Kemin opens Bakery Innovation Center, and expands its portfolio of baking ingredients

Bakery Innovation Center. Image courtesy of Kemin Industries

Kemin Industries (Des Moines, IA) has opened a new Bakery Innovation Center at its global headquarters, a $1.5 million investment. The 2,300 square foot facility features an analytical lab, ingredient blending and small batch capabilities, pilot scale product capabilities, and an accelerated stability facility to evaluate the shelf life of baked goods. This allows Kemin and its customer-partners to accelerate product development.

“This is a really exciting time for Kemin and our team as our new Bakery Innovation Center opens,” said Courtney Schwartz, marketing director, Kemin Food Technologies, in a press release. “This center expands our bakery footprint and introduces new capabilities made possible with the latest technology and a dedicated team of experts. Investing in and expanding our team of bakery experts was just as important as building this facility because we are working together with our customer-partners to develop a new generation of bakery products that are sure to exceed consumers’ expectations.”

On top of Kemin Food Technologies’ existing portfolio of plant extracts, antioxidants and mold-inhibiting products, the bakery expansion also includes the launch of batch packs, premixes, emulsifiers and enzyme blends specific to flatbreads and baked goods.

“Our new facility is a game-changer for our bakery business, as it gives us the opportunity to work more closely with our customer-partners,” said Anita Srivastava, PhD, CFS, senior product development manager, bakery applications, Kemin Food Technologies, in a press release. “We provide support to customers by helping them understand the process and science behind our ingredient solutions. The Bakery Innovation Center gives us a way to screen and test all new ingredient solutions and processing parameters to ensure success, which is really exciting. The Bakery Innovation Center brings together our scientists from different areas to learn and evaluate the commercial process in house, saving time and creating cost advantages, as extensive travel is no longer required. Now, we do not have to wait for a commercial facility to become available in order to run trials.”