Designed to foster inspiration and creativity, DSM opened a state-of-the-art Nutrition Innovation Center in Parsippany, N.J. The company’s decades of experience in nutritional and specialty ingredient solutions will be available on demand to help manufacturers across several industries, including those in the beverage industry.

The New Jersey facility houses laboratories and sensory analysis facilities as well as a fully equipped pilot plant. These enable the company to optimize production processes, improve product quality, test new ingredients and analyze and evaluate a wide range of products, it says. The advanced regional applications laboratory will speed the development of tailor-made beverages, DSM says.

“Our new nutrition center is truly a ‘one-stop shop’ for innovation,” said Rick Greubel, president of Human Nutrition & Health with DSM Nutritional Products, in a statement. “It will enable customers to stay ahead in a highly competitive, constantly changing health and nutrition marketplace — whatever their target application.”

For the beverage industry, DSM provides comprehensive scientific and technical support that enable beverage manufacturers to develop innovative products that offer optimal nutrition, color, flavor, stability and consistency, it says.

Applications include ready-to-drink beverages, such as juices, nectars, carbonated soft drinks, energy and sports drinks, and enhanced water beverages as well as instant powders, meal replacement drinks, smoothies, base/compounds, and soy drinks.

Customers’ product development efforts are enhanced by colorimeter and multisource light boxes for viewing product samples and sensory evaluation rooms to accurately analyze and assess key product attributes, the company says.

DSM also offers the applied skills and proven tests that ensure the development of appealing and effective beverages, including color matching, prototyping, color and turbidity testing, analytical, stability and sensory testing, troubleshooting, scaling up and feasibility trials.

Technical support features hot-fill, aseptic and carbonated processing, as well as glass and PET filling with under N2 dosing, a blanking process to eliminate or reduce the oxygen level in the beverage. The facility also maintains temperature- and humidity-controlled storage chambers, as well as photostability chambers.

The innovation center includes areas for customers to check e-mail and other forms of communication. The company said the center was designed to engage its customers.

“The scope of this site really is unrivalled anywhere in the world,” said Hans-Christian Ambjerg, president of DSM Food Specialties, in a statement. “From this one location, DSM’s vast scientific knowledge will help manufacturers achieve faster product development, enhanced operational and cost efficiencies and, ultimately, increased profits.” BI