IFF expands Europe Innovation Hub with two new flavour labs

22-03-23 / 3 min read

Women and man standing in laboratory smelling liquids from small glasses

Image credits: IFF

International Flavours & Fragrances (IFF) – developer of solutions for food and beverages, health, biosciences, and scent – has announced the addition of two new flavour labs at its Europe Innovation Hub in Braband, Denmark. The labs, which will be dedicated to the development of sweet and culinary flavours.

The expanded space is expected to help local and regional manufacturers work collaboratively with a new team of flavourists, who will introduce them to the latest modulation technologies and help to build new solutions for the dairy, bakery, beverage, snacks, culinary, bars and confectionery end markets.

“This expanded facility is a testament to our continued investment in innovation to meet evolving consumer expectations,” said Jan Bechtel, Europe Regional President of the Nourish division at IFF. “We will continue to build on our deep expertise and scientific knowledge and invest in tools and products to bring what matters most to consumers in the market: creating the next generation of delicious, healthy and experiential food and beverages.”

In the new labs, the teams will also have access to a large library of proprietary flavour ingredients that will help them develop new and unique flavours with masking, sweetness and umami properties.

Flavourists can also use IFF’s latest research innovations in plant-based and biotechnology, as well as pilot plant manufacturing, ingredient expertise, and evaluation studios, to help them with end-to-end product design.

“We’re thrilled to launch these flavor labs,” said Laurens Reiber, Creative Director for Europe, at the Nourish division of IFF. “Brabrand is already a massive innovation center, and its location helps us better understand local market preferences and deliver trending global flavors. Now we’re investing further to boost our speed-to-market capabilities and to bring greater value to our partners.”

The expansion of the Europe Innovation Hub is the latest in a string of investments IFF has made of late in its Northern Europe R&D. Last summer saw the completion of the Culinary Design Center in Denmark, which offers plant-based expertise to global cuisine developers as well as the opportunity to co-create new product experiences that satisfy the growing consumer demand for the plant-based food and drink. To quicken the process of getting an idea to commercialisation stage, the space also has a high-end pilot manufacturing site for plant-based foods and a studio for livestreaming and performing remote sensory evaluation.

IFF was one of five companies sharing their latest development expertise in ingredient innovation at Food Matters Live’s Taste of Better event held earlier this month. IFF served inventive dishes including crostini topped with olive tapenade and plant-based parmesan as a starter, followed by meatless pork scratchings with bacon with blueberry compote and maple syrup, and vegan ‘beef’ Rendang, all washed down with a zero-alcohol elderflower champagne style drink.