ADM (NYSE: ADM) today celebrated the opening of its new cutting-edge, plant-based innovation lab, located in ADM’s Biopolis research hub in Singapore. The lab will develop next-level, on-trend and nutritious products to meet growing food and beverage demand in the Asia-Pacific region.

“ADM is a pioneer in plant-based nutrition innovation, and this new facility will enhance our ability to meet rapidly growing consumer demand in the Asia-Pacific region and bring exciting new products and solutions to the market,” said Leo Liu, ADM President, Asia-Pacific. “Protein continues to be a focus for consumers who are experimenting with plant-based options to meet their health and nutrition, sustainability and convenience preferences, and with Asia being home to 60 percent of the world’s population, Singapore is a critical hub of innovation and growth around plant-based alternatives. This lab will help ADM deliver advanced customer solutions in this area while also creating jobs and offering development opportunities for young talent in the Asia-Pacific region.”

The new facility features a combination of experts in proteins and texturing ingredients, coupled with flavour specialists, allowing ADM to quickly and efficiently create tailor-made solutions for the Asian consumer palate. This lab gives ADM the ability to test flavours, textures, fats and binding characteristics in-house and accelerate product development for customers. Additionally, the lab can provide medium-scale sampling through a variety of forming and freezing capabilities to support market evaluation of new products and solutions.

At the opening ceremony of ADM’s new plant-based lab in Singapore, Dirk Oyen, Vice-President and General Manager Southeast Asia, Human Nutrition, said: “ADM’s goal is to unlock the power of nature to enrich people’s lives, and the opening of the new plant-based innovation lab today serves this exact purpose: to unlock nature with flavour creation through understanding proteins, and enrich lives by creating concepts for the future. In this regard, ADM has been pioneering plant-based innovations for over 35 years—uncovering the functionality of ingredients, leveraging technical know-how into development, and understanding the whole chain needed to bring innovations to the market.”

He continues: “With a young population, Asia pacific is the centre of innovation and growth—as such, we strive to fulfil the needs for security and sustainable food in the region. Consumers here are increasingly looking for more plant-based protein in their diets as they are more aware of the environmental impacts of their consumption pattern and are seeking to enrich their diet with proteins.”

To leverage on the industry-disrupting plant-based nutrition trend, the ADM Biopolis research hub in Singapore features a wide range of capabilities, including a food and flavour analytic lab; a beverage and dairy applications lab and pilot plant; a bakery and confectionery lab; a meat and savoury lab; a sweet and savoury creation lab; sensory evaluation facilities and a customer innovation centre in addition to the new plant-based innovation lab.

Oyen concludes: “In Singapore, we see a strong ecosystem around plant-based innovations backed by the Economic Development Board (EDB)—and we’re excited to be a part of it. Working with companies in this ecosystem, we hope to capture Asian flavours and bring this to the Food & Beverage industry around the world. We believe that our journey will accelerate the plant-based trend and bring people together, helping us work with our customers to re-understand consumption patterns in this region by examining how Asian consumers perceive their diets and how plant-based innovation can find its space within Asia.”