Tate & Lyle Opens Innovation Center Near Chicago

Tate & Lyle today officially held the grand opening of its new Commercial and Food Innovation Centre in the Hoffman Estates suburb of Chicago. The company says that the 110,000-sq-ft facility is designed to facilitate innovation and collaboration with customers on new food and beverage products “that satisfy consumers’ increasing demand for health, convenience, value, and taste, and to significantly accelerate their delivery to market.”

Moreover, the center will be considered the “cornerstone” of the firm’s global network of research, food application, and technical support laboratories. It will serve as the global headquarters of the firm’s Innovation and Commercial Development unit, as well as the North American headquarters of the company’s Specialty Food Ingredients division.

The company says that the new facility includes advanced food science research and processing laboratories, applications and technical services laboratories, a culinary demonstration kitchen, consumer insight and sensory testing facilities, and pilot plant and prototype manufacturing facilities.

“The new [center] will enable us to collaborate more closely with our customers and deliver the creative solutions they need to stay ahead in today’s fast-paced and evolving global marketplace,” said Karl Kramer, president, innovation and commercial development, at the opening ceremony.