FDBusiness.com

Nestlé Health Science has inaugurated its new Nestlé Product Technology Center at Bridgewater, New Jersey in the USA. The event marks the completion of a three-year, US$70 million investment to establish a global research and development hub that will advance the company’s offerings in further elevating the power of nutrition to make a positive difference in people’s lives.

The Nestlé Product Technology Center in Bridgewater is the lead Product Technology Center for Nestlé Health Science globally, part of a strong network of R&D centers that drive Nestlé Health Science’s mission to empower healthier lives through nutrition.

“The opening of the Nestlé Product Technology Center comes at an exciting time, when the potential for science-based nutritional solutions is accelerating,” says Thomas Hauser, Senior Vice President, Head of Global Product & Technology Development for Nestlé. “With this advanced center leading the way, we’re able to leverage Nestlé’s global R&D efforts here in New Jersey to rapidly translate science into innovation for consumers, patients and healthcare professionals. We’re also advantaged by the fact that the facility is co-located with the US headquarters of Nestlé Health Science, allowing for deep integration between the R&D and commercial sides of the business in our largest market.”

Greg Behar, chief executive of Nestlé Health Science.

Home to more than 170 employees, the Bridgewater facility is equipped with advanced capabilities across the R&D lifecycle – from ideation and rapid prototyping to sensory science, production and commercialization. The Nestlé Product Technology Center also plays a critical role in advancing the company’s efforts to reduce packaging and produce lighter weight products, part of Nestlé’s global ambition to make 100 percent of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025.

“We approach sustainability as the right way to do business,” said Greg Behar, CEO of Nestlé Health Science. “Our science-driven nutrition portfolio continues to evolve towards cleaner recipes based on more sustainably sourced ingredients, while improving our environmental footprint including packaging.”

The Nestlé Product Technology Center became fully operational in August with the completion of its pilot plant and is already driving innovation. It recently renovated Boost Kid Essentials to reduce sugar, remove artificial colors and simplify ingredients, was instrumental in the launch of Compleat Organic Blends, a line of nutritionally complete tube-feeding formulas that are organic and non-GMO, and introduced new formulas for Boost and Carnation Breakfast Essentials, providing more protein. These launches deliver on consumer demand for simplified formulas, organic alternatives and higher levels of protein. Moving forward, the organization continues to look at consumer needs, the latest science and the latest nutritional guidance to deliver the most advanced products for consumers so that they have options and can choose the best one for them.

Nestlé Health Science employs around 4,400 people worldwide and is headquartered in Epalinges (near Lausanne), Switzerland.