Commercial test kitchen + on-site HPP
Most food product development involves a gap between where the product is developed and where it is processed. A formulation is refined in one facility, refrigerated samples are shipped to an HPP provider, processed, returned, and evaluated—often days or weeks later. Then the cycle begins again.
APC’s Innovation Center closes that gap. Our fully equipped commercial test kitchen is located with APC’s Milwaukee operations and provides access to commercial HPP equipment during the development process. Product-development teams can prepare a formulation, run it through HPP, and evaluate taste, texture, color, packaging integrity, and label performance during the same working session.
The Innovation Center supports both new product development and reformulation of established products. The kitchen is equipped for recipe refinement, ingredient testing, and cooking-technique evaluation, with HPP available for immediate post-process assessment.
APC’s food safety and QA team supports:
Customers may bring their own chefs, food scientists, or R&D team. When additional product-development expertise is useful, APC can also connect customers with experienced food professionals who can assist with formulation and organoleptic evaluation.
Validate before scale-up
Packaging performance is evaluated alongside the formulation rather than after product development is complete.
HPP places substantial stress on packaging materials, seals, closures, labels, sleeves, inks, and adhesives. Problems identified during development may include seal failure, material degradation, structural changes, water ingress, and loss of package or label performance.
Packaging evaluation includes:
Testing packaging during pilot work allows incompatibilities to be addressed before a commercial production commitment.
Build evidence around the product
Shelf life is specific to the product, formulation, HPP parameters, packaging, and storage conditions. It cannot be assigned from a category estimate alone.
APC coordinates with accredited third-party laboratories for:
Organoleptic qualities such as color, flavor, texture, and aroma are subjective and specific to the product and recipe. APC helps manufacturers evaluate these characteristics with their own product-development teams during Innovation Center sessions. When additional expertise is useful, APC can connect customers with experienced product-development professionals and chefs who can assist with evaluation and refinement.
Same-session feedback
One of the primary advantages of having HPP equipment on-site is immediate feedback. Formulations, packaging and label performance, pressure, hold times, and other relevant HPP variables can often be adjusted, processed again, and evaluated within the same working session.
Rather than packaging refrigerated samples, shipping them to another facility, and waiting days or weeks for processed samples or information to return, customers can often make an adjustment and evaluate the result within roughly an hour.
Built for the next decision
The Innovation Center supports companies at different stages of product development and commercialization, from early product concepts through reformulation of established products.
Common applications include:
One connected path
Work completed in the Innovation Center connects directly to APC’s commercial manufacturing and HPP operations.
Formulations, packaging specifications, HPP parameters, HACCP requirements, and shelf life data established during development can carry forward into commercial production. Product development, HPP evaluation, and production planning can function as one continuous process rather than separate projects managed through different facilities.
Commercial test kitchen in Wauwatosa
Start with the product question
Tell us about the product, its current stage, the formulation or packaging questions you need to answer, and the testing or processing work you are considering.
