FrieslandCampina Ingredients opens US application center for protein and prebiotic development

FrieslandCampina Ingredients has opened a new application center in New Jersey, US, to accelerate regional product innovation. The company says this move marks a “significant step forward” in its technical capabilities in North America by bringing R&D resources closer to its customers in the region, enabling faster creation of specialized solutions that meet changing consumer demand. 

The new facility targets “high-growth categories,” such as ready-to-drink (RTD) and ready-to-mix (RTM) beverages, protein bars, and functional snacks. 

“This application center is more than a new facility, it is a strategic investment in how we support our customers in North America,” says Auke Zeilstra, regional sales director of FrieslandCampina Ingredients North America. “With our enhanced innovation capabilities, we’ve now got the ability to work even closer with customers to solve formulation challenges and bring products to life, faster.”

“This investment — coupled with recent acquisitions in the region — strengthens both our on-the-ground application support and ingredient supply capabilities. And with this, we can respond even more quickly to evolving consumer trends, helping customers turn ideas into products that are ready to succeed.”

The facility’s equipment supports the creation and testing of stable, high-quality formulations under real-world processing conditions, notes the company. Machinery at the site includes a homogenizer — for breaking down and evenly distributing particles within a liquid — and a food-grade autoclave, used to sterilize packaged foods.

This equipment is combined with enhanced analytical tools to enable innovators to assess product performance with greater precision, ensuring that what works in the application center “translates into success on shelves.”

Protein power

Demand for protein products continues to grow across the globe. According to Innova Market Insights’ 2026 Trends Survey, 82% of consumers globally took protein to improve their physical health in the past 12 months.

Moreover, the Innova 2026 Category Survey shows that North America “wins the innovation race” for performance protein sports nutrition, with a 17% annual growth in performance protein launches from 2021 to 2025.

At last week’s Vitafoods Europe trade show, we discussed protein trends with FrieslandCampina Ingredients.Although data from the market researcher indicates that sports nutrition launches with bovine collagen peptides grew 150% annually from 2021 to 2025, last year’s top protein ingredients for sports nutrition launches still consisted of whey protein concentrate (33%), whey protein isolate (27%), and milk protein (20%).

FrieslandCampina Ingredients notes that with these rising expectations, there is also a growing demand for products that deliver protein benefits without compromising taste, texture, and functionality.

The New Jersey application center aims to meet this need. It enables on-site product refinement, with hands-on development and troubleshooting that streamline development timelines, reduce trial-and-error, and accelerate time to market.

The company previously told Nutrition Insight what capabilities the North American application center may unlock.

Product application growth

The new facility is part of FrieslandCampina’s strategy to strengthen its global application capabilities with a network of five new regional centers, such as an application center that opened in Singapore last year.

The US facility is an extension of FrieslandCampina’s Global Innovation Center in Wageningen, the Netherlands, which serves as the company’s central hub for research and innovation.

Earlier this year, the company also completed a strategic investment in its Dutch facility in Borculo, doubling the production of whey protein isolate and milk fat globule membrane ingredients.

Moreover, FrieslandCampina invested over €90 million (US$105.5 million) this month to strengthen its global supply of whey proteins through an optimized ingredients production network in the Netherlands.

In the US, the company acquired Wisconsin Whey Protein last year to expand its North American footprint.