PepsiCo opens new baking innovation centre in Mexico

US-based food and beverage company PepsiCo has opened a new baking category innovation centre in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, to expand its research and development arm.

The new centre is part of PepsiCo’s five-year plan to invest $5bn to strengthen its business in Mexico.

The centre will help the company develop new product innovations across its brand portfolio.

The new baking facility includes an advanced culinary centre and development laboratories, which will focus on creating and tailoring new baked products for distinct consumer benefits and taste preferences in Mexico, as well as for its markets around the globe.

It will also develop new capabilities to drive sustained growth in the baking goods category.

The centre features a pilot manufacturing plant that will enable product developers and engineers to quickly test new ideas and significantly accelerate the pace of new product innovation.

It was built in line with the criteria established by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), the world’s leading green building standard, and it uses advanced technologies and processes to conserve natural resources and reduce operating costs.

It will employ around 100 people from various backgrounds, including chefs, nutritionists, food scientists and baking technology experts.

The centre has already established partnerships with PepsiCo businesses for different projects in the US, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.

PepsiCo R&D director Alejandra Kamel said that the facility’s aim is to be a centre of excellence for PepsiCo baked products.

"Mexico is PepsiCo’s third largest market, and we are sharing the expertise that we have in baking with other PepsiCo markets," Kamel added.

PepsiCo chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi said that Mexico is an attractive food and beverage market with great potential for future growth.

"Mexico is a cradle of innovation for PepsiCo globally and this new centre will fuel a wide range of exciting new PepsiCo products," Nooyi added.

In addition to the latest facility, PepsiCo also has several other ‘centres of excellence’ – a beverage innovation centre in New York, a snacks innovation centre in Texas, an Illinois oats innovation centre, a German fruit and vegetable innovation centre, and a food and beverage innovation centre in China.

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Image: PepsiCo’s new baking category innovation centre in Mexico. Photo courtesy of PepsiCo, Inc.