| “From new product-development concepts to refining existing products,” says Ratz, “if you look at the capabilities of the Innovation Center, I think of it as a culinary center, pilot plant and sensory capabilities all under one roof. It’s a gateway to helping our customers add value to their products.” It also streamlines the R&D process by reducing the number of outside variables a company needs to consider when approaching a project. Trend and market analysis also factors into this equation, and Ratz notes that the company added a marketing department to handle that a couple of years ago: “It’s a nice complement to the Innovation Center, where we’re able to go out and talk about health and wellness, flavor trends, consumer attitudes toward label-reading, what the consumers’ feelings are for a certain niche within the food industry, and then go and educate our customers in these areas—even convenience factors like meals eaten inside the home vs. outside the home.” The marketing arm researches a range of vital questions. “Are people focusing more on the center of the plate or side dishes? Do they want to add more than two or three ingredients in their home? Do they want to look at ‘ready-scratch,’ feeling like they prepared the meal, or do they want to do the least amount of ingredients or prep time in the home? Is that what the trend is?” This type of information has a chain-reaction effect: It’s served up to  Wixon’s customers, he notes, and then, in turn, it helps those customers better understand their respective customers. Equipped with such market data, it’s time to get cooking. “The dynamic of having the culinary expert on hand,” says Ratz, “helps put our creations or proposed ideation into more of a perspective on how the end-user consumer or foodservice account could utilize this particular type of concept or item as a finished good.” In the new test kitchen, McLester showcases the company’s products in a controlled setting, treating visiting customers to a range of potential culinary capabilities. Then—in one possible scenario, illustrating Wixon’s new capabilities—if interest is piqued and a viable path of product development is envisioned, it’s time to move onto the pilot plant. STREAMLINING R&D Pilot plants are designed to replicate actual manufacturing environments. “What that allows us to do,” says Peter Gottsacker, president, Wixon, “is to significantly cut down on customers’ product-development lead time”—often by as much as three months. “We tried to get as much flexibility into our processing equipment to mimic what their production setting might be.”
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