IFF flavour and fragrance group unveils major US facility upgrade

pic: IFF

Posted: 23 August 2023

Related core topics: Business news, Cocoa & chocolate, Ingredients, Processing, Regulatory, Sustainability

Related people: Carmen Cain

The IFF flavour and fragrance group has confirmed the completion of its newly-enhanced North American Creation and Design centre in New Century, writes Neill Barston.

As the business explained to Confectionery Production, its latest 3,700 upgraded square foot facility brings together the company’s flavour and ingredient expertise with its food design capabilities to better support the growth of the region’s food industry.

The infrastructure improvement includes the addition of two new flavour creation labs, the expansion of existing food application design labs for dairy, bars, culinary and bakery, and a new lab solely for pet food development.

The New Century facility is now the company’s second largest creative center in North America and houses ten labs, and six state-of-the-art pilot plants, which serve two purposes: – providing better customer support and enhancing innovative product development.

“Our capability expansion in New Century provides a significant advantage to our customers,” said Carmen Cain, regional president for IFF’s Nourish division. “By integrating flavours, ingredients, and food design in one space, we can increase our speed-to-market while offering a breadth of knowledge and resources across multiple food categories. This investment strengthens our end-to-end IFF Product Design approach in which we reimagine future-proof concepts and experiences by combining our expertise in ingredients and flavours with a deep understanding of consumer behaviour.”

The two new flavour creation labs – for sweet and savoury flavours, respectively – mark the first time flavorists will be based at the New Century facility. The expert flavorists will develop alongside the dairy, bakery, bars, culinary and pet food product application and design teams. ​

“Product development cycles are shorter today, so it’s essential to be nimble,” explains Debra Missel, regional creation & design director for North America. “Having flavorists on-site working side by side with our product application and food design experts enhances our ability to rapidly create total product solutions that address both functionality and taste. In fact, New Century has one of the largest dairy and cereal bar pilot plants in North America. This investment benefits our customers because it streamlines their development times, getting products to the shelf that much faster.”

Another highlight is the addition of a dedicated lab to serve the North American pet food and pet treat segment, a strong category projected to generate $58 billion in 2023, according to Euromonitor. This is a first for the New Century Creative Centre, it now enables pet food manufacturers to have full access to high-quality ingredients, flavours, and product design resources.