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Tetra Pak has officially opened its new Product Development Centre for Powder Process and Technology in Cholet, France.

The centre is designed to accelerate innovation and optimise processes for powder-formulated food and beverage products.

It forms part of the company’s Product Development Centre (PDC) ecosystem, enabling food producers to achieve food properties and functionalities, trial different formulations, and develop brand or product identities to enhance their go-to-market strategies.

The 340-square-metre site features a fully equipped pilot plant with modular production lines and modern powder-handling technologies, including its Air Jet Cleaning System and Production Control Ignition User Interface. It also house a dedicated testing laboratory to ensure quality, compliance and optimisation.

It supports manufacturers across the full innovation cycle from prototype to shelf – from raw material characterisation and formulation, through to pilot-scale simulation and industrial scale-up.

The PDC offers a library of more than 6,000 powder samples and testing instruments to support in-depth evaluation of powder properties and behaviours across applications. These can range from dairy and beverages to whey protein and functional nutrition products.

Food and beverage producers can validate recipes and processes before industrial roll-out, reducing the risk of costly errors and enhancing product quality. They can also trial sensitive or high-value ingredients under near-identical conditions to full-scale production, allowing them to minimise waste and prevent downtime.

According to Tetra Pak, its new facility can help food manufacturers to cut development costs and product loss, while increasing yield and accelerating time-to-market, as well as contributing to sustainability goals through more efficient and resource-conscious processing methods.

The plant features a modular set-up, enabling configuration of trials to each customer’s specific requirements for flexibility. Every trial can also be followed remotely via high-definition livestreaming with real-time interaction and detailed post-trial reporting. Customers can receive recordings, technical data and product samples, wherever they are in the world.

Charles Brand, executive vice president for processing solutions and equipment at Tetra Pak, explained that powder-formulated products have become part of everyday diets for many consumers with the rise in protein supplements, fortified beverages and other specialised nutrition offerings.

“Consumers want healthier, more convenient and sustainable options – but also greater choice and quality,” he explained. “For producers, this means constant innovation, rapid scale-up and flawless execution. Our new PDC is designed to help them achieve exactly that.”