DuPont Nutrition & Health (DuPont) has announced the opening of its new innovation center in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, later this summer.

The Innovation & Application Center, Japan, located in Kanagawa Science Park will provide solutions and innovations for Japan- and Korean-based customers primarily in the bakery, beverage and dairy industries. The facility will allow customers to work directly with DuPont scientists to develop solutions using our wide product range of customized system blends and dietary supplements so brand owners meet the changing needs of their local markets.

“This innovation center is designed to give our customers a deeper involvement in the development process, which will help us deliver the exact solutions they’re pursuing in a much shorter time span,” said Kobus de Klerk, global innovation leader, Nutrition & Health. “The face-to-face interaction will help us improve relationships with our customers and provide them with the full benefits of DuPont’s cross-functional solutions and our complete range of ingredients.”

The innovation center spans almost 700 square meters, making it the largest in Japan among international ingredient companies.

Several unique features and capabilities were incorporated into the facility’s design that will provide new innovations across many industries. The bakery lab features state-of-the-art equipment for making various breads and rolls, steamed cakes and doughnuts. The dairy area presents the capability to make various types of yogurts, fermented drinks, beverages and ice creams. In the micro-testing lab, stability tests can be conducted on the enumeration of probiotics with prototypes of customers’ products formulated with strains from DuPont Danisco. In the dry blend lab, customized system blends can be created with a granulator, compressed tablet machine and revolving pan.

“While this facility gives us incredible innovation potential, the real focus is on our customers and delivering solutions to solve the market challenges they face,” said Nobuaki Tsukagoshi, Japan sales leader, Nutrition & Health. “Japan has the world’s oldest population. This innovation center also would serve as a hub for senior food development that will allow other markets to leverage on our strong innovation capabilities, especially in the senior foods space.”