FrieslandCampina Ingredients has expanded its North American innovation footprint with the opening of a new application centre in New Jersey, designed to accelerate high-protein product development.

The state-of-the-art facility is designed to help customers bring new products to market more quickly by offering localised technical support, formulation expertise and real-time product testing.

Located within the company’s North America sales office, the centre serves as an extension of FrieslandCampina Ingredients’ Global Innovation Center in Wageningen, the Netherlands.

The opening forms part of the company’s broader strategy to build a global network of regional application centres, following the launch of a similar facility in Singapore last year. Together, the centres are intended to bring research and development capabilities closer to customers and support faster innovation tailored to regional consumer trends.

The investment comes amid sustained growth in demand for high-protein foods and beverages across North America.

According to consumer research cited by the company, 40% of US consumers consider high-protein claims an important purchase driver when shopping or dining out, while 8 in 10 Americans prioritise protein in at least one daily eating occasion.

As consumers increasingly seek products that balance nutritional benefits with strong sensory performance, manufacturers are under pressure to deliver formulations that maintain taste, texture and stability while increasing protein content.

FrieslandCampina Ingredients said the New Jersey application centre was specifically developed to support these formulation challenges. The facility features advanced processing and testing equipment, including a homogeniser and food-grade autoclave, enabling developers to evaluate ingredient performance under commercial processing conditions.

Enhanced analytical capabilities also allow teams to assess stability, texture and functionality with greater precision, helping ensure that prototypes developed in the lab can scale successfully to commercial production.

Auke Zeilstra, regional sales director for North America, said: “This application centre is more than a new facility; it is a strategic investment in how we support our customers in North America."

The company emphasised that the centre is designed to foster closer collaboration with customers through hands-on product refinement and technical troubleshooting, reducing development timelines and minimising costly trial-and-error during formulation.

Zeilstra continued: “With our enhanced innovation capabilities, we’ve now got the ability to work even closer with customers to solve formulation challenges and bring products to life faster. This investment, coupled with recent acquisitions in the region, strengthens both our on-the-ground application support and ingredient supply capabilities.”

The new centre further positions FrieslandCampina Ingredients to capitalise on growing demand for functional nutrition solutions, particularly in categories such as ready-to-drink beverages, sports nutrition, dairy-based products and fortified snacks.