Batory Foods, a national distributor of food and fine ingredients, has announced the expansion of its Wilmington, Illinois, facility with the addition of a new Batory Foods Innovation Center. The 16,000 square-foot space includes a dedicated upstairs lab area and a blending facility, significantly enhancing the company’s capabilities in applications development, custom blending and packaging services.

Batory Foods hosted a ribbon-cutting event on Sept. 12 to mark this milestone, providing customers and vendors with an experiential tour of the newly upgraded site.

Batory’s Wilmington facility underwent substantial upgrades to accommodate the new lab and blending spaces, which offer a range of high-value services, including testing, one-pack solution creation, sourcing well-researched ingredients, and comprehensive documentation. Additionally, the site also allows for advanced blending capabilities, including micro dosing and custom labeling, allowing Batory Foods to deliver tailored solutions to meet customer needs.

As part of this expansion, Batory Foods has made a substantial investment in technical talent, welcoming a new R&D team with over 40 years of cumulative food science experience. The team’s expertise spans various fields, including research and development, quality assurance, safety, and operations.

“The new lab and blending capabilities at our Wilmington facility represent our ongoing commitment to innovation and service excellence. This expansion allows us to enhance our technical and solution-based acumen, delivering even greater value to our customers and partners,” said Jessica Zielinski, vice president of strategic growth and marketing at Batory Foods. “The Wilmington site is designed to be a dynamic, evolving space that will continue to adapt to the needs of the product categories we serve, such as beverages, confectionery, bakery, and nutrition."

Founded in 1979, Batory Foods is a broad line distributor of high-quality food ingredients serving food, beverage, and nutritional manufacturers throughout the United States. The company connects leading food ingredient producers to well-regarded food & beverage brands. Batory operates a national system of warehouses and distribution centers for quick and efficient product delivery.