Synergy Flavors Inc., a supplier of flavors, extracts and essences for the global food and beverage industry, announced the groundbreaking of its new savory innovation center at its U.S. headquarters in Wauconda, Ill.

“In May 2021, we acquired Innova Flavors to better meet our customers’ growing demands for savory ingredients, natural flavorings and expanded plant-based offerings,” vice president of R&D and innovation Mike Brown says. “This expansion brings all of our business segments under one roof, strengthening our offerings and positioning us to better serve our customers.”

The new 12,500-sq.-ft. savory innovation center will feature dedicated space for flavor development, laboratories where customers are welcome to work alongside Synergy’s technical team and a state-of-the-art applications lab that will replicate its customers’ commercial kitchens and processing conditions. It will also include a culinary demonstration kitchen for Synergy to host tasting and innovation sessions with its customers.

A pilot plant for customer sample production, scale-up and flavor intermediates will be housed inside the savory center. The plant will feature pilot spray dryers, flavor reactors, vacuum drying and retort capabilities.

This expansion follows last year’s addition to Synergy’s research and development center for the sweet, beverage and nutrition markets.

“The new savory center will increase efficiency and allow for greater cross-functional collaboration between the teams,” President and CEO Rod Sowders says. “We continue to make significant investments in our future, to continue to be the go-to flavor company for all of our customers’ product line needs.”

Construction began on the savory innovation center in July and is expected to be completed December 2022.