HOBOKEN, NJ. — Hain Celestial Group Inc. has launched the Innovation Experience Center (IEC), a new product development and assessment laboratory for its roster of better-for-you food and nonfood brands.

Situated in Hain’s global headquarters in Hoboken, the 2,200-square-foot IEC will serve as a “hub for hands-on creativity and sensory exploration” by Hain teams, partners and customers, the company said. The space — described as a “working kitchen” — will be used for cross-functional product development, ingredient testing, quality reviews, category assessments, and evaluation of packaging functionality and sustainability for Hain’s snacks, baby/kids, beverage, meal preparation and personal care brands.

“Our new Innovation Experience Center is the perfect space for teams to combine consumer insights, culinary and health trends, and new ingredients to create unique and distinctive products,” said Arlene Karan, chief regulatory, R&D and quality and innovation officer at Hain Celestial. “The center is an investment in our future, offering a modern space where we can push the boundaries of what’s possible in the better-for-you (products) industry.”

Karan, her R&D team and Hain leadership marked the IEC’s grand opening at a Dec. 19 ribbon-cutting ceremony. The event featured six sensory-focused product demonstrations, where attendees checked out innovations from Hain’s Garden Veggie Snacks, Earth’s Best baby/kids’ food, Celestial Seasonings tea, Natumi European plant-based non-dairy beverage, Spectrum meal prep oils and Avalon Organics personal care.

The Innovation Experience Center’s grand opening included hands-on demos of Hain Celestial products like Garden Veggie Snacks. Source: Hain Celestial Group

The IEC houses one area for hands-on product development by the technical team and another area for “immersing” customers and partners in a full sensory experience, according to Hain. Designed and constructed with the global R&D, quality, regulatory and innovation teams, the center fosters the process of “discover, design and develop” and “ushers in a new era of innovation” that reflects Hain’s consumer-centric and data-driven approach, the company said.

“Our investment in the Innovation Experience Center is an important next step in our journey to reimagine our future in better-for-you,” said Wendy Davidson, president and chief executive officer of Hain Celestial, who attended the grand opening. “Earlier this year, we redesigned our innovation process to strengthen our pipeline across our leading brands and categories. This center further enables us to transform bold ideas into distinctive products and underscores our dedication to leading in our categories, challenging the status quo and delivering exceptional value to our customers.”

Hain added that it will continue to use R&D labs at its manufacturing facilities worldwide for further product development, testing and commercializing production to better meet consumer demand.