The knowledge you need to go from seed to supermarket

Work with highly trained and experienced food professionals who have worked the entire product continuum, from raw materials and prototyping to manufacturing and commercialization.

Product ideation

Looking to expand your current product line to be more attractive to consumers and investors? Want to grab a piece of the growing plant-based food market? Our team has helped countless food companies create exciting new product ideas, and we can do the same for you. We’ll lead you in group sessions using proven innovation disciplines to come up with your next big product.

Product research

Need more information to help determine the course of your next plant-based food product? Our experienced research team will uncover everything you need to know. 

• Marketing: Establish a strong marketing plan for your product. We can identify your target audience along with their needs, wants and the best marketing strategy for reaching them.
• Consumer focus groups: Shape your product ideas with input from your ideal customers, ensuring you’re aligned before you spend on production.
• Sensory testing: Maximize your product’s appeal with sensory services, offered at our Raleigh campus. We’ll help optimize your product’s flavor, color, texture, format and packaging. 

Product and process development

Move your product from an idea on paper to a delicious (and efficient) result, ready for production. We’ll start by perfecting a prototype in our test kitchen and quality assurance lab, then scale it up to a commercial formula in our state-of-the-art pilot plant. All while keeping your goals of great taste, low cost and other efficiencies in mind.

Product development lab features

• 740 sq. ft. of product development and test kitchen space
• 175 sq. ft. of QC/QA laboratory space
• 160 sq. ft. of collaborative meeting space
• Product analysis and test equipment, including viscosity, Brix, pH, texture, and microbiological
• Walk-in and reach-in refrigerators and freezers
• 2 dishwashers, hand washing and lab sinks
• Laminar flow and fume hoods
• Library of food ingredients
• Incubators and environmental chambers
• Coffee bean roaster and peanut butter mill
• Walk-in refrigerators and freezers

Test kitchen appliances

• Commercial stove and griddle
• Deep fryer
• Charbroiler
• Convection oven
• Assorted refrigeration and freezing capability
• Commercial microwave

A pantry’s worth of product applications

We can help you produce just about any plant-based food product you can imagine:

• Beverages – still, fortified, alcoholic
• Baked Goods – nutrition bars, breads, sweets, and other bakery traditions
• Confectionary – fillings, coatings, panned
• Sauces – sweet and savory
• Snack foods – extruded and seasoned (2021)
• Prepared meals – vegan and vegetarian, refrigerated and frozen finished products and kits
• Meat-analogues (2021)
• Cereals and pastas (2021)