Company Makes a Sweet Impression at Expanded Bridgewater Research Center

Pick up nearly any food item and check it's key ingredients and you'll find sugar or a sugar substitute. The sugar doesn't just add sweetness to the product, though—it contributes to the texture, overall taste and consistency of it as well.

So when bakers and brewers want to reduce the caloric content of their products, whether it's orange juice, yogurt or bread, finding the right substitute for the sugar is an important step.

And researchers at Bridgewater's expanded Ingredion research labs—formerly the National Starch labs—are working to provide manufacturers a complete palette of sweeteners to please their customers' palates.

At a ribbon-cutting event held Tuesday to unveil the new aproximately-7,000 square foot "Sweetener Innovation Center" added at the Ingredion facility on Finderne Avenue, company Chairwoman and CEO Ilene Gordon said the center would help continue the company's development of ingredients for its worldwide manufacturing customer base.

"This expansion represents another investment in our R&D facility here in Bridgewater," she said. "It's (good) to see a place like Bridgewater prosper and expand. It really reinforces our commitment to the community here, so we're really committed to New Jersey." 

Ingredion Vice President of Global Innovation Tony DeLio said the expansion also included a consolidation of the company's research work, adding 12 full-time and 12 part-time positions to the Bridgewater staff of about 280.

"So in one place, now, we really have the ability to interact with the customers, and really show them our expertise in sweeteners," DeLio said.  

The "Sweetener Innovation Center" features three separate labs, designed to meet specific company needs in developing and marketing products—a development center, where new products are tested in recipes, an analytics lab for testing Ingredion products, and a "Sensory lab," where a 12-member panel of trained "tasters" compare products and provide feedback on the taste, texture and impressions of various foods and sweeteners.

With annual sales of about $6.5-billion to beverage, brewing, food and pharmaceutical companies worldwide, the company sees plenty of growth potential in new products that combine natural sources of sweetness—such as Stevia-based products—and "high-potency sweeteners" for flavorful, but reduced-calorie and healthier foods.

"It's great to be able to work with our customers to bring a product to market that is natural and healthier," DeLio said.

After the ribbon-cutting, Bridgewater Mayor Daniel Hayes Jr., Township Administrator James Naples and Economic Development Officer Howard Turbowitz sampled chocolate cupcakes and orange juice made with Ingredion products, and toured the facility.

"I though the tour was informative and indicative of the quality of company that Ingredion is," Mayor Hayes said afterwards. He added he was happy to hear the company officials call the township "supportive" as the work was undertaken.