Tate & Lyle continues growth strategy in Latin America as Hershey opens largest R&D facility outside US

CHILE —  British-headquartered global supplier of food and beverage ingredients, Tate & Lyle is bolstering its presence in Latin America with the opening of a new Customer Innovation and Collaboration Centre in Santiago.

The new center includes a kitchen, application laboratory, and rapid prototyping capabilities and will be part of the company’s integrated network of centers across Latin America, including in Brazil and Mexico.

According to Tate and Lyle, the facility will allow the company’s food scientists to work with customers in the Latin America region on addressing growing demands for solutions that help reduce sugar, fat, and calories, and add fiber, to consumer products.

With an uptick in obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases, countries in the Latin American region led by Chile have also been looking at legislative means to curtail access to foods high in sugar, fat, and calories.

Chile is one of the countries with strict advertising and marketing restrictions of unhealthy foods to children under 14 years of age.

The company has also been trying to limit consumption with measures such as a mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labeling scheme for food products high in sodium, free sugars, fats, and calories.

This, together with declining consumer desire for these products, has forced manufacturers and expert partners like Tate & Lyle to help them meet growing consumer demand for great-tasting food and beverages that support balanced diets and lifestyles.

“We are excited to open a new Customer Innovation and Collaboration Centre in Chile as part of our growth strategy in Latin America,” said Oswaldo Nardinelli, senior vice president and general manager for Latin America at Tate & Lyle.

Hershey opens largest R&D facilities outside the US

Meanwhile, American chocolate manufacturing giant, Hershey has opened a new research and development (R&D) facility in Johor, Malaysia, as it looks to develop and launch new products in international markets.

The new site, which is one largest R&D facilities outside the US, houses R&D laboratories, a packaging development plant, and a sensory area.

Hershey’s VP, AEMEA and India, Herjit Bhalla, said: “The facility will act as a central hub for the company’s operations across the AEMEA region within countries in the Asia Pacific, including India and China, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Our new R&D center reflects our ongoing commitment to understanding the preferences of consumers across the markets.”

The new facility will allow  Hershey’s teams to gain deeper insights into consumers by enabling them to conceptualise, test and develop some of the most innovative products across the region.

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