CED’s Annual Meetings came into being in 1968 following the 5th International Congress on Detergents and Surfactants, held in Barcelona the same year. The success of the congress gave rise to the idea of organizing an annual meeting that would provide continuity to the event that year and to allow the continuation of contacts and exchange of ideas with specialists from other countries, while at the same time being a source of technical and scientific information.

Over the years, the CED Meetings have become a gathering point for an ever-increasing number of scientists, specialists and business people from the fields of surfactants, detergents, cosmetics and similar products, and is now considered to be one of CED’s major aims.

Although the venue for most of the annual gatherings has been Barcelona, other Spanish cities have hosted the event. Particular mention should be made of the 37th Annual Meeting, held in Seville in 2007 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of CED.

Introduction