DuPont’s Innovation Application Centre, Gurgaon, India

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DuPont’s innovation centre processes bakery and dairy products. Image: courtesy of DuPont. The centre develops innovative formulations that match the needs of the Indian market. Image: courtesy of DuPont. The innovation centre is located in Gurgaon, Haryana. Image: courtesy of DuPont. DuPont Nutrition & Health has opened a new Innovation Application Centre in Gurgaon, a financial and industrial city in the state of Haryana, India, in March 2015. The application centre is established with the aim of introducing innovative and customised flavours to the Indian market by closely working with local food producers. It enables the company to showcase its expertise and helps its customers save time in developing novel solutions. It works in collaboration with DuPont’s Innovation Centre network and leverages the knowledge, expertise and experience of its experts working globally. The facility is designed to allow further expansion and is expected to employ 15-20 people by the end of 2015. The food industry in India is witnessing a 15% to 20% growth a year. To cater for this growth and offer customised solutions based on the taste and flavours of Indian food, DuPont has come up with the solution to develop a Nutrition and Health Innovation Application Centre in India. DuPont’s Nutrition and Health Innovation Application Centre is a 10,000ft² facility designed to provide customised local food applications to food manufacturers. It will provide a solution-based approach instead of an ingredient-based one. It acts as a venue for the company to showcase how it helps customers develop innovative products. It provides a range of innovative formulations to the Indian market, including flour-based products, dairy, nutritional beverages and powders. The facility focuses on protective cultures for curd and yoghurt, soy protein products, ice cream and nutritious snacks and biscuits tailored to meet the regional taste and texture expectations. It will introduce more affordable and convenient food choices for Indian consumers. Product formulations will be tailored to meet the hotter climatic conditions of the country where cold chain technology is not available. The focus would be more on increasing the shelf-life of products as the hot climate makes them prone to spoilage. The plant will produce Arogya atta, juices and other processed items such as cosmetics and will have separate units to produce juice, pulp, candies, herbal products and pickles. The innovation centre processes dairy, beverages and bakery products. Dairy processing equipment installed at the facility includes a pasteuriser, homogeniser, chilling cum ageing vat, continuous ice cream freezer, hardening and cyclic freezers, soft serve, ice lolly, fermentation vat, incubator and cup filler. It also features a high-temperature short-time / ultra-high-temperature line capable of multiple temperature/time combinations and upstream or downstream homogenisation with an in-line clean fill unit. A spray dryer and dry blender are also installed. The equipment helps to process ice creams, frozen desserts, dairy beverages, juices and powdered beverages. The centre also features equipment to process bakery foods including bread, biscuits, buns, cakes, rusk and flatbreads. It uses variable mixing technology including spiral, planetary and sigma for processing. Equipment includes a dough sheeter, baking oven, prover, bread moulder, bun rounder and a biscuit line for fermented and short dough. The pilot equipment, which is capable of handling multiple trials in small batches and applications, can be scaled up with a high degree of repeatability in an industrial setup. In addition to bakery and dairy processing equipment, the facility also features analytical, phage test and sensory equipment, which includes a texture analyser, rapid visco analyser, viscometer, water activity and colour meter, meltdown analyser, high-resolution microscope, auto titrator, humidity chambers and ambient shelf storage. It also has six sensory booths and a preparation kitchen with a panel room for descriptive analysis and an eye question software for sensory and consumer-based research. DuPont Nutrition & Health offers a wide range of sustainable, bio-based ingredients and advanced molecular diagnostic products to provide safer, healthier and more nutritious food to consumers. Since its inception, it has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials and services.

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