DuPont innovation centre in Japan

THIS SUMMIER, DuPont Nutrition & Health (DuPont) is scheduled to open an innovation centre in Kanagawa Science Park, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

The Innovation & Application Centre, Japan allows customers in the bakery, beverage and dairy industries in Japan and Korea, to work directly with DuPont scientists in developing solutions using the company’s product range of customised system blends and dietary supplements so brand owners meet the changing needs of their local markets.

“This innovation centre 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.”

At nearly 700 square metres, the centre is the largest in Japan among international ingredient companies. 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, customised 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 centre 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.”