USA – Food ingredient supplier, Denali Ingredients has invested in a new manufacturing facility in New Berlin, Wisconsin focused baked inclusions for the ice-cream and sweet treats.

The 98,000-square-foot facility features a state-of-the-art commercial oven that will produce a new line of baked inclusions, including brownie and cheesecake pieces.

The investment expands its food ingredients manufacturing capabilities, also doubling the production of the company’s current extruded doughs, bits, flakes and bark products, according to Denali.

It also provides operational improvements by tripling frozen storage capacity to accommodate expanding product offerings.

The manufacturing plant has been equipped with modern sanitation equipment and processes, isolated production spaces and a quality control lab outfitted with updated testing equipment, al emphasizing on food quality and safety.

“Adding a new capability—baked inclusions—expands our portfolio of products for our customers,” said Neal Glaeser, president of Denali Ingredients.

“This is part of fulfilling our long-term vision, which is to become the go-to ingredients supplier.

“This expansion of our portfolio, along with our emphasis on hands-on customer collaboration, provides our R&D team a broader platform to effectively address trends in today’s complex food environment.”

The facility puts emphasis on environmental impact improvements including the use of LED lights, high-efficiency boilers, water heaters and air handling systems as well as a robust recycling program.

Three years ago, the company opened an R&D Innovation Center to provide increased space for research and development and a small-scale pilot plant for product testing.

In 2017, it unveiled US$5.5 million expansion of the New Berlin plant, which it acquired in 2006.

The investment included a new Innovation Center to foster research, development and creative flavor collaboration with industry partners, as well as a state-of-the-art Pilot Lab to simulate full-scale manufacturing of new concepts.

This was part of the US$12 million investment plan aimed at giving it a leadership position as an independent ingredients supplier in the U.S.