NEW CENTURY, KAN. — International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF) announced Aug. 15 it has completed a 3,700-square-foot expansion of its North American Creation and Design Center in New Century, which combines the company’s flavor and ingredient insights with its food design capabilities to support its clients’ product development innovation initiatives.

The expansion includes a new lab dedicated to pet food product development, as well as two new flavor creation labs and expansions of its existing food application design labs for dairy products, bars, and culinary and bakery innovations.

The new pet food lab will provide pet food and treat manufacturers access to high-quality ingredients, flavors, and product design expertise and tools to innovate in a category expected to reach $58 billion in sales in 2023, according to Euromonitor International.

“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 flavors, 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 flavors with a deep understanding of consumer behavior.”

According to IFF, the expansion makes the North American Creation and Design center the second-largest creative center across the continent. The center is equipped with six state-of-the-art pilot facilities and 10 laboratories.

The inclusion of two new flavor creation labs mark the first time IFF’s flavor experts will be based at the New Century plant. One lab will be dedicated to sweet flavors, while the other will work with savory flavors. These experts will work alongside those in existing product categories, including for pet food product application and design.

“Product development cycles are shorter today, so it’s essential to be nimble,” said Debra Missel, regional creation and 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.”

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