in acquisition documents, before adopting its current "Omia Laboratori Biotech" positioning. Its former website, omialab.it, now redirects to omialaboratoribiotech.com, reflecting that rebrand.

On 1 July 2019 the Bolton Group acquired 100% of the share capital of Omia Laboratories through its Manetti & Roberts subsidiary, buying out the family holding company MGA [8][6]. Bolton is a Milan-based consumer-goods group founded in 1949, whose portfolio of roughly sixty brands includes Collistar, Borotalco and Somatoline [6]. Manetti & Roberts, formally the Società Italo Britannica L. Manetti H. Roberts & C. per Azioni, is a Florence company dating to 1921 that Bolton uses for much of its personal-care business [7]. Following the acquisition, Omia has continued to operate as a distinct brand within that structure.

Omia presents itself as a laboratory that selects natural-origin cosmetic actives and develops them using biotechnology. Its stated mission is to "create a new generation of effective cosmetics developed with Biotechnology," which the company calls a cutting-edge science. In practice this positioning combines two claims the brand returns to repeatedly: ingredients of natural origin, and efficacy validated by research. Omia says its products contain between 90% and 99% natural-origin ingredients as measured under the ISO 16128 standard.

The brand's catalogue spans face, hair and body care, organised into named lines. Its core ranges are Oxygenium, described as a purifying line; Metamorphosis, a set of targeted treatments; Idrophilia, a hydrating line; and Alimenta, positioned as nourishing and protective. Among the products it highlights as best sellers are the Metamorphosis anti-wrinkle face cream and serum, the Idrophilia hydrating cream-gel, and a micellar water from the Alimenta line.

Formulas draw on regional plant ingredients, including Aloe Vera from Salento and virgin Argan and Almond oils from Sicily, alongside Moroccan Argan oil. The company describes obtaining its active ingredients through three biotechnological methods: cell culture, which it says yields high-purity plant compounds from small quantities of plant material; biofermentation, in which microorganisms transform vegetable ingredients; and photo-bioreactors, which recreate marine growth conditions to cultivate hard-to-source species. Omia states that its products are validated by independent cosmetic research institutes measuring outcomes such as immediate hydration and anti-wrinkle action.

The whole range is described as vegan and free of animal-derived ingredients, and has held certification from The Vegan Society since 2017 [10]. The company also cites adherence to an international cruelty-free standard and reports testing its products for heavy metals. On packaging, it lists recyclable formats including bottles made from 100% recycled plastic, tubes that are 50% recycled, and recycled glass containers.

Omia Laboratories remains an active brand, but no longer an independent one: it has been part of the Bolton Group since the 2019 acquisition [8][6]. It continues to trade under the Bolton umbrella via Manetti & Roberts, maintaining a current product catalogue on its rebranded Omia Laboratori Biotech website. Beyond Italy, its products are distributed in several markets.