UNITED STATES-SPLENDID HI-TECH MEAT DEPARTMENT.
Sara Lee Corp. today opened The Kitchens of Sara Lee, a 120,000-sq.-ft. research and development facility in Downers Grove, Ill. that includes a meat lab that amounts to a mini meat processing facility to create and test new meat products.
The Meat Labs includes bench-top product formulation capabilities, and the ability to simulate Sara Lee plant processes to test product components and packaging prototypes before they enter full-scale production.
The lab includes a raw room, a cook room and a ready-to-eat room where prototypes of new products such as sausages, hot dogs and lunchmeats can be formulated, formed, smoked, cooked, sliced, chilled, frozen and packaged.
The facility also includes:
foodservice kitchens with equipment that can be custom-arranged to replicate a quick-service restaurant or a foodservice operation
packaging labs with rapid prototyping capabilities that can shape plastic and paper prototypes in minutes and test packaging before suppliers begin production.
sensory and product performance labs to help translate consumer research into desired product attributes and scalable design and
a bakery pilot plant.
More than 100 chefs, scientists, engineers and packaging designers work at the facility. This marks the first time Sara Lee has had all of its North American food and beverage R&D capabilities under one roof.
The facility is expected to speed Sara Lee’s time to market with new products, Philippe Schaillee, vice president, marketing, strategy and research and development said at a news conference, adding the facility is also tasked with longer-term research to come up with break-through platforms and products.
In the near term, "You are not going to see big surprises," he said, noting that lunchmeats, hot dogs and convenience breakfasts will continue to be platforms Sara Lee will focus on. He added, however, that innovations will go beyond just flavor extensions of existing brands, using as an example how the company leveraged existing sausage products into a branded component of convenience breakfast items.
Sara Lee Chairman and CEO Brenda Barnes told reporters the company is growing market share in every major product category and derives about 15 percent of revenues from products launched within that past 36 months.
Sara Lee’s protein-related brands include Ball Park, Hillshire Farm and Jimmy Dean.
