Kerry, the Taste & Nutrition Company, celebrated a $65 million expansion in savory capabilities at its Taste Center of Excellence in Clark, New Jersey. Already home to Kerry’s Sweet & Natural Extracts Center of Excellence, the new Savory Center of Excellence will expand the development and manufacturing competencies for Kerry on the East Coast.

This state-of-the-art facility brings together top-of-the-line equipment with safety, quality control, and supply chain efficiency. Beyond manufacturing, it also houses research and development experts and flavorists across Sweet, Savory and Natural Extracts, a customer engagement and innovation suite, and sensory and analytical capabilities. This unique combination supports product development from ideation and innovation all the way to production.

“This investment demonstrates not only Kerry’s impressive Taste portfolio and expertise, but also our dedication to continuously raising the bar when it comes to the safety of our people, the quality of our products and delivering a best-in-class experience for our customers,” stated Mark Shipley, chief operating officer, Kerry North America.

The expansion also aligns with Kerry’s Towards 2020 Sustainability commitment, investing in environmentally-friendly production practices and serving as a good steward of their local community through both job creation and volunteerism. This project will create 85 additional jobs (totalling 276) in the facility while improving the environmental impact with new equipment that minimizes both emissions and waste. The Taste Center of Excellence in Clark is a zero waste to landfill facility and is a member of SEDEX, who has completed a SMETA audit. In addition, Kerry is proud to partner with local chapters of organizations like Gateway Chamber, NJ Community Food Bank, Arthur L. Johnson High School Scholarship Program, Cranford Food and Toys-4-Tots as part of its local outreach.

“This project has been a massive collaborative effort across the company, leveraging our internal subject matter experts and resources to holistically provide engineering and manufacturing solutions for implementation across multiple technology platforms,” Martyn Tuthill, vice president operations, Taste, said. “Our increase in automation and implementation of new technologies will ensure that we are best placed to meet the demands of our customers and grow our business, as well as meet our sustainability goals. A huge thank you must go out to our focused and dedicated team in Clark as well as colleagues across the organization who have made this happen.”

Kerry’s Clark facility provides authentic taste solutions for end use markets such as meat, prepared meals, sauces, and beverages, among others. The increasing market demand for clean label solutions without sacrificing taste, driven by consumer interest, is the key driver behind Kerry’s investment in New Jersey.